School Transitions, Impact, Intervention, and Policy

Transitions in life represent a time of potential transformation in self-definition and interpersonal relationships, which may, for better or worse, have a long-term impact on academic performance, mental health, and future life opportunities. Transitions often represent turning points where either dramatic growth or destructive patterns of growth and development ensue (Ruble & Seidman, 1996).

School transitions are critical transitions that occur during childhood and adolescence. One common differentiating feature of school transitions is whether they are normative or nonnormative. Nonnormative school transitions include unscheduled transfers to a new school at the beginning of or during a school year, often as a result of a family relocation. Normative school transitions, on the other hand, are scheduled transitions that large cohorts of students make at the same time, such as the transition to elementary school, the transition from elementary school to middle grade schools, the transition from middle grade schools to senior high schools, and the transition from senior high schools into colleges (Ruble & Seidman, 1996).

This entry discusses the nature and effects of normative school transitions on development, in terms of both academic performance and psychological well-being. Individual characteristics that place students at [Page 958]risk for maladaptive mental health and educational outcomes, and ecological characteristics of schools that help to hinder or “smooth” the disruptive effects of school transitions, are examined. The developmental mismatch hypothesis is presented as the most cogent way to understand the short- and long-term effects of the confluence of normative school transitions and individual development (Eccles & Midgley, 1989). There is then a review of intervention programs that either foster positive developmental trajectories or prevent youth from traveling on destructive pathways commencing at the time of school transitions (Seidman, Aber, & French, 2003). Last, future directions for research and action are described.