Do middle schools result in higher achievement than high schools?

Question: Do middle schools result in higher achievement than high schools?

This question addresses the academic outcomes of students in high schools that are organized similarly to large comprehensive high schools with divisions into departments, 40-50 minute periods, subject teachers, and competitive sports, compared to middle schools. that use various degrees of the five commonly endorsed practices considered essential to the middle-level model of schooling: teamwork, exploratory courses, co-curricular programs, advisory arrangements, and intramural activities. These delineations, however, are not consistent, as many high schools contain middle school components and vice versa.

The topic is complex for several other reasons. Achievement research often relates academic achievement to practices and programs, not school type. These programs may exist in high schools or middle schools, although “true” middle schools employ recommended practices to a greater extent. Another factor is the paucity of research on the effectiveness of practices, the difficulty of comparing studies, and weak and contradictory research methodologies. Additionally, data aggregation can remove the effects of variables such as organizational issues and other inputs, such as teacher and student characteristics; As a result, many studies ignore the relationships between organizations, community, and teaching-learning outcomes.

Contextual factors can also confound the effects of a specific practice, and the perceptions of teachers and principals can result in biased judgmental measures. For example, research on team building exemplifies both the complexity of numerous variables that affect outcomes, the challenges of collecting usable data from teams, and the diverse research methods that make it difficult to generalize from multiple studies. As a final consideration, the assumption that underlies achievement is its relationship with the achievements obtained by all types of students, creating relevant programs and practices that keep students at risk above their level of vulnerability and reduce the rate of absenteeism and desertion. .

Therefore, it is understandable that studies addressing the relationship between school factors (organization/programs/practices) and achievement show mixed results.

Studies related to performance and programs and practices show mixed results. Looking at the effects of teamwork on achievement, two studies from the last two decades concluded that neither the organization of interdisciplinary teams nor the traditional departmental organization promoted higher student achievement. On the other hand, in an experimental study of 67 pairs of seventh graders, matched in interdisciplinary and departmental organizations, math gains for interdisciplinary and reading performance gains were found to be equal for both groups. These studies indicated gains in performance and/or affective outcomes, although conclusions about the model were unclear. We found modest positive improvements in performance and engagement in academic work for students in less departmental settings and more team teaching in combination with heterogeneous groups.

The researchers pointed to problems inherent in determining the effects of teamwork, while pointing to inconsistent findings from studies related to teamwork. There is also little conclusive research on the effectiveness of performance coaching programs.

Two of the three studies related to schools and performance show gains for restructured middle schools. We looked at the various stages of middle school turnaround in a longitudinal study of 1,250 students and 622 teachers in schools rated at levels of implementation of new recommendations. The researchers found better student outcomes in achievement, behavior, and social-emotional factors in schools with higher levels of implementation of new recommendations compared to more traditional high school approaches.

The percentage of students who passed all courses was higher than in the national normative group. The holding power of these schools was generally very high; five of the eight schools reported that all students completed the school year. The importance of holding power impacts achievement when the value focuses on the importance of achievement gains for all types of students.

We examined 76 rural community-based or consolidated schools for relationships between middle school and demographic variables. We have found significant correlations between students’ socioeconomic status and performance, confirming previous performance results. Studies of secondary schools that are being restructured in a similar way to middle schools find that the more supportive environments of communally organized schools compared to bureaucratically organized schools affect achievement.

These studies confirm the findings of other researchers that although specific practices, programs, and teachers can affect student achievement, the combination of teacher-student interactions, practices, and programs are more likely to affect student outcomes.