In 2011-2012, eight schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) adopted a PK-8 structure. The Office of Program Evaluation in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina is collaborating with the CMS Center for Research and Evaluation to better understand the PK-8 transition process as well as academic and behavioral…

This appendix was created to minimize aspects of the data analysis carried out for the quantitative study of Transition Years Initiatives in Ontario (Canada) schools. Technical appendices for the multivariate statistical procedures used in this analysis were needed for chapters 5 through 9 of the main report. The bulk of these appendices are path…

The transition from elementary school to middle school or junior high school can be exciting, stressful, scary, and fun all at once for young adolescents. The stress of this transition can either be diffused or augmented by school procedures for introducing these students to the school. In this study, a needs survey was given to a heterogeneous…

This report describes procedures to develop and implement a program to reduce ninth grade failure rates at a high school of 1,200 students in the center of a western city of 100,000. It is noted that grading data collected at the middle school and the high school levels have indicated that the number of failing grades increased substantially as…

The purpose of this study was to assess both the needs of students in transition from elementary to middle school and the extent to which those needs were being met. A questionnaire was used to obtain the perceptions of 117 sixth-grade students, 64 parents of sixth-grade students, 37 parents of fifth-grade students, nine sixth-grade teachers, and…

Eight papers are presented to assist career resource teachers who are working with handicapped students to prepare them for transition from school to work. "In Their Own Words: Teachers Share Their Experiences in Working with Special Education Students" (Lewis Allen) describes the use of cooperative learning in English, electronics, and interior…

This practicum was designed to develop a transition program and social activities for sixth-graders to help ease the passage from elementary school and increase their sense of belonging in a sixth- through eighth-grade junior high school. The students were surveyed concerning their degree of self-esteem, connection to school, perception of…

In spring 1988, the Johns Hopkins Center for Research on Elementary and Middle Schools (CREMS) conducted a national survey of principals in 2,400 public middle grade schools that include grade 7. Using the 1988 survey date, this document presents an overview of educational approaches and practices in schools that serve early adolescents. Topics…

This practicum was designed to ensure that junior high students with learning disabilities experience a successful transition back into the regular classroom from the resource room. The focus was on increasing communication between the regular classroom teacher and the resource room teacher, evaluating transition candidates using a…