scholarly journals The negative impacts of starting middle school in sixth grade

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Cook ◽  
Robert MacCoun ◽  
Clara Muschkin ◽  
Jacob Vigdor
Author(s):  
Ryan Austin Fisher ◽  
Nancy L. Summitt ◽  
Ellen B. Koziel

The purpose of this study was to describe the voice change and voice part assignment of male middle school choir members. Volunteers ( N = 92) were recruited from three public middle school choral programs (Grades 6-8). Participants were audio-recorded performing simple vocal tasks in order to assess vocal range and asked to share the music they were currently singing in class. Results revealed 23.91% of participants’ voices could be categorized as unchanged, 14.13% as Stage 1, 3.26% as Stage 2, 10.87% as Stage 3, 26.09% as Stage 4, and 21.74% as Stage 5. The majority of sixth-grade participants were classified as unchanged or in Stage 1 of the voice change and the majority of eighth-grade participants were classified in Stages 4 to 5 of the voice change. Of the participants labeled “tenors” in their choir, over 60% were classified as either unchanged voices or in Stage 1 of the voice change.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen A. Skinner ◽  
Emily A. Saxton

The way that students cope with the difficulties and setbacks they encounter daily in their academic work can make a material difference to their learning, school success, and capacity to re-engage with challenging educational activities. Because of their potential importance to students’ everyday academic resilience, educators and researchers are interested in the development of adaptive and maladaptive ways of coping—both how they improve or deteriorate over students’ educational careers and the factors that underlie their differential development. Using information on self-reports of 5 adaptive and 6 maladaptive ways of coping, collected from 1,018 American third through sixth graders in fall and spring of the same school year, this study examined (1) the normative progression of these 11 ways of coping across fall of third to spring of sixth grade, and (2) whether developmental patterns differed for students with differing motivational resources. A generally stable profile of constructive coping was evident during Grades 3 and 4 (in which adaptive strategies were high and maladaptive responses low), followed by modest improvements across fourth to fifth grades. Marked shifts were apparent across the transition to middle school. Compared to spring of fifth grade, students in fall of sixth grade reported lower levels of all adaptive and higher levels of all maladaptive ways of coping, and this trend persisted across the first year of middle school. Although motivational resources did not produce differing developmental trends, they did seem to organize coping. Highest levels of adaptive coping were found for students high in both personal and interpersonal assets, just as the highest levels of maladaptive coping were found for students high in both personal and interpersonal liabilities. Findings suggest that both motivational and developmental approaches are needed to fully account for patterns of age-graded trends in academic coping across late elementary and early middle school.


2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (s1) ◽  
pp. S129-S138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Cohen ◽  
Scott Ashwood ◽  
Molly Scott ◽  
Adrian Overton ◽  
Kelly R. Evenson ◽  
...  

Background:Proximity to routine destinations is an important correlate of physical activity. We examined the association between distance from school and physical activity in adolescent girls.Methods:We mapped the addresses of 1554 sixth-grade girls who participated in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) Study and calculated the shortest distance from home to school along the street network. Using a hierarchical design we examined the association between MET-weighted moderate to vigorous physical activity (MW- MVPA) and distance to school, while controlling for potential confounders.Results:Distance to school was inversely associated with weekday MW- MVPA for middle school girls. For every mile the girls lived from their schools, they engaged in an average of 13 fewer MET-weighted minutes per week.Conclusions:Distance to school is inversely associated with MW-MVPA. The most adversely affected girls lived more than 5 miles from school. Time spent commuting could explain reduced time for physical activity.


2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dallas Price

This article describes the process, tools, and benefits of engaging highly gifted middle-school age students in producing historical documentaries. Dallas Price, a sixth-grade teacher in a self-contained public school program for highly gifted students, highlights the project components that help students develop twenty-first-century skills within a content- and inquiry-driven historical documentary project. Collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and craftsmanship are project outcomes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 407-411
Author(s):  
Lee Anne Coester

