High School Transition

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The transition from middle school to high school can be a troubling time. Some students thrive and adapt to the change, while others struggle from the very first day of ninth-grade. For those struggling freshmen, high school can quickly become overwhelming, resulting in poor academic achievement and attendance, and disruptive behaviors.
Many students are filled with anxiety and fear because they often lack skills in the areas of organization, study skills, and conflict resolution (Reyes, Gillock, and Kobus, 1994). This lack of skill sets tends to lead to poor grades, student apathy, and increased drop-out rates (Mizelle, 2005). Due to these issues, the freshman year of high school has been identified by scholars as the most important year of high school (Reyes, et al., 1994). According to Tony Spears, Alcoa High School Assistant Principal, “The transitional period, between middle school and high school, is considered one of the most monumental changes in the lives of students. It is even greater than the transition from high school to college” (2017).
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However, whether students attend rural, suburban, or inner-city schools, problems arise when they fail to establish, or maintain, positive peer groups, gain acceptance of teachers, and adapt to the policies and procedures, of their new surroundings (McIntosh, Flannery, Sugai, Braun, & Cochrane, 2008). These students are also often not equipped with positive coping mechanisms. Their inabilities to meet the new demands, make the transition to high school unmanageable, and often lead to an increase in discipline issues and drop-out rates (Reyes, et al.,