We examine the effect of the transition to a separate middle school after grade six on student cognitive, non-cognitive, and perceptual developments in China. We use an approach that combines inverse propensity score weighting and discrete factor approximation to address the endogeneity of the transition. We find that transitioning students report…

Primary-secondary school transition encompasses multiple social, academic and environmental changes which can negatively impact children's emotional well-being. Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH) are believed to be especially vulnerable during this time. However, the voices of children with SEMH are heavily…

This article examines the extent to which normative beliefs on acculturation constitute (a) individual resources and risk factors for adolescents facing developmental tasks and (b) institutional norms that define developmental milieus in secondary schools. To what extent do egalitarianism, multiculturalism, assimilationism, and segregationism help…

Peer status is an important indicator and predictor of adjustment. While gifted children tend to enjoy favorable peer status, their social functioning during adolescence is less clear. The current study seeks to enhance this understanding by examining both preference- and reputation-based peer status of gifted adolescents. Peer nominations were…

Although research has shown that peer victimization is related to negative school outcomes, whether ethnic ingroup size alters victimization-adjustment links is unclear. This study examines whether smaller ethnic ingroup representation amplifies the negative associations between peer victimization and school adjustment. We also examine whether…

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate teacher and peer support for young adolescents' academic motivation, classroom engagement, and school belonging within one large, urban, ethnically diverse middle school. In the initial quantitative phase, associations among aspects of teacher support (autonomy,…

This longitudinal study had three objectives: (a) to identify different profiles of second-year middle school students (Grade 8) in terms of academic, emotional, and social adjustment; (b) to test the contribution of worries at the end of Grade 6 to distinguish these profiles; and (c) to examine the moderating effect of mastery (MG) and…

This study expands research on an academic and social turning point for adolescents, the transition to high school, by analyzing how students' level of social integration into school can affect high school academic performance. Using nationally representative data, three different pathways emerged as students transition to high school,…

This study investigated the differences between adolescent boys and girls from divorced families' adjustment to the middle school transition. A middle school transition survey measured the academic and social middle school transitional experiences of 196 adolescent boys and girls from divorced families. T-Test for Independent Means procedures…

The retrospective case study conducted in Israel was aimed at assessing students' and parents' views relating to grade skipping. It sheds light on authentic views and decision-making related to the processes and outcomes of grade skipping. The study sample comprised students (N=5) who had experienced grade skipping at different stages in their…

Two studies investigated the proposition that social achievement goals (different orientations toward social competence) are an important aspect of young adolescents' social motivation. Study 1 (N = 153 6th-grade students) established that different orientations toward developing or demonstrating social competence can be seen in young adolescents'…

The authors examined school discipline problems in relation to academic and interpersonal characteristics of students in a middle school of a rural low-income community. The sample comprised 259 students (83 boys, 176 girls)--all of whom were African American--and reflected the community's public school attendance. School records were examined,…