Facilitating school transitions: The literacy classroom as a model for supporting young adolescent d

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Facilitating school transitions The literacy
classroom as a model for supporting young
adolescent development

• Dr. Danielle Dennis
• Dr. Cheryl Ellerbrock
• Dr. Sarah Kiefer
• Dr. Audra Parker
• University of South Florida

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Overview

• Transition from elementary to middle school
• Motivation and engagement in middle school
  classrooms
• Literacy development and instruction
• Transition from middle to high school

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Transition from Elementary to Middle School

• Overview
• Young Adolescents
• Elementary to Middle School Transition

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Young Adolescents

• Young adolescents have unique characteristics and
  needs that evolve through high school
• (Rice, 1999)
• Rapid physical, cognitive, and social growth
• Think logically, abstractly, and about the future
• Solve problems and make inferences
• Fluctuate between personas as young children and
  adults (San Antonio, 2006)

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Elementary to Middle School Transition

• Challenging, complex life experience
• Onset of adolescence coincides with change in
  school setting
• (Blyth, Simmons, Carlton-Ford, 1987)
• Mismatch between school environment and
  developmental needs
• (Eccles Midgley, 1993)
• Increase in number of classes, teachers, and
  peers
• Poor middle school transitions associated with
  negative long-term outcomes including
  delinquency, drop-out and drug abuse
• (Wigfield Eccles, 1996).

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Elementary to Middle School Transition

• Across the transition, young adolescents may
  experience declines in
• Academic achievement
• (Barber Olsen, 2004 Seidman et al., 1994
  Wampler, Munsch, Adams, 2002)
• Motivation
• (Anderman Midgley,1997 Urdan Midgley, 2003)
• Perceptions of self
• (Anderman Midgley,1997 Zanobini Usai,
  2002)

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Elementary to Middle School Transition

• Young adolescents need instructional climate with
• Relevant curriculum
• Choice
• Decision-making opportunities
• Cooperative learning
• (Eccles, Midgley, 1993 Jackson Davis, 2000
  Rice, 1999)

• Young adolescents describe negative shifts in
• Student-teacher relationships
• Opportunities for autonomy and choice
• Teacher-centered instruction
• (Davis, Davis, Smith, Capa, 2003, Midgley,
  Feldlaufer, and Eccles,1988 Oldfather and
  McLaughlin, 1993)

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Motivation and Engagement in Middle School
Classrooms

• Overview
• The role of motivation in learning and behavior
• The middle school as a developmental context
• Supporting students motivation and engagement

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Motivation affects learning behavior

• Motivation energizes, directs and sustains
  behavior. It is an inner process that helps one
  move toward a goal with purpose and vision.
• Motivation is often reflected in personal
  investment and in cognitive, emotional, and
  behavioral engagement in school activities
  (Ormrod, 2008).

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The Middle School as a Developmental Context

• Individuals have changing emotional, cognitive,
  and social needs and personal goals as they
  mature. Schools need to change in developmentally
  appropriate ways if they are to provide the kind
  of social context that will continue to motivate
  students interest and engagement as the students
  mature.
• (Eccles, 2004 pp. 125-126)

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The Middle School as a Developmental Context

• Teachers can engage and motivate students in
  developmentally appropriate ways by providing
• Positive teacher-student rapport sense of
  belonging
• Supportive classroom learning environment
• Relevant and meaningful classroom instruction
• Autonomy, guidance, and structure
• (Eccles et al., 1993 Roeser, Midgley,
  Urdan,1996 Skinner Belmont, 1993)

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Teacher-Student Rapport

• The quality of teacher-student relationships is
  one of
• the most important factors affecting students
  well-being, motivation, and learning during the
  school day.
• Positive teacher relationships promote
• Self-efficacy
• Intrinsic motivation
• Self-regulated learning
• Decreased misbehavior
• Academic achievement
• (Anderman, 2003 Goodnow, 1993
• Ormrod, 2008 Wentzel, 1997)

