SCHOOLS The Transition to Middle or Junior High School Effective Schools for Young Adolescents High School Extracurricular Activities Service Learning

The Transition to Middle or Junior High School This can be difficult as adolescents may be facing individual, family and academic transitions during this time – Examples of individual changes include: puberty, body image, and social cognitions – Examples of family changes include: increased responsibility and less dependency on parents – Examples of school transitions include: more impersonal school structure, transition amongst multiple teachers, increased focus on achievement and performance – Top-dog phenomenon may occur in which adolescents – move form being the oldest, biggest, and most powerful students in elementary school to being the youngest, smallest, and least powerful students in middle or junior high school The transition may be less stressful when – Positive relationships with friends exist – The transition in team-oriented schools have students take the same classes together

Effective Schools for Young Adolescents Experts believe that activities should be offered to reflect individual differences in biological and psychological development amongst adolescents. A 1989 evaluation by The Carnegie Corporation, recommended the nation redevelop schools in this manner: – Develop smaller “communities” or “houses” to lessen impersonal nature of large middle schools – Lower student-to-counselor ratios – Involve parents and community leaders in schools – Develop new curricula – Have teachers team teach in more flexibly designed curriculum blocks that integrate several disciplines – Boost students health and fitness within the school – Connecting students to public healthcare as needed

High School Concerns about US High Schools – Expectations for learning and success are too low – Foster passivity – Schools should create a variety of pathways for students to achieve an identity – Students graduate with inadequate reading writing and math skills – Students drop out and are unable to obtain decent jobs Dropping Out – Drop out rates have decreased in the US since 1940 when nearly half of year olds dropped out. – Since 2006 the figure has decreased to less than 10 percent. – Rates remain high among Latinos and Native Americans – There are various reasons cited for dropping out which include school-related reasons (explosion), economic reasons and pregnancy among females. – Reading, tutoring, counseling and mentoring programs can be implemented as a reduction strategy to reduce drop out rates – Early detection of students engagement can help with reducing the drop out rate. – Example of a program: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which supports the IHAD program.

High School

Extracurricular Activities EA’s are adult-sanctioned activities that may go beyond the scope of academic courses – Example: sports, band, and drama Some extracurricular activities are academic based such as: – math club and science club Typically EA’s occur during after school hours and may be sponsored by the school or community Researchers have found positive correlations between EA’s and positive behaviors such as: – Higher grades, school engagement, lower rates of depression, delinquency and substance abuse The quality of the EA matters. High quality EA’s have the likelihood to promote positive adolescent development including: – Supportive adult mentors, increased school connectedness, meaningful activities and the opportunities to improve skills

Service Learning SL is a form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to their community. – Adolescents engage in activities such as tutoring, helping older adults, or cleaning up their communities with the goal that they will become less self-centered and motivated to help others. Benefits of SL: – Takes education into the community and ties it to helping others so that the benefit is not just to the adolescent but the recipient as well. – Improvements in adolescent development such as: higher grades, increased goal setting, higher self- esteem, improved sense of being able to make a difference for others feature=relmfu