Educational Research Service Making a Difference in Our Children’s Future

A quarterly journal of school research and information providing access to research studies and reports produced by administrators in local school districts across the nation. Spectrum also features practical research conducted by the academic community, as well as data relevant to public school operation produced outside the field of education.

ERS Spectrum—Summer 2002

The beginning of high school is a critical time for students. Research shows that making a successful transition to high school can help students form lasting attachments to school and increase students’ likelihood of graduating from high school. Today’s large, comprehensive high schools offer little support for incoming ninth-graders, however, prompting many school and district leaders to consider new organizational practices and programs designed specifically for ninth-graders. This study investigates the approaches taken by public high schools in Maryland to provide organizational and instructional practices to ninth-grade students to ease their transition into the high school environment. Three types of practices are examined: traditional transition activities, reformoriented practices promoted by the literature on communal school organization, and practices designed to offer additional instruction to students needing help with core academic subject matter.

In the 1993-94 school year, just prior to being named reconstitution-eligible by the Maryland State Department of Education, 57 percent of the nearly 2,000 students at Atlantic High School¹ were ninth-graders. Three-quarters of the school’s students missed 20 or more days of school, and the average daily attendance rate measured just below 70 percent. Faced with an eventual state takeover and displaying a record of undesirable student attendance, achievement, and dropout rates, and a school climate marked by student apathy and unruliness, this large, urban, comprehensive high school embarked on a whole-school reform process.

Teaming with researchers at a local university, Atlantic implemented widespread change to its structure and curriculum, including a comprehensive reorganization of programs offered to ninth-grade students. The redesign of the ninth-grade program at Atlantic included a school-within-a-school for ninth-graders, interdisciplinary teaming of students and teachers, block scheduling, and curricular and instructional changes focusing on the core academic subjects.

Five years after implementing these changes to the school organization, Atlantic High School has shown significant improvement in markers of student achievement and overall school climate. Yet, Atlantic continues to struggle with the task of helping ninth-graders make a successful transition to high school. In the 1999-2000 school year, less than twothirds of ninth-graders passed the basic skills Maryland Functional Math Test. Similarly, ninth-grade teachers and administrators report frequent discipline problems and characterize many of the ninth-graders as being academically unprepared for high school curriculum.

Over the five-year period since major reforms were instituted at Atlantic, additional changes have been made to the educational program for ninth-graders, eliminating some of the original reforms and implementing others in their place. However, both teachers and administrators agree that the educational program for ninth-graders is still not sufficient. In reflecting on the current program offered to ninth-graders, one administrator remarked,

Something else needs to be done. Something else can be added, because I feel as though we’re still not reaching them as far as making them understand that this is an important part of your life and you have to stay in school. They just don’t realize it until after they get through the ninth-grade. I don’t know. I just don’t think we’re giving them enough opportunities to mature as they should.

Changes to school organization and instructional programs for ninth-graders, as seen at Atlantic, are not uncommon in today’s climate of school restructuring. Research on school reform and restructuring nevertheless often fails to sufficiently address the unique characteristics and needs of ninth-grade students (Kerr, 2002). While the story of ninth-grade restructuring taking place at Atlantic High School must be told within the context of the additional challenges faced by large, urban high schools, it nonetheless illustrates the challenges faced by all high schools in effectively integrating ninth-graders into the high school environment. This research project examines the approaches public high schools in the state of Maryland are taking to rethink and reorganize their educational program for ninth-graders, paying close attention to the academic and social needs of these young adolescents as they enter high school.

Why Focus on the Ninth Grade?

Prior to the emergence of the Middle School Movement in the 1960s, the most common grade organization in American secondary schools consisted of a junior high school with grades 79 and a senior high school made up of grades 10-12. A focus on school organization for middle grades students in the 1960s and 1970s, however, led to the creation of middle schools, which most commonly served grades 68. As a result of this reorganization of middle grades schools, the ninth grade was moved to the high school, creating the 9-12 grade organization seen in the majority of today’s high schools. Yet the decision to move ninth-graders out of the middle level school was most often made for practical reasons, such as to make room for the influx of sixth-graders being moved to the new middle level school. Therefore, while ninth-graders have been firmly situated at the high school level for over three decades, educators continue to question the best placement for ninth-graders in the organizational framework of schooling (Alexander and George, 1981; National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1985; Epstein and MacIver, 1990).