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Classroom Climate

• A positive classroom climate makes learning a
  high priority, and allows students to feel safe
  and secure and to take risks and make mistakes in
  the learning process.
• Positive classroom climate promotes
• Increased motivation and engagement
• Fewer emotional and behavioral problems
• Higher self-esteem
• Academic achievement
• Safe haven for high-risk students
  

(Goodenow, 1993 Kuperminc et al. 2001 Patrick,
Ryan, Kaplan, 2007 Roeser, Eccles, Sameroff,
1998)
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Classroom Instruction

• Students may become bored and unengaged when the
  school context is not responsive to their
  developmental needs.
• Classroom instruction needs to change in ways
  that are concurrent with adolescents
  development.
• Cognitive development
• Diverse life experiences
• Identity, autonomy, and social needs
• Students need to be engaged in
• meaningful, authentic learning
• activities that are challenging and
• culturally relevant.
• (Ames, 1992 Eccles, 2004 Ormrod, 2008)

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TARGET Principles of Motivation(Ames, 1992)
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Literacy Development and Instruction

• Overview
• Model of Young Adolescent Reading Development
• Gradual Release of Responsibility
• Explicit Comprehension Instruction

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Model of Young Adolescent Reading Development
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Gradual Release of Responsibility

• Difficult textbooks
• Challenging vocabulary
• Often written 2 or more grades levels above that
  in which they are used
• Little explicit instruction

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Explicit Comprehension Instruction

• Appropriately Matched Text
• Prediction/Prior Knowledge
• Think-aloud
• Text structure
• Visual representations
• Summarization
• Questions/questioning
• Thoughtful Literacy

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Transition from Middle to High School

• Overview
• High Schools
• Difficulties Associated with the Middle to High
  School Transition
• Failure to Negotiate a Successful Transition
• Dropping Out of School
• 9th Grade Success
• Keys to a Smooth Transition

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The passage of students from the middle grades
to high school is the most difficult transition
point in education. The failure rate in grade
nine is three to five times higher than that of
any other grade.
Southern Regional Education Board, 2002
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As students make the transition from middle
school to high school, schools become

• Larger
• More impersonal
• Less socially supportive
• More competitive
• More academically challenging

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Why is the 8th to 9th grade transition so
difficult?

• Number of transitions
• Multiple simultaneous transitions
• Viewed as instant young adults
• Developmentally unsupportive traditional school
  environment
• Greater demands
• Different rules
• Different expectations
• Lack of support

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Failure to negotiate a successful transition can
lead to

• Absenteeism
• Discipline problems
• Decline in extracurricular activities
• General dislike for school
• Decrease in self-esteem
• Increase in depression
• Academic decline
• Retention
• Dropping out of school

Escalates for specific groups of students
Most troublesome in 9th grade
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Dropping Out of School

• 1x failure 50 decrease in chances of
  graduating
• 2x failure 75 decrease in chances of graduating
• In 2001, 15-17 year olds make up 42.5 of nations
  dropouts
• 50 of dropouts remain unemployed
• Median income 12, 184
• Report poorer health than non-dropouts
• 67 of nations inmates are dropouts
• Ex) State of Florida (2003-2004)
• 25,587 students
• 59 minority

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Transition from 8th to 9th as a Predictor of
9th Grade Success
8th graders that are part of a transition program
are

• less likely to fail 9th grade
• have higher grades
• less likely to drop out

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Keys to a Smooth Transition

• Organize schools in developmentally appropriate
  ways
• Develop a curriculum aimed at high academic
  performance
• Establish a comprehensive transition program for
  moving out of the middle level

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Group Task

• Brainstorm ways to create a literacy classroom,
  or improve your current literacy classroom, to
  support young adolescent development and help
  students make the transition into middle and high
  school.

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Questions?

• Danielle Dennis, Dennis_at_coedu.usf.edu
• Cheryl Ellerbrock
• Ellerbro_at_coedu.usf.edu
• Sarah Kiefer
• Kiefer_at_coedu.usf.edu
• Audra Parker
• Aparker_at_coedu.usf.edu