Title: The Mythos of the Eighth to Ninth Grade Transition
1The Mythos of the Eighth to Ninth Grade Transition
- Greg MarshallBradford High SchoolFirst Year
Presenter
2Limitations
- This inquiry focuses on only those middle and
high school students in Bradford County, Florida
3The Middle Schools
- Bradford County has two middle school centers
- Bradford Middle School, in Starke
- Lawtey Community School (grades k-8) in Lawtey.
4The High School
- Bradford County has two public schools serving
grades 9-12 - Bradford High School, in Starke
- The Bradford-Union Vocational Center, also in
Starke.
5The Population
- The socioeconomic distribution of the school
populations and the minority percentages were not
considered in this inquiry in an attempt to limit
the variables.
6The Focus Discipline
- As this transition is perceived to manifest
itself in many aspects, this inquiry is focused
on only the area of discipline.
7The Perception
- At Bradford High School, 9th grade students earn
more discipline referrals and have a greater
truancy/tardy rate than the 10th-12th grades
combined. - This 9th grade behavior is most often explained
by teachers, counselors and administrators as the
result of the 8th to 9th grade transition
8The Question
- Is it true that these students are using this
time to adjust to the higher level of thinking,
more homework, more freedom and more
responsibility normally associated with high
school? - Or is the behavior they exhibit in high school
merely a continuation of their middle school
behaviors?
9The Data
- The following slide compares the total number of
referrals for - the 2005-06 8th graders in Bradford County
- the 2006-07 9th graders in Bradford County (to
date) - and extrapolated 9th grade data.
10Total Referral Comparison
11???!
- The county school board records seem to indicate
improved behavior during the 9th grade year! - What if the referrals for this population were
broken down into more specific categories?
12Refined Data
- The eighty-two discipline codes for referrals in
Bradford County Schools were combined into eleven
categories - These are violence, skipping/attendance,
disrespect, disruptive, drugs alcohol and
tobacco, property violation, sex infraction,
theft, tardies, other major offenses, and other
minor offenses.
13The Data
- The following slide compares the total number of
referrals in these categories for - the 2005-06 8th graders
- the 2006-07 9th graders (to date)
- and extrapolated 9th grade data.
142005-06 8th Grade Referrals vs. 2006-07 9th Grade
Referrals
1200
Referral types
1000
V Violence
800
S/A Skipping/Attendance
D Disrepect
Tot 8th Gd
DRU Disruptive
9th Gd T/D
600
D/A/T Drugs, Alcohol/Tobacco
Extrap 9th
P Property Violation
400
S Sex Infraction
Number of Referrals
T Theft
TAR Tardies
200
O/MJ Other Major Offenses
O/MN Other Minor Offenses
0
V
S/A
D
DRU
D/A/T
P
S
T
TAR
O/MJ
O/MN
Totals
54
66
111
399
3
8
5
1
290
4
39
980
Tot 8th Gd
22
93
112
191
5
4
4
1
46
2
11
491
9th Gd T/D
29
124
149
255
7
5
5
1
61
3
15
655
Extrap 9th
Referral Type
15Some Insights
- It is interesting to note that 9th grade behavior
was significantly worse in only one of the 11
categories listed skipping referrals. - The Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco referral category
also shows an increase for 9th grade, but at an
increase of only two incidences (or 4 incidences,
extrapolated for the year).
16Some Insights
- Statistically speaking, the Disrespect referral
category may also show a slight increase for 9th
graders by the end of the year. - In every other category, 9th grade behavior is
actually improved over 8th grade behavior!
17The Survey
- In March 2007, 9th graders enrolled in Bradford
High School science classes were given a survey
to ascertain their impressions of the 8th to 9th
grade transition. - (Students enrolled at the Vo-Tech in Agriculture
were not polled due to logistics problems).
18The Survey
- A total of 151 surveys were returned,
representing - 122 students from Bradford Middle School
- 8 students from Lawtey Community School
- 2 students from the Alternative School
- 3 students from private schools or home- schools
- 16 students from other counties or states
19The Survey
- Responses about adjusting that included
- (A)very easy(B)easy(C)fairly
difficult(D)difficult(E)very difficult - were grouped as either positive (A/B) or
negative (C/D/E) to facilitate the display of the
results.
20Survey Results
140
120
Q2a/b
100
Q2c/d/e
80
Q3a/b
60
Q3c/d/e
()
()
()
40
Q4a/b
20
(-)
(-)
Q4c/d/e
(-)
0
Question 3
Question 4
Question 2
2. Overall feelings about the 8th to 9th grade
transition3. Getting used to Bradford High
School Rules4. Being a part of the youngest
group of high school students
21Survey Results
Their Teachers
()
()
()
()
(-)
(-)
(-)
(-)
Quest. 5
Quest. 6
Quest. 7
Quest. 8
5. Getting used to high school teachers work
expectations6. Getting used to the amount of
homework assigned7. Getting used to the
difficulty of homework assigned8. Getting used
to attitudes of the teachers towards students
22Survey Results
Attitudes Towards Students
8. Getting used to the attitudes of teachers
towards students9. Getting used to the attitudes
of administrators towards students10. Getting
used to attitudes of students towards teachers
and each other
23Survey Results
School Size
()
()
()
(-)
(-)
(-)
11. Getting used to all the clubs, sports,
organizations12. Getting used to the size of the
high school campus13. Getting used to the size
of the high school classes
24Rule Enforcement
- How well were rules enforced at the two school
levels, according to the students? - Perhaps students behave differently at the two
grade levels because of different expectations
regarding school rules? - The following graph illustrates the students
view on this matter
25Rules Enforcement MS vs. HS
Rules Enforcement
80
75
- Rules always enforced
- Rules usually enforced depending on teacher or
administrator - Rules sometimes enforced
- Rules only enforced with certain teachers or
administrators - Rules hardly ever enforced
73
70
60
50
30
32
31
40
27
30
14
12
20
5
3
10
0
A B C D E A B C D E
(Middle School) (High School)
26- Statistically speaking, the students view of
rule enforcement is virtually identical at the
two grade levels! - Rules enforcement does not seem to be a factor in
referral rates between 8th and 9th graders.
27Conclusion
- The perception that the misbehavior of 9th
graders at Bradford High School is the result of
the transition to the high school environment
appears to be flawed. - Overall, discipline at this school appears to
LESS of a problem for 9th graders, with the
exception of skipping class, (and to a small
extent, classroom disruption).
28Conclusion
- This first study would appear to indicate that,
at BHS, 9th grade behavior is better than 8th
grade behavior, and (perhaps?) worse than 10th
grade behavior. - These behaviors appear to be more related to the
maturity and emotional development of the child,
and less related to any trauma due to the 8th to
9th grade transition.