The Impact of School Transitions in Early Adolescence on the Self-System and Perceived Social Context of Poor Urban Youth

Abstract

This study examined the effects of the normative school transition (n= 580) during early adolescence on the self‐system and perceived school and peer social contexts of poor, black (n= 161), white (n= 146), and Latino (n= 273) youth in the public school systems of 3 eastern urban cities. The results revealed negative effects of the school transition on the affective and behavioral domains of the self‐system. These declines in self‐esteem, class preparation, and grade‐point average (GPA) were common across race/ethnicity and gender. Concurrently, the school transition was perceived to be associated with changes in the school and peer contexts. Daily hassles with the school increased, while social support and extracurricular involvement decreased over the transition. Daily hassles with peers decreased, and peer values were perceived as more antisocial. These changes in the school and peer microsystems were also common across race/ethnicity and gender. In addition, transition‐associated school and peer changes and, in particular, changes in daily hassles with the school were associated with changes in the academic dimensions of the self‐system, that is, academic efficacy expectations, class preparation, and GPA. The results are discussed within a developmental mismatch framework.

Depressive symptoms, anxiety and academic motivation in youth: Do schools and families make a difference?

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Mexican American Adolescents’ Cultural Orientation, Externalizing Behavior and Academic Engagement: The Role of Traditional Cultural Values

“…It also is noteworthy that we found support for the protective influence of traditional cultural values with a sample of 7 th grade students interviewed in the year following transition to middle school. Accumulating research indicates the transition to middle / junior high school represents a key turning point or "risky" transition for poor, inner-city adolescents (Roderick, 1995;Seidman, Allen, Aber, Mitchell,,& Feinman, 1994). School engagement and psychological well-being have been found to decline in the year following this transition (e.g., Eccles, Lord, & Midgley, 1991) and these declines are most pronounced and are more likely to lead to school dropout and externalizing behavior for minority youth attending schools in low-income, urban neighborhoods (Seidman, Lambert & Allen, 2001).…”

The Academic Achievement of African American Students During Early Adolescence: An Examination of Multiple Risk, Promotive, and Protective Factors

“…For instance, Gutman and Midgley (2000) found that African American early adolescents living in poverty experienced a significant decline in grade point average from fifth to sixth grade. In another study of poor minority youth, Seidman, Allen, Aber, Mitchell, and Fienman (1994) found that self-esteem, class preparation, and grade point average also declined significantly after the middle school transition (Seidman et al, 1994). Moreover, although African American students begin school with test scores that are similar to their European American peers, by middle school, many African American students have fallen two-grade levels behind (Steele, 1992).…”