Author: Matthew T.

Theriot, David Dupper

Title: Student Discipline Problems and the Transition from Elementary to Middle School

Journal: Education and Urban Society · January 2010

Page Summary
205 1.Transition from elementary to middle school is an important stage for academic success.
A substantial body of research report this transition as stressful for many students.
Studies have linked the transition to middle school with negative educational outcomes as well as
declines in student motivation, functioning, and attitudes toward school.
Boys tend to show a significant drop in academic achievement and girls appear to experience a greater
level of psychological distress.
2.Several authors have pointed to significant developmental changes as a source of this stress. Most
prominent are changes resulting from the onset of puberty.
These pubertal changes involve physical, emotional, and social changes and have been shown to be
associated with heightened emotionality, conflict, and defiance of adults.
3.A parallel body of research considers specific factors in the middle school environment that differ
significantly from elementary school as a potential source of stress associated with the transition into
middle school.
206 1.Disciplinary problems will be associated with the transition from elementary school to middle school.
Most research highlights that ethnic minority students (especially African American students) are more
likely to be disciplined for subjective infractions than White students.
students’ socioeconomic status and gender, school characteristics and teacher attitudes also have
been linked to differences in discipline referrals and outcomes.
210 Table 1 shows the comparison of infraction commit by grade 5 and grade 6 students.
211 Table 2 shows demographic and descriptive characteristics.
There were 18% more disciplinary referrals for 6th graders compared to 5th graders for all infractions
214 There is increasing in the number of infraction in middle school compared to the elementary school.
For all three infraction categories, the percentages of males, ethnic minorities, and students in poverty
with a disciplinary incident exceed their percentages in the general student body.
The percentages of males, ethnic minorities, and students in poverty with a disciplinary incident exceed
their percentages in the general student body.
215 The study shows a dramatic increase in discipline problems in
middle school compared to elementary school.
There was an 18% increase in the percentage of 6th graders, compared to 5th graders, written up for
any type of infraction.
Despite being a relatively small percentage of the total student body, almost two-thirds of subjective
disciplinary referrals in 6th grade involved a minority student.
Based on this study’s findings, it appears that students are worse behaved in middle school in at least
one objective category of infraction “fighting.”
217 The increases in the number of students disciplined for fighting as they enter middle school suggest
that schools should emphasize interventions that reduce peer-on-peer conflict.
219 The disciplinary problems in this study are especially acute
for ethnic minority students and students living in poverty.