Where to locate the 7th and 8th grade is a perennial question. While there are many variations, three approaches are most often used---include them in a 7-12 secondary campus, maintain a separate middle grades campus, or include them as part of a K-8 program. Research says that grade configuration is inconclusive at best and there is no research…

Although rearranging school organizational features is a popular school reform, little research exists to inform policymakers about how grade spans affect achievement. This article examines how grade spans and the school transitions that students make between fourth and eighth grade shape student performance in eighth grade. The authors estimate…

Educators and policymakers are paying increased attention to the academic outcomes of students in the middle grades (i.e., Grades 6-8). One reform proposed to improve outcomes for these students is to replace middle schools (with Grade 6-8, 7-8, or 7-9 configurations) with K-8 schools. This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of continuously…

For over thirty years, research has been conducted on the relative benefits of integrating the sixth through eighth grades within the structure of the K-8 elementary school or of establishing a freestanding middle school structure. While the available research clearly supports the positive effects of the K-8 structure on academic achievement in…

Seemingly endless tinkering and adjustment of the structure of education in the United States over the past century have led to the adoption of different school forms (grouping particular grades into separate schools) at different times. These different school forms necessitate transitions between schools (e.g., from a middle school to a high…

This study examined the relationship between transition from elementary to middle school and achievement gaps in math and science in eighth graders with (N=296) and without (N=1608) learning disabilities (LD). An abundance of research suggests that motivation and achievement decline during the early adolescent years, and that this decline is often…

This study examined the impact of attending restructured schools on the achievement and engagement of young adolescents. The restructuring movement is placed within the conceptual framework that favors the development of more communally organized schools, as opposed to the largely bureaucratic model of most American schools. Using a subsample of…

In 163 Maine schools, the performance of eighth-grade students on standardized tests, especially reading achievement, was highest in elementary settings (K-8, K-9, 3-8) and lowest in junior-senior high school settings (6-12, 7-12, 8-12), when socioeconomic status and teacher experience were controlled. (SV)

Reports on a study of the impact of attending restructured schools on the achievement and engagement of 8,845 eighth graders from public, Catholic, and independent schools. Finds modest, but consistently positive, effects on both achievement and engagement. Also finds that students attending smaller schools demonstrated more academic achievement.…

THE NONGRADED PLAN OF SCHOOL ORGANIZATION PUT INTO EFFECT AT SACRAMENTO'S WILL C. WOOD JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN 1964 WAS EVALUATED AND COMPARED WITH GRADED PROGRAMS AT OTHER SCHOOLS BY MEANS OF STANDARDIZED TESTS AND TEACHER OPINIONS. THE POPULATION OF THE STUDY CONSISTED OF THREE PUPIL GROUPS--(1) 212 PUPILS WHO WERE IN THE SEVENTH GRADE DURING THE…