In fact, the placement of the ninth grade in high schools presents several challenges to those assigned the task of educating these students. As the first year of high school, ninth grade becomes a critical time for students in the development of an educational trajectory that will carry them through high school and beyond. Unlike their older high school peers, ninth-graders represent a unique part of the high school population and have a unique set of needs. Two characteristics of ninth-graders are especially salient in considering their school success: involvement in a major school transition and stage of adolescent development.

School Transitions

Ninth-grade students are faced with a complex, new environment upon making the transition to high school. Three facets of the high school environment present specific challenges for transitioning students. First, upon entering high school, students face a larger, more diverse student population. With a greater number of peers and less individual contact with teachers, students are likely to feel a greater degree of anonymity (Blyth, Simmons, and CarltonFord, 1983) and a decreased sense of belonging (Roderick, 1993). Second, academic demands increase at the high school level. Students face new rules and raised academic expectations, an increase in departmentalization and differentiation by academic ability, and different instructional techniques that require new, more advanced skills (Roderick, 1993, 1995). Third, entering high school students encounter a new social structure and a dramatic change in their social status. Referred to as the “top dog” phenomenon, ninth-graders go from being the oldest, most experienced students in the middle level school to the youngest, newest members of the high school population. The change from “top dog” status to “bottom dog” may cause greater feelings of anonymity and isolation, thus hindering students’ abilities to become integrated into the new school community (Blyth, Simmons, and CarltonFord, 1983; Simmons & Blyth, 1987; Roderick, 1993).

Roderick and Camburn (1996) explain further that schools do little to provide students with support as they make the transition to high school, instead integrating ninth-graders into the larger school population and allowing them to fend for themselves. Without a supportive school environment, they found that students were more likely to have difficulty making the transition to high school and were less able to recover or improve once they started on a negative pathway. Similarly, Legters (2000) reports that many ninth-graders have a difficult time adjusting to the demands of high school, resulting in lower grades, more disciplinary problems, higher failure rates, and feelings that they don’t “fit in” to the high school community.

The results of difficulty during a school transition can be seen in negative outcomes for students. In general, there is a decline in student achievement following a school transition. Roderick (1993) found an average drop in grades of 18 percent following the transition to high school, a decline corresponding to two letter grades. Roderick and Camburn (1996, 1999) show further that students making the transition to high school are at great risk for early course failure. Of the ninth-graders they studied, course failure immediately following the transition to high school was not limited to students with low prior academic skills, making the threat of course failure an issue for entering ninth-graders of all achievement levels. Students making the transition to high school also show a decline in attendance (Roderick & Camburn, 1999) and an increase in feelings of perceived anonymity (Blyth, Simmons, and CarltonFord, 1983).

Student outcomes after the transition to high school play an important part in determining a student’s future educational pathway. Roderick & Camburn (1999) found that students failing courses during the first semester of high school were more likely to experience further deterioration in their school performance and not likely to experience a recovery. Finally, academic failure during the transition to high school is directly linked to the probability of dropping out. Roderick (1993) reports that over 60 percent of students who eventually dropped out of high school failed at least 25 percent of their credits in the ninth grade, while only 8 percent of their peers who eventually graduated had similar difficulty.

Adolescent Development

Researchers agree that adolescence is a time of great change, characterized by significant growth in physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development (Roderick, 1993; Fine, 1994; Braddock & McPartland, 1993; Alexander & George, 1981; Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989; Swanson, Spencer, and Petersen, 1998). The many developmental issues of adolescence relate to the school environment in several ways. First, because adolescents spend close to half of their waking hours in school, the school context serves as an important setting for adolescents as they face these various developmental tasks. For many, school is the first place they can assert their own independence and make choices to accept or go against the norms of expected behavior. It is also an intense world of changing relationships, with both peers and adults. Decisions made during this time, attempts at independence, and relative feelings of acceptance by friends and teachers all can affect students as they form their new sense of identity and self-concept. Finally, many of the problems faced by adolescents as they struggle with these developmental changes are manifested in behavioral and learning problems in the classroom, adding to the difficulties faced by most middle and high schools. As Michelle Fine explains, “The emotional, social, and psychological issues of young adolescents now litter our schools, masked as attendance problems, acting out, discipline problems, or even learning problems” (1994, 26).

