Transition To Secondary School Research Articles

Accelerated Reader as a literacy catch-up intervention during primary to secondary school transition phase

This paper describes an evaluation of an internet-based reading programme called Accelerated Reader (AR), which is widely used in UK schools and worldwide. AR is a whole-group reading management and monitoring programme that aims to stimulate the habit of independent reading among primary and secondary age pupils. The evaluation involved 349 pupils in Year 7 who had not achieved secure National Curriculum Level 4 in their Key Stage 2 results for English, randomised to two groups. The intervention group of 166 pupils was exposed to AR for 20 weeks, after which they recorded higher literacy scores in the New Group Reading Test (NGRT) post-test than the control group of 183 pupils (“effect” size of +0.24). The schools led the organisation and implementation of the intervention, and also conducted most elements of the evaluation, with advice from an expert external evaluation team. The process evaluation suggests that these schools were very capable of conducting evaluations of their own practice, given appropriate guidance.

Understanding problematic pupil behaviour: perceptions of pupils and behaviour coordinators on secondary school exclusion in an English city

Background: The research reported in this article was commissioned by a consortium of inner-city schools located in central England. It was commissioned in response to the consortium’s concerns regarding increasing referrals of negative pupil behaviour amongst its secondary school pupils in Key Stage 3 (ages 11–14), resulting in temporary and permanent exclusions. The consortium also sought to explore the factors contributing to a perceived increase in incidents of serious misbehaviour by pupils in Year 8 (ages 12–13).Purpose: The research was designed to create a better understanding of the factors affecting school exclusion from the perspective of pupils and behaviour coordinators within the consortium’s schools.Sample: Study participants were 49 pupils in Year 9 (ages 13–14), comprising 23 girls and 26 boys, and eight behaviour coordinators from seven secondary schools and two centres for alternative provision (AP) in an inner-city area of the West Midlands.Design and methods: The research was designed using an ethnographic approach and involved individual semi-structured interviews and qualitative data analysis. Interviews were conducted over a 12-month period in each of the participating schools and centres for AP.Results: A series of related themes emerged from the data analysis. Amongst those factors identified as having the greatest bearing on negative pupil behaviour was the issue of transition. While many pupils imagine the transition to Key Stage 4 (ages 15–16) as a positive departure from their previous behavioural histories to a world of qualification opportunities, personal commitment, future employment and adulthood, this is not matched by the perceptions of many of the teaching staff. In particular, the move from primary school to secondary school was seen by many respondents as a traumatic period of transition and an underlying cause for negative behaviour. Respondents report that, when left unchecked, difficulties associated with primary–secondary school transition were often amplified throughout the first three years of secondary schooling.Conclusions: The implications from this small scale, qualitative investigation are that positive attention to transition experiences, amongst other factors, is likely to contribute to improved management of behaviour referrals and exclusions.

Peer Effects: Evidence from Secondary School Transition in England

AbstractWe estimate the effect of peers' prior achievement on student progress in secondary school, using administrative data on four cohorts of students in England. Students leaving primary for secondary school experience a big change in their peer group and these changes vary randomly from cohort to cohort. We exploit this variation to identify the effect of new peers on student achievement. We show that peer quality on entry to secondary school has a significant effect on students' subsequent achievement at age 14. The effect sizes are relatively small and are linked to peers' family background and early age achievements.

Perspectives on transitions in schooling and instructional practice

With a focus on transitions in schooling and instructional practice, one would be justified in expecting this book to be an interdisciplinary publication, as transitions are not a field of their own. Rather, researchers in a variety of educational domains–both subject area specialities (e.g., science) and interdisciplinary fields (e.g., educational leadership)–address these topics in their work. Compiling a collection of essays on such a broad topic would understandably be a challenge for any scholar. While the editors did an admirable job with this difficult task, the resulting publication is not without concerns. The editors of this book, Susan E. Elliott and Daniel H. Jarvis, are professors in the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, and research literacy and mathematics education, respectively. The editors’ research areas and a geographic focus in Canada are reflected in the composition of the book’s chapters. Specifically, this 527-page edited book is comprised of 19 chapters written by 26 authors, as well as an Introduction and a Coda written by the editors. Although the book’s description depicts the authors as international experts, the authors only represent four countries–Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the United States–three of which are culturally very similar. The majority of the contributors are Canadians writing about research in Canadian (more specifically, Ontario) contexts. While this geographic focus is not a problem as such, the description of the book as containing chapters by international experts seems a bit misleading. The chapters are grouped into four sections based on chronological transitions in schooling, which are Part I: Early Years (Home/Preschool/Kindergarten) to Early Elementary (Grades 13); Part II: Early Elementary (Grades 1-3) to Late Elementary (Grades 4-8); Part III: Late Elementary (Grades 4-8) to Secondary (Grades 9-12); and Part IV: Secondary (Grades 9-12) to Postsecondary (College/University). The chapters are unevenly distributed among the four sections, with four, five, seven, and three chapters, respectively. The inclusion of seven chapters about the elementary to secondary school transition is understandable, given its focus in the extant body of literature. However, the dearth of chapters on the secondary to postsecondary school transition was rather surprising, as a great deal of research exists regarding this particular transition in schooling. For example, a search of the ERIC database for “transition to university/college/postsecondary” results in approximately 8,000 results. As will be discussed, one of the chapters in Part IV did not address the secondary to postsecondary school transition, resulting in only two topic-specific chapters, which seems mismatched when compared to the