Take an incredible true adventure; add a lot of estimation and hands-on measurement; stir in parts of reading, writing, history, geography, and science; and one has the recipe for a powerful mathematics lesson. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World is an extraordinary true story by Jennifer Armstrong. The book follows the story of Ernest Shackleton and 27 men who set out in 1914 to become the first people to cross Antarctica. Instead, their ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the ice and sank, leaving the crew who had no way to communicate with the outside world to find a way back to civilization. They made their way across ice floes and wild seas to an island where 22 of the men made camp to wait. Shackleton and 5 of his crew then set out in a 20-foot boat to cross 800 miles of ocean to find help. Nearly 2 years after the expedition began, the last of the crew were rescued, and all 28 men survived! For a week, in lieu of regular mathematics class and the time when teacher Karen Grokett normally reads to her sixth-grade students at Chase County Middle School in Strong City, Kansas, we went on a daily mathematics adventure. By doing a little planning and by inviting questions to encourage student inquiry, the lesson took on a remarkable life of its own.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092093555
Author(s):  
Marie-Line Bosse ◽  
Catherine Brissaud ◽  
Hélène Le Levier

This paper presents the results of a longitudinal spelling study conducted among 496 school children, from sixth grade (the first year of middle school in France) to ninth grade (the fourth and final year of middle school in France). Its first objective is to examine the evolution of both lexical and grammatical spelling skills in a deep orthography and to present new findings on the advanced mastery of spelling skills. Its second aim is to provide insight into pupils’ orthographic knowledge and remaining difficulties at the end of French compulsory schooling. Pupils were assessed using the same text dictation when they were sixth graders and when they were ninth graders. The data show that both lexical and grammatical performance increased from the sixth to ninth grade and that these interact with each other. The qualitative analysis of errors allows points of resistance in the acquisition of French orthography to be highlighted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4_suppl3) ◽  
pp. 2325967120S0024
Author(s):  
Alexander Wu ◽  
Kate Ackerman ◽  
Michelle Barrack ◽  
Adam Tenforde

Background: High school athletes participating in cross-country sports are at increased risk of overuse injuries. Little is known in younger athletes including those participating in running during middle school regarding prevalence of injuries or related risk factors. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of sports-related injuries in middle school cross-country runners. Methods: This was a retrospective online survey study of middle school cross-country runners. Middle school cross-country coaches from middle school teams in the Boston area sent letters of invitation via email to the parents of their athletes to participate in an optional, anonymous online survey administered in REDCap. Participants received a $5 gift card for their time. The online survey included demographic information, weight, height, training variables, daily dietary patterns, and injury history. We conducted univariate and bivariate analyses while stratifying for sex. Results: A total of 101 subjects completed the survey, 47% (n=48) were female. Mean age was 12.5 years [SD 0.94], and 24% (n=24) were in sixth grade, 39% (n=39) in seventh grade, and 38 % (n=38) in 8th grade. The mean BMI for girls was 17.9 kg/m2 and for boys 18.24 kg/m2. The self-reported race/ethnicity was white in 72% (n=72), Asian in 22% (n=22), Latino in 5% (n=5), and black in 1% (n=1). Mean weekly mileage during the cross-country season was 15.2 miles [SD 7.6]. Of female subjects, 17% (n=8) reported that they were diagnosed with a bone stress injury (BSI) due to running, compared to 2% (n=1) of male subjects, p=0.009. The injured bones in females included the tibia (n=1), fibula (n=1), navicular (n=1) and metatarsal bones (n=6). The injured bone in the male was a sacral fracture. Compared to those without injury, runners with BSIs did not have observed differences in calcium or vitamin D intake; no differences were observed related to ball sport or other forms of strengthening exercises. A total of 63 non-fracture injuries occurred from running, with females (18%) more likely to have sprained ankles than males (6%, p=0.47). Conclusions/Significance: Running-related injuries are relatively common in middle school cross-country runners. In middle school, female runners are more likely to sustain running related BSIs than male runners. Efforts to prevent overuse stress injuries in middle school runners should be considered. [Table: see text]


Author(s):  
Catherine Schifter

Like fifth grade, sixth grade may be in an elementary school or a middle school. In my elementary school way back when in time, sixth grade was the highest grade. This meant we were the oldest in the school and had leadership opportunities – like helping out in the school office or in the cafeteria. We were the ‘big kids on campus,’ so to speak. In some middle schools in Philadelphia, sixth grade has been the youngest group. As noted with fifth grade, there is no doubt a difference in the experiences for students depending on whether they are in an elementary school setting or middle school setting. To such ends, many middle schools are being phased out of the district in exchange for elementary schools that have Kindergarten through eighth grades. Two of the schools represented by these sixth grade teachers were undergoing such changes starting in fall 2005.


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