Adolescent Lives in Transition

How Social Class Influences the Adjustment to Middle School

By Donna Marie San Antonio

Subjects: Educational Psychology, Education, Philosophy Of Education
Paperback : 9780791460368, 344 pages, May 2004
Hardcover : 9780791460351, 344 pages, May 2004

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Table of contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

List of People

Introduction: Social Class and Adjustment to School in Rural Places

1. A Methodology for Research with Young Students

Part I—The Towns

 

Introduction
2. Hillside—On the Way to Somewhere Else
3. Lakeview—Journey's End
Conclusion

 

Part II—The School and its Teachers and Students

 

Introduction
4. Mountainview Middle School
5. Sixth Grade Hopes, Seventh Grade Discoveries
6. A Transition for Parents and Teachers
7. Classrooms, Teams, and Teaching Styles
8. How Students Shape Less-Structured Environments
Conclusion

 

Part III—The Emotional, Participatory, and Academic Realms of Students' Lives

 

Introduction
9. Peer, Home, and School Self-Esteem
10. Extracurricular Participation
11. Ability Grouping
12. Success and Struggle in the Transition to Middle School
13. Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice

 

Appendix 1. Comparisons of Educational and Economic Factors
Appendix 2. Rubric for Defining Socioeconomic Status Categories
Appendix 3. Recommendations of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development
Appendix 4. Student Questionnaire
Appendix 5. Table of Self-Esteem Means
Appendix 6. Student Participation Survey
Appendix 7. Town and Gender Comparisons of California Achievement Test Scores

Notes

References

Index

Research on the impact of social class variables on experiences of adolescents as they transition to middle school.

Description

Addressing the issues of educational equity and social class diversity, Donna Marie San Antonio documents the challenges adolescents face when making the transition from elementary school to middle school. The book explores the values, resources, and ways of interacting that students from diverse economic backgrounds bring from their families and communities, and how they are enabled or discouraged from integrating these assets in their new school environment.

Donna Marie San Antonio is Lecturer on Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and the founder and co-director of the Appalachian Mountain Teen Project.