While students making a school transition at any level face important changes in school environment, young adolescents are particularly vulnerable to difficulties during a transition. As discussed earlier, adolescents experience great developmental change during this period and struggle with issues of self-identity and acceptance by peers and adults. Experiencing a school transition, while also coping with the stress of adolescent development, may be too much for some adolescents to deal with, overwhelming their abilities to adapt well to the new school environment (Crockett et al., 1989). Many ninth-graders faced with these dual stressors lack the social and academic skills needed to successfully navigate the terrain of their new school environment.

Promising Practices: Ideas from Communal School Organization

Much of the recent research on secondary school organization suggests that the large, formal environment typically found in today’s comprehensive high schools may be detrimental to both student and teacher well-being (Gregory and Smith, 1987). Instead, norms of communal organization are being applied to school organization in an attempt to foster more personalized school communities characterized by caring relationships between teachers and students and shared educational goals and experiences (Bryk and Driscoll, 1988; Lee, Bryk, and Smith, 1993). Research on the effects of communal school organization report academic and social benefits to students, including improved student achievement, behavior, and engagement, as well as less absenteeism and lower dropout rates (Bryk and Driscoll, 1988; Bryk, Lee and Holland, 1993).

Proponents of communal school organization and researchers studying school restructuring have identified practices that encourage the kind of caring relationships and shared experiences indicative of a communal organization. Organizational reforms such as small learning communities, detracking in favor of a common core curriculum, interdisciplinary teams of teachers and students, and homeroom or advisory groups have been promoted as key reforms in the movement to create more personalized and responsive learning environments at the high school level.

Similarly, research on school transitions and on the education of early adolescents recommends organizational practices that best fit the social and academic needs of students during these times (Roderick, 1993, 1995; Braddock & McPartland, 1993; Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989). The great overlap in practices recommended by these three literature bases suggests that the most appropriate educational program for ninth-graders should include the tenets of communal school organization. By seeking to provide ninth-grade students with a caring learning environment and individualized attention to academic needs as they enter high school, educators can work to promote a smoother transition and propel students on a positive educational trajectory.

Current research, however, fails to address whether and how schools are using organizational practices, including those recommended in the literature on communal school organization, to meet the specific needs of ninth-graders and what the impact of those efforts might be. This study asks the following questions: What types of organizational practices are schools currently using to help ninth-graders make the transition to high school? What impact do these practices have on student outcomes? And, how do schools differ in their implementation of these practices? The present paper examines the approaches currently used by Maryland public high schools to provide an appropriate and effective educational program for ninth-graders. Three types of practices are examined: traditional transition activities, reformoriented practices promoted by the literature on communal school organization, and practices designed to offer additional instruction to students needing help with core academic subject matter.

Data and Methods

Primary data collection was conducted for this study in the form of a survey administered to all public high schools in Maryland. With the support of the Maryland State Department of Education, 174 schools were surveyed in spring 2000. The 79 percent response rate yielded a sample of 138 schools. The purpose of the survey was to learn about the kinds of programs and practices Maryland high schools currently are using with their ninth-graders, especially those aimed at easing the transition to high school.

Survey questions addressed the following areas: school scheduling, grouping of students for academic courses, the use of transition activities linking middle and high school teachers and/or counselors, the use of nontraditional organizational practices discussed in the literature on communal school organization or seen through experiences teaching or working with schools in the process of restructuring, the use of activities or programs designed to provide students with extra help in academic subject matter, and staff development focusing on the needs of adolescents. In-depth followup questions were asked about two practices: a schoolwithinaschool organization for ninth-graders and interdisciplinary teams of teachers and students. Additionally, questions regarding the scope of implementation, in terms of the number of years a practice has been in place and the percentage of ninth-graders affected, were asked for a subset of practices. Finally, data from the survey provide school-level student outcome measures.

A secondary source of data for this study was information about Maryland high schools collected by the Maryland State Department of Education. Measures of student participation, achievement, and background characteristics are collected from each school and reported annually in the Maryland School Performance Report. This source provides contextual information about each high school surveyed (school size, average student socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity composition), as well as additional outcome measures (e.g., schoolwide dropout rates and the percentage of ninth-graders passing the basic skills Maryland Functional Tests) for the survey year (1999-2000) and previous seven school years.

