The transition to high school has been identified as a potentially difficult time in adolescents' lives. Reductions in both academic and social functioning often accompany this transition. While these effects have been documented in urban youth, the move to high school has not been extensively studied in rural minority youth. Toward that end, the…

This study examined the relationship between end-of-year grades and the academic, behavioral, and social characteristics of rural African American youth. Participants included 392 7th and 8th grade students from 2 rural middle schools in the south. Participants were African American and were from 2 communities that have child poverty rates…