The influence of the physical education environment on children's well-being and physical activity across the transition from primary to secondary school.

The purpose of the study was to explore change in children's physical self-concept and self-reported physical activity over a school transition period, as well as motivational and interpersonal influences on these two outcomes. Data were collected from 545 children (mean age = 10.82, SD = 0.39, 51% female) at three time points before and after the United Kingdom secondary school transition. Multilevel modeling revealed that physical self-concept and physical activity showed different patterns of decline over the course of the study. Changes in the extent to which physical education teachers were perceived to provide psychological need support, peer focus on self-referenced learning and mastery, and changes in autonomous motives toward physical education classes were positively associated with these outcome variables. The present study provides novel insight into important motivational and interpersonal factors that may need to be targeted to prevent negative developmental patterns over a potentially challenging period for children.

Planning lessons for refugee-background students: Challenges and strategies

This article examines the ways teachers plan lessons for English as an Additional Language (EAL) students from refugee backgrounds in secondary school transition programs. Based on a study of teach...

The CASE Programme Implemented Across the Primary and Secondary School Transition in Ireland

In the Irish education system, there is little continuity between the primary and secondary education systems. The transfer between these systems is particularly problematic in the area of science. In order to alleviate some of these problems, as well as to enhance the cognitive development of students, the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education programme was adapted for use and implemented across the primary–secondary school transition in Ireland. The programme was delivered in a variety of ways across the two levels, including the teacher and researcher teaching the programmes individually and team-teaching arrangements. The results on cognitive development measures showed that the students who were taught the programme in primary and secondary school made significant gains, when compared to the non-intervention group. There were also gains evident for students who only received one part of the programme (i.e. in either primary or secondary school). The greater gains, in terms of effect size, were evident at secondary school. The rationale, methodology and results are detailed in this paper.

An exploration of primary to secondary school transition planning for children with Down’s syndrome

This study explores factors that influence decisions about transition and what works for children with Down’s syndrome transferring from primary to secondary school. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews to gain the views of support staff and parents of two children with Down’s syndrome. One parent had chosen mainstream secondary school and was negotiating the transition, whilst the other was making decisions around future placement. The Voice of the Child (VoC) was elicited using rating scales. Thematic analysis revealed practical and ideological insights into transition, highlighting the need for parental involvement, planned transition and recognition of the individual needs of the child. The educational and social implications of these findings are considered along with directions for future research.

Secondary school transition for children with special educational needs: a literature review

Successful transition from primary to secondary school is important for psychosocial well‐being. Children with special educational needs (SEN) may face additional complexities at transition, although the impact of this process on children's psychosocial adjustment has been underexplored. The article aims to review systematically the literature exploring the impact of transition on the concerns and psychosocial adjustment of children with SEN in comparison to typically developing children. Published studies were identified through a systematic search of six electronic databases. Articles fulfilling inclusion criteria were reviewed and a quality criteria system was developed to rank studies. Children with specific learning difficulties perceive lower levels of social support and more peer victimisation after transition than typically developing children, but methodological limitations and the modest number of studies restricted the conclusions that could be drawn.

Peer Effects: Evidence from Secondary School Transition in England

We study the effects of peers on school achievement, with detailed data on children making the same primary to secondary school transition in consecutive years in England. Our estimates show that secondary school composition, on entry at age 12, affects achievement at age 14, although the effect sizes are small. These secondary school peer effects originate in peer characteristics encapsulated in family background and early achievements (age 7), rather than subsequent test score gains in primary school. Our specifications control for individual unobservables and school fixed effects and trends, rendering peer group composition conditionally uncorrelated with student's characteristics.

