Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Mel D. Coleman
Committee Member
Robert Kershaw
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
administrators, adolescence, behavior, budget constraints, curriculum, discipline, discipline infractions, educational transition, elementary schools, implementation, in-school suspensions, low-achieving students, middle schools, out-of-school suspensions, peer relationships, planning, procedural education, program evaluation, program implementation, qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, school rules, student achievement, student discipline, student perceptions, student transition, summer transitional program, suspensions, teacher expectations, teacher relationships, transitional programs, truancy, 6th-grade students, Stufflebeam model
Abstract
The transition from elementary to middle school has proven to be difficult for all stakeholders. Reports of increased discipline infractions and truancy, combined with a noticeable drop in overall student achievement, have resulted in numerous attempts to ease the anxieties and frustrations that are characteristic of this transition. Schools often establish transitional programs to prepare incoming middle school students with the skills needed to be successful in a new educational environment. Transitional programs are often very expensive to operate and require an extensive amount of planning. This program evaluation considered 1 specific transitional program that took place during the summer prior to students entering middle school. Beginning in 2001, the transitional program was a 4-day program offered to low-achieving students. In 2005, the program was expanded to include all incoming 6th-grade students. However, due to budgetary constraints, the program was recently shortened to 1 day. The context, input, process, and product model of program evaluation (Stufflebeam, 1966) was used to analyze the planning, implementation, and assessment aspects of the program throughout its years of existence. Specifically, the purpose of this evaluation was to determine whether student disciplinary trends as evidenced by the instances of 1st semester in-school and out-of-school suspensions issued to 6th-grade students related to the length and thoroughness of the summer transitional program. Evaluation methods included (a) qualitative interviewing of program attendees and staff regarding the program‟s effectiveness in preparing students for the complexities of middle school; (b) quantitative surveying of attendees, teachers, and administrators; and (c) quantitative data collection of discipline infractions. To help guide this study, the following research questions were established:
1. Does the length of the summer transitional program affect student disciplinary trends as evidenced by instances of in-school and out-of-school suspensions?
2. Do the format and curriculum of this summer transitional program align with pertinent research on successful transitional programs?
3. Do program attendees believe that the summer transitional program adequately addresses their concerns regarding the entrance to middle school?
4. Do administrators and teachers find the program to be beneficial for transitioning students?
Analysis of the data revealed a connection between transitional program length and the amount of suspensions issued to 6th-grade students. As the program was shortened, suspension rates increased. The overall format of the program proved to be reflective of other successful transitional programs. When surveyed and interviewed, incoming 6th-grade students referenced peer and teacher relationships as being important aspects of the elementary-to-middle school transition. Teachers and administrators referenced procedural education such as learning school rules and teacher expectations as being important aspects of the elementary-to-middle school transition.