How can parents, peers, and teachers help adolescents adjust to school transitions? What steps can school district officials take to ease the strains caused by these transitions?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

School transitions often lead to environmental changes that fit poorly with adolescents' developmental needs. They disrupt close relationships with teachers at a time when adolescents need adult support. They emphasize competition during a period of heightened self-focusing. They reduce decision making and choice as the desire for autonomy is increasing. Finally, they interfere with peer networks just as young people are becoming more concerned with peer acceptance.
Close teacher-student relationships are promoted when school district officials take steps to ease the strains caused by school transitions. For example, some school districts reduce the number of transitions by combining elementary and middle school into K-8 buildings. Compared with agemates who transition to middle school, K-8 sixth and seventh graders score higher in achievement. Teachers and administrators in K-8 buildings report more positive social contexts-less chaos, fewer conduct problems, and better overall working conditions. These factors predict students' favorable school attitudes, academically and socially.
Forming smaller units within larger schools is another way to promote closer relationships between students and both teachers and peers. And establishing a "critical mass" of same-ethnicity peers helps teenagers feel socially accepted and reduces fear of out-group hostility. In the first year after a school transition, homerooms can be provided in which teachers offer academic and personal counseling. Finally, assigning students to classes with several familiar peers or a constant group of new peers strengthens emotional security and social support. In schools that take these steps, students are less likely to decline in academic performance or display other adjustment problems.