Class and Student Body Size Schools vary widely in the number of students

in each class and in the school as a whole.

Being in small classes from kindergarten through third grade predicts higher academic achievement in later grades as well as greater likelihood of graduating from high school, particularly for low-income students.

Small class size beneficial due to discipline and concentration

The impact of small class size on children’s social behavior is inconsistent.

In secondary school, the size of the school as a whole profoundly affects school life.

Small schools/many benefits Large schools

Reorganizations of large schools that create smaller “schools within schools” can have these beneficial effects.

Extracurricular participation focusing on the arts, community service, and vocational development promotes diverse aspects of adjustment, including improved academic performance, reduced antisocial behavior, more favorable self-esteem and initiative, and greater peer acceptance and concern for others.

The timing of transitions from one school level to the next, starting with kindergarten entry, affects students’ achievement and psychological adjustment.

Early Adjustment to School In studies of factors that predict effective

transition to kindergarten, children with more preschool experience scored higher on school readiness tests and showed increasingly positive school attitudes.

Liking for school predicted greater classroom participation, which, in turn, predicted higher achievement.

Effects of children’s personality styles:

Friendly and Pro-social Argumentative/Aggressive Style Peer Avoidant

In a follow-up of 4-year-olds, children of average intelligence but with above-average social skills fared better in academic achievement in first grade than children of equal mental ability who were socially below average.

Because social maturity in early childhood contributes to later academic performance, readiness for kindergarten should be assessed in terms of both academic and social skills, and preschool interventions should address social prerequisites.

In early adolescence, students typically move from an intimate, self-contained elementary school classroom to a much larger, impersonal secondary school where they must shift from one class to the next.

Each school change—from elementary to middle school and then to high school—brings a decline in adolescents’ grades resulting from tighter academic standards but also attributable to the transition to secondary school, which often brings less personal attention, more whole-class instruction, and less chance to participate in classroom decision making.

Students rate their middle or junior high school learning experiences less favorably than their elementary school experiences and report that their teachers care less about them, are less friendly, grade less fairly, and stress competition more and mastery and improvement less.

As a result, many young people feel less academically competent and experience a drop in motivation.

Any school transition is likely to depress adolescents’ psychological well-being temporarily, but the earlier it occurs, the more dramatic and long-lasting its impact, especially on girls’ self-esteem.

puberty

Adolescents who face added strains, such as family disruption, poverty, low levels of parental involvement, or learned helplessness on academic tasks, are at greatest risk for self-esteem and academic difficulties.

Distressed young people whose school performance drops sharply often show a persisting pattern of poor self-esteem, motivation, and achievement, compared to well-adjusted youths or those with problems only in a single area.

Helping Adolescents Adjust to School Transitions School transitions often lead to

environmental changes that fit poorly with adolescents’ developmental needs.

-disrupt close relationships

-competition heightened- Reduce decision making- Interfere with peer acceptance

Enhanced support from parents, teachers, and peers eases the strain of school transition.

Forming smaller units within large schools also helps, by permitting closer relations with teachers and peers and greater extracurricular involvement.

Other, less extensive changes are also effective Homerooms can be provided in which teachers offer

academic and personal counseling and work closely with parents to promote favorable school adjustment.

Students can be assigned to classes with several familiar peers or a constant group of new peers—arrangements that promote emotional security and social support.

In schools that intervened in these ways, students were less likely to decline in academic performance and to display other adjustment problems.

Teenagers’ perceptions of the sensitivity and flexibility of their school learning environments contribute substantially to successful school transitions.

When schools minimize competition and differential treatment by ability, students are less likely to experience negative effects of school transitions.

School rules that strike young people as fair rather than punitive also foster satisfaction with school life.

For all students, parent involvement in education—keeping tabs on the child’s progress, communicating often with teachers, and ensuring that the child is enrolled in challenging, well-taught classes—promotes academic motivation and achievement throughout elementary and secondary school.