Finally, qualitative data were collected in the form of interviews and observations at two urban high schools. Guided by the literature on communal school organizations and secondary school organization, qualitative analyses focused on the use of small learning communities and interdisciplinary teaming with ninth-graders. Schools were identified as possible sites for qualitative data collection using the primary survey data and state educational performance reports. Data were collected in the form of interviews with ninth-grade teachers and administrators and observations of ninth-grade classrooms during December and January of the 2001-2002 school year.

Survey results describing the use of 23 organizational programs and practices with ninth-grade students are presented in three categories: (1) traditional transition activities; (2) reformoriented practices promoted by the literature on communal school organization; and (3) practices designed to offer additional instruction to students needing help with core academic subject matter. Also considered are differences in school demographic and outcome variables for schools currently implementing key communal practices, compared with schools not implementing the practices.

Findings

Traditional Transition Activities

Table 1 shows the percentage of schools using traditional transition activities for ninth-graders, either prior to or upon their entry to high school.

Many of these activities include coordination between high schools and feeder middle schools. Nearly all Maryland high schools participate in providing entering students with general information, either through an assembly or orientation program upon arrival at high school or by presenting information to eighth-graders about what to expect for their upcoming move to the ninth grade. Two-thirds of schools go one step further in increasing eighth-graders’ awareness by bringing eighth-grade students to the high school for an assembly or to experience high school classes.

Fewer schools participate in activities that address the academic content and preparedness of incoming students before they arrive at high school. Teachers from only half of Maryland high schools meet with middle grades teachers from feeder schools to coordinate course content and requirements. The relatively small proportion of high schools engaging in dialogue with middle school teachers to coordinate instructional standards is surprising in light of the current focus on standards that call for the integration of curriculum across both years and disciplines, and the common academic difficulties faced by many entering ninth-graders. Finally, 32 percent of high schools remediate students on academic content during the summer before entering high school.

Reform-Oriented Practices

Table 2 describes the use of practices that may promote a stronger school community for ninth-graders, many of which are identified in the research literature on communal school organization and high school restructuring.

Contrary to the organizational focus of traditional, comprehensive high schools, these practices address the unique social and/or academic needs of transitioning ninth-graders. Results show that a promising proportion of Maryland high schools are implementing these communal based practices.

First, there is a wide range of use of practices aimed specifically at ninth-grade instructional practices. Eighty percent of schools report using studentcentered instructional practices, such as cooperative learning or student-directed projects, an average of once a week or more, indicating that these instructional techniques have become commonplace in Maryland’s high schools. On the contrary, only 18 percent of Maryland high schools report that they use ability tracking with ninth-graders in no more than one of the four core academic classes. Survey results reveal that twothirds of schools continue to group by ability in all four core subjects, a surprising finding in light of the directive issued to all schools by the Maryland State Department of Education to use a common core curriculum with ninth-graders. In fact, over 80 percent of schools continue to track students by ability in two or more core classes.

Several practices in use in Maryland high schools represent broader organizational changes designed to address both academic and social needs. Changes to the school schedule, such as block scheduling and extended class periods (both in use at half of the schools surveyed), work to decrease the number of peers and teachers a student encounters in any given day or during a particular semester, possibly contributing to the feeling of a smaller and more manageable school community. More practically, they limit the number of times students change classes, decreasing disruption in the hallways, and, in the case of the 4x4 block schedule, they reduce the number of courses students must attend to at a given time, helping them stay organized and on top of assignments.

Twenty-five percent of schools report the use of a small learning community with ninth-graders, while nearly the same proportion reports the use of interdisciplinary teams. These practices, when implemented fully, require a more fundamental change to high school organization and the traditional subject-matter orientation of most high school faculties. Additionally, one-third of schools group students in homeroom or advisory groups, and 46 percent offer ninth-graders a curriculum or class to help them learn the study skills and social skills needed to be successful in high school. These practices integrate the desire for a smaller community of peers and teachers with efforts to provide individualized attention to students’ social and academic needs.

Finally, a small proportion of schools include programs tailored towards providing enriching social experiences for ninth-graders. One in four schools offers a summer enrichment program for students before entering ninth grade, while mentoring programs and Big Brother/Big Sister programs that link ninth-graders with older students are used by 37 percent and 24 percent of schools, respectively.

