CONCEPT PAPER

Concept Paper

Chapter 1: Introduction

Statement of the Problem

This study will examine the perceptions of eight students and their teachers regarding the academic, social and procedural transition issues from middle school to high school. Students will encounter many changes progressing from middle school to high school. For many, it may be a difficult acclimating themselves to a new school environment. Middle school students typically are very needy at this age and are not able to find the same assistance at the high school that they sought out in middle school (Boykin 2000). The outline of the paper is as follows: Chapter 1 provides an overview of the study that discusses the problem and purpose for the study. Chapter 2 presents a review of the related literature, a review of research documents related to literature, a review of research documents related to the problem, and the proposed intervention. Chapter 3 provides a description of the research design and proposed methodology for the study and explains the limitations and delimitations of the study.

The topic. The study will investigate the perceptions of students and teachers involved in making the eighth grade transition a successful one to high school.

The research problem Although many middle school students are anxious to begin high school and their ninth grade year, it proves to be difficult for many. Middle school environments generally are smaller and divide students into teams or academies that have a pre-college focus. The teachers and administrators in the middle school setting work closely with the students academically in order to assure their success. Middle schools have begun providing transition programs to make the student aware of what will be required of them at the high school level. Middle schools have programs designed to enable students to have a smooth transition to high school. (Jordan 1985)

A review of literature reveals a vast amount of information regarding student (Akos, 2002) transition from high school to college, but there is a lack of research concerning the transition of middle school students to high school. Research shows that students who performed well academically at the middle school level struggled to stay on course and advance to from ninth grade to the next level (Boykin et al. 2005). As a result there should be an early intervention to have a positive effect on the middle school transition to high school for students (Cohen & Smerdon, 2009).

This study will examined the middle school eighth graders preparedness for high school in several categories. A survey will be issued to current eighth teachers regarding their perceptions; the categories will include academic, social and procedural transition issues. However since the number of students is greater and are more heterogeneity in their perceptions, observation will be used rather than being surveyed.

Background and justification. There are a number of negative outcomes related to student completion of high school. In 2007, the median income of persons 18 to 65 was approximately $24,000. In comparison, the median income of persons aged 18 to 65 who completed ...