Institutional Habitus and Secondary School Transitions: Comparative Study of Ireland and Estonia

This article explores secondary school transitions from a comparative perspective. It focuses on a stage at which a major institutional transition takes place in two different educational systems. Over the years a number of international studies have explored different learning environments and their impact on student educational outcomes. Much of this research explores the impact of school choice and the transition from one level of schooling to another. In general, these studies refer to school transitions as a time when students are particularly vulnerable due to structural and environmental differences between different levels of schooling. In other words, the new learning environments generally have a different ‘institutional habitus’. While seamless and unproblematic transition from one level of schooling to another is seen to ensure students' success at the subsequent level of schooling and beyond, negative experiences and difficulties around adjustment, on the other hand, are shown to result in disengagement and becoming at risk of early school leaving, with detrimental consequences for the individual concerned. Furthermore, different pathways within the educational systems have been found to reproduce unequal life chances. To discuss and re-theorise school transitions, the article draws on a large-scale comparative study of the transitions in secondary school in Ireland and Estonia, and utilises a conceptual tool called ‘institutional habitus' to gain better understanding of the processes involved. While the article discusses similarities and differences between children's transition experience in two different countries, it also calls for a careful approach to ‘direct borrowing’ of practices from other countries.

Secondary School Transition and the Use of Different Sources of Information for the Construction of the Academic Self‐concept

AbstractThis study focuses on processes involved in students' academic self‐concept constructions before, during, and after secondary school transition. The study is based on a four‐wave longitudinal dataset (N = 1953). Structural equation modeling showed that during school transition, the impact of grades on students' academic self‐concepts in Math and English decreased whereas the effects of maternal competence perceptions increased. After the transition, the effects of grades increased, while the effects maternal competence beliefs decreased again. The results are interpreted in terms of differential emphasizing of sources of information for students' self‐concept construction. During school transition, elementary school grades lost informational value for self‐evaluations due to the changed frame of reference. To secure stable and valid self‐assessments, students emphasized other sources than grades; in this, case information obtained through parental competence appraisals. After transition, when valid grades were available for the students' constructions again, the temporarily heightened parental influence decreased again.

Does the nature of schools matter? An exploration of selected school ecology factors on adolescent perceptions of school connectedness

Connectedness to school is a significant predictor of adolescent health and academic outcomes. While individual predictors of connectedness have been well-described, little is known about school-level factors which may influence connectedness. A school's ecology, or its structural, functional, and built aspects, coupled with interpersonal interactions, may also help to enhance adolescent connectedness. This study aims to identify school ecological characteristics which predict enhanced connectedness in secondary school. Data from 5,159 Grade 8 students (12-13 years) from 39 randomly selected schools were tracked until the end of Grade 9 (13-14 years). Students' self-reported school, teacher, and family connectedness, mental health and peer relationships were measured at two time points. Accounting for school-level clustering, student- and school-level ecological characteristics were modelled on self-reported school connectedness in Grades 8 and 9. Students' higher school connectedness in Grades 8 and 9 was influenced by greater levels of family connectedness, fewer classroom and peer problems, less difficult secondary school transition, fewer emotional problems, and greater prosocial skills. Seven school-level ecological variables were significantly associated with school connectedness after controlling for student-level predictors. At the school-level, priority for pastoral care and students' aggregated writing skills scores significantly predicted concurrent and future enhanced connectedness. Interventions to improve students' school connectedness should address individual student characteristics and school functional features such as pastoral care strategies and helping students to achieve greater academic outcomes. Future studies should focus on the cumulative longitudinal influence of school ecological and student-level predictors of school connectedness.

Gender differences in the role of emotional intelligence during the primary–secondary school transition

The relationship between components of emotional intelligence (EI) (interpersonal ability, intrapersonal ability, adaptability and stress management) and academic performance in English, maths and science was examined in a sample of 86 children (49 males and 37 females) aged 11–12 years during the primary–secondary school transition period. Results indicated that for both males and females, intrapersonal ability had little relationship with academic achievement, while adaptability had the strongest relationship with achievement in all subjects. Gender differences were particularly pronounced for science, for which stronger relationships were observed with all EI components for males. In addition, apparent only for males was a negative relationship between stress management and science. These findings offer support for the current inclusion of a personal and emotional element in the primary school curriculum, and indicate that such training is likely to help males more than females to make a successful transition from primary to secondary school.