Practices Providing Additional Instruction

Results of survey questions regarding the use of practices that provide additional instruction to students needing help with core academic content matter are presented in Table 3.

Nearly 80 percent of high schools offer summer school for ninth-graders who have failed a core subject during the ninth grade, while 70 percent offer after-school or before-school help sessions for students. A smaller proportion of schools (just under 40 percent) provide pull-out programs in math or English for students identified as needing extra help. Pull-out programs refer to a specialized class context, such as a resource class, where students are provided additional instruction during the school day in the given subject. Follow-up questions revealed that many of the pull-out programs in place are geared toward remediating students who have not yet passed state functional tests.

Of note is the use of an extra subject period, or Double Dose, of a core academic class with ninth-graders in one-third of Maryland high schools. Double-dosing occurs when students receive two full courses of a given subject matter during the school year. This practice, a component of established whole-school reform models, is intended to provide students with a transition course in subjects like math or English to prepare them for the traditional ninth-grade curriculum (Jordan et al., 2000). For example, students may take a transition-oriented reading or writing class in addition to English I during the ninth grade. Finally, 13 percent of schools offer classes on Saturday to provide students with additional instruction.

Which Schools Are Using Communal Practices?

To assess whether different types of high schools choose to implement reform-oriented practices aimed at creating a more personalized school community for ninth-graders, average school demographic and outcome variables of schools using key communal practices were compared with schools in the state not using the given practice. Comparisons were made based on the use of the following practices: small learning communities, interdisciplinary teams, homeroom or advisory groups, extended class periods, and the use of ability tracking in no more than one of the core academic courses. Table 4 presents average school demographic and outcome variables for the sample as a whole and for the groups of schools using each of the five communal practices.²

Looking first at the characteristics of the sample as a whole reveals that public high schools in Maryland enroll an average of just over 1,300 students, of which 39 percent are minority students (defined as non-White) and 19 percent are eligible for meal subsidies. On average, high schools report promoting 89 percent of their ninth-graders to the 10th grade on time (i.e., at the end of the ninth-grade year), and 88 percent of ninth-graders have passed the Maryland Functional Math Test by the end of their ninth-grade year. Finally, the average schoolwide dropout rate for schools in the sample is 3.1 percent.

Schools implementing a small learning community, or academy, for ninth-graders are more likely to be located in the city of Baltimore, the only district in Maryland considered to be in an urban area. In fact, homeroom or advisory groups and extended class periods are also more likely to be found in Baltimore City High Schools. This is not surprising given the great pressure to reform and improve student performance placed on Baltimore’s schools by the district and state educational agencies. The introduction of a new accountability system in the early 1990s, and subsequent possibility for state takeover of schools not meeting performance requirements, prompted widespread efforts at school reform in many low-performing schools. In fact, during the 1995-96 school year, district officials directed all neighborhood comprehensive high schools in Baltimore to reorganize their schools into small learning communities; thus, schools in this district are more likely to have implemented small learning communities for ninth-graders, as well as other reform practices, than schools elsewhere in the state.

In fact, school performance records from previous years indicate that schools choosing to implement these reform practices are on average in much greater need of improvement on indicators of student performance to begin with than schools not choosing to implement the practices. It is these lower attendance and achievement rates, along with significant pressure to improve, which likely prompt schools to adopt reforms that are a deparure from traditional high school organization. For example, schools using small learning communities report lower ninth-grade passing rates on the Maryland Functional Math Test than schools not using small learning communities. While the average passing rates for schools using small learning communities have risen in recent eyars, in many cases following implementation of the practice, achievement levels in these schools remain below the average levels seen in schools not choosing to implement the practice.

Comparing average student socioeconomic status and minority enrollment adds to this conclusion. Schools using homeroom or advisory programs for ninth-graders have a significantly higher percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals than schools not using this practice, while schools with either extended class periods or a detracked core curriculum report higher percentages of minority students and students qualifying for meal subsidies. These results seem to indicate that schools with a disadvantaged student population, and those with less desirable indicators of student performance, are more likely to implement certain communal practices, such as extended class periods, homeroom/advisory groups, and little or no ability tracking.

Discussion and Policy Implications

The results of this study indicate that public high schools in Maryland are using a diverse set of practices to support ninth-graders’ transition to high school. Yet, examining the use of specific types of practices, as in the foregoing analyses, shows