Middle and high school transitions as viewed by students, parents, and teachers

Professional School Counseling, April, 2004 by Patrick Akos, John P. Galassi

Students identified friends (28%), more freedom (18%), changing classes (18%), and electives (15%) as the best parts of actually being in the middle school. Parents, on the other hand, identified greater academic choices (52%) as well as friends and increased personal and social freedom (39%) as the best aspects of the new school for their children. High school students identified freedom (30%), meeting new people/more people (24%), and lunch/extracurricular options (24%) as the best aspects of the new school, while their parents specified new friends (27%), a bigger environment (21%), and sports/clubs (15%).

Difficulty of the Transition

Results of a one-way analysis of variance indicated significant differences among the groups in their mean ratings of the difficulty of the middle school transition, F(2, 260) = 6.77, p < .001. Post-hoc comparisons at the .05 level using Tukey's HSD test indicated that both students (M = 2.00, SD = 0.96) and parents (M = 2.00, SD = 0.87) rated the middle school transition as "somewhat easy" and significantly easier than teachers (M = 3.00, SD = 0.60) did.

For students, the most difficult parts of actually being at the middle school were classes (35%), good grades/homework (25%), and teachers (10%). Parents, on the other hand, identified change in responsibilities/expectations (52%) and other students (27%) as the most difficult aspects of the middle school for their students.

For the high school sample, the three groups also differed significantly in the perceptions of the difficulty of the transition, F(2, 382) = 6.83, p < .001. In contrast to the middle school data, post-hoc comparisons revealed that high school students (M = 1.88, SD = 0.86) viewed the transition as "somewhat easy" and significantly easier than both parents (M = 2.22, SD = 0.92) and teachers (M = 2.50, SD = 0.73), and that this time the parents did not rate the transition as significantly easier than the teachers rated it.

At the high school level, students identified homework (35%), a variety of social and organizational changes (e.g., not having their friends in class, riding the school bus, getting around the school; 25%), and grades (16%) as the most difficult aspects of actually being in the high school, and parents identified homework (24%), academics (20%), and time management (16%).

Adjusting to the New School

Almost two thirds (66%) of the middle school parents stated that their student adjusted to the new school relatively quickly (i.e., 4 weeks or less); another 27% indicated that it took their child longer to make the adjustment. More than half (51%) of high school parents suggested that their child adjusted in less than 4 weeks, while 38% indicated it took longer (and 10% indicated that the student was still not adjusted).

In order to get adjusted to or feel comfortable in the new school, middle school students said that they hung out with friends (47%), tried to fit in (14%), and ignored people who pick on them (13%), while high school students spent time with old and new friends (43%), focused on completing school work (26%), and participated in clubs or sports (16%).