Transition matters: pupils’ experiences of the primary–secondary school transition in the West of Scotland and consequences for well‐being and attainment

The importance of school transitions for pupil adjustment, particularly their impact on later well‐being and attainment, remains contested. This paper draws on data from a longitudinal, school‐based study of over 2000 Scottish pupils, first surveyed in 135 primary schools (age 11) in 1994, and followed up in 43 secondary schools (age 13 and 15) and again after leaving school (age 18/19) in 2002/3. The length of follow‐up makes this study unique in transition research. After a year in secondary school (age 13), the majority recalled having had difficulties of adjustment to both school and peer social systems at the beginning of secondary education. While the primary (but not secondary) school played a small part in accounting for different transition experiences, controlling for a wide range of sociodemographic and other factors, personal characteristics were much more important. Respondents of lower ability and lower self‐esteem experienced poorer school transitions; those who were anxious, less prepared for secondary school and had experienced victimisation, poorer peer transitions. Further analysis of the impact of school and peer transitions on well‐being and attainment revealed that each had specific independent effects both within and beyond secondary education. At age 15, a poorer school transition predicted higher levels of depression and lower attainment; a poorer peer transition, lower self‐esteem, more depression and lower levels of anti‐social behaviour. Although reduced in size, similar results extended to outcomes at age 18/19. These effects bear comparison with those associated with gender and school disengagement, clearly demonstrating the importance of successful transition for later well‐being and attainment.

Motivation in physical education across the primary—secondary school transition

The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal patterns of approach-avoidance achievement goals, implicit theories of ability and perceived competence in physical education across the transition from primary to secondary school. We also evaluated the predictive utility of implicit theories and perceived competence with regard to achievement goal adoption, and determined the moderating influence of gender on temporal patterns and antecedent—goal relationships. One hundred and forty pupils (mean age at start of study = 11.37 years, SD = .28) completed measures of entity and incremental beliefs, perceived competence and goals on four occasions during a 12-month period. Mastery-approach, performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, as well as entity and incremental beliefs, exhibited a linear decline over time. Mastery-avoidance goals showed no significant change. Girls exhibited a linear decline in perceived competence, whereas for boys the trajectory was curvilinear. Competence perceptions predicted initial scores, but not rate of change, on mastery-approach and both types of performance goals. Incremental beliefs predicted rate of change in mastery-approach goal adoption, whereas entity beliefs were associated with changes in performance-avoidance goals and initial scores on performance-approach goals. Limited differences between boys and girls in these antecedent—goal relationships were observed.

Transition into secondary school for children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autistic spectrum disorder: A pilot group

A therapeutic children’s group was run to facilitate secondary school transition for children with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This was effective in promoting positive change in parental and child perceptions of transition and in developing skills to help support this change.

Crossing the humpback bridge: primary–secondary school transition in music education

This article explores the process of transferring from primary to secondary school in music from the perspective of the pupil. Seventy-five pupils from five schools were interviewed in small focus groups during their last weeks in primary school and follow-up interviews on 68 of the original pupils, representing 13 schools, took place one year later following a full year in their secondary school. The investigation explored how pupils’ attitudes towards classroom music change between primary and secondary school, and investigated if there was any evidence for the continuing existence of the five approaches to the introduction of music in the secondary school suggested ten years ago by Mills (Starting at secondary school, British Journal of Music Education, 13, 5–14, 1996). The results suggest that curriculum continuity in music has not necessarily improved as a result of the introduction of the national curriculum, and that progress in other aspects of the transfer process has been slow or non-existent. Information on individual pupils from school records is still sparse, with reference to music, but there is some evidence that pupils now experience lower levels of anxiety before they transfer to secondary school.

Parental Background, Primary to Secondary School Transitions, and Wages

The degree to which economic status is transmitted from one generation to the next is an important indicator for the inequality of opportunities. One crucial element of intergenerational mobility is the way parents influence the education of their children. Unlike in the UK or in the US, in Germany an important decision about which educational track to follow is made at a relatively early stage: after primary school, at around the age of ten. In this paper, we use micro data to analyze the association between parents' education and professional class and secondary track school choice and subsequent career prospects of the child. Our analysis covers the last 6 decades. We demonstrate that parents' educational background and professional class are strongly related to the secondary track school the child follows, and subsequent educational achievements. We find a slight convergence for individuals from different parental background over the last decades. We also find convergence between males and females. The relationship between parental class and children's education translates into earnings differentials later in life.

A social skills programme with primary-aged isolated hearing aid users

AbstractThe project brought together a group of hearing-impaired children who were the only hearing aid users in their schools. All the children were in Year 5 or Year 6 and were at Stage 3 or Stage 5 of the Department for Education and Employment Code of Practice (DfEE, 1994). This project had two aims: to decrease the social isolation of hearing-impaired pupils in mainstream schools, and to support their transition to secondary school. The programme comprised seven 90-minute sessions. Its effectiveness was evaluated by use of questionnaires and informal feedback from parents and schools. Immediate feedback suggested the primary gainers were the parents of the children concerned. However, long-term observation of the children indicated that the objectives of the project were fulfilled. The project leaders were a teacher of the deaf, an educational psychologist and an assessment advisory teacher for special educational needs.