- Adolescent Health-Risk Behavior and Community Disorder

Abstract

Students negotiate the transition to secondary school in different ways. While some thrive on the opportunity, others are challenged. A prospective longitudinal design was used to determine the contribution of personal background and school contextual factors on academic competence (AC) and mental health functioning (MHF) of 266 students, 6-months before and after the transition to secondary school. Data from 197 typically developing students and 69 students with a disability were analysed using hierarchical linear regression modelling. Both in primary and secondary school, students with a disability and from socially disadvantaged backgrounds gained poorer scores for AC and MHF than their typically developing and more affluent counterparts. Students who attended independent and mid-range sized primary schools had the highest concurrent AC. Those from independent primary schools had the lowest MHF. The primary school organisational model significantly influenced post-transition AC scores; with students from Kindergarten -Year 7 schools reporting the lowest scores, while those from the Kindergarten -Year 12 structure without middle school having the highest scores. Attending a school which used the Kindergarten -Year 12 with middle school structure was associated with a reduction in AC scores across the transition. Personal background factors accounted for the majority of the variability in post-transition AC and MHF. The contribution of school contextual factors was relatively minor. There is a potential opportunity for schools to provide support to disadvantaged students before the transition to secondary school, as they continue to be at a disadvantage after the transition.

Systematic literature review of primary‒secondary transitions: International research

“…Additional support needs (e.g., due to disability, English as additional language, socio‐economic disadvantage) have been seen to be risk factors during primary‒secondary transitions. Only five studies compared typically developing pupils with peers who had an additional support need (Bloyce & Frederickson, ; Vaz, Falkmer, Parsons, et al , ; Vaz, Parsons, Falkmer, et al , ; Foley et al , ; Neal et al , ). Vaz, Falkmer, Parsons, et al () reported that social disadvantage had a detrimental effect on academic competence and mental health functioning and argued that pupils from these backgrounds therefore need a higher level of support than their peers.…”

The transition from primary to secondary education

“…Personal factors, such as socio-economic status (SES) and gender, particularly seem to be predictive factors for the perceived threat from the transition to secondary school (Sirsch, 2003). A lower SES may lead to lower achievement (Vaz, Parsons, Falkmer, Passmore & Falkmer, 2014). Among children from low socio-economic households, 72% did not get used to the routines at secondary school and 58% did not settle in very well (Evangelou et al, 2008).…”

“…Children are at risk of not expanding their friendships and boosting their self-esteem and confidence if they experience bullying while in secondary school. Problems with bullying are most acute among children with special education needs (SEN) (Vaz et al, 2014). Of those, 37% have problems with bullying, compared with 25% of the children without SEN (Evangelou et al, 2008).…”

“…Children from low or medium socio-economic status (SES) households are also vulnerable to a less smooth transition into school life if they experience bullying while at secondary school (Evangelou et al, 2008) and are less academically competent (Vaz et al, 2014). Three of every ten children have experienced bullying during their lives (Evangelou et al, 2008).…”

“…Despite good preparation and the best of intentions, some children may, due to personal or family characteristics, be more vulnerable to a poorer transition than their peers. The literature study in Chapter 2 identifies a number of family characteristics that are risk factors for a poor transition, such as: a lower socio-economic status, ethnicity, and the parents' education level and parenting style (Evangelou, Taggart, Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons & Siraj-Blatchford, 2008;Vaz, Parsons, Falkmer, Passmore & Falkmer, 2014). In addition, individual characteristics can also make the transition more difficult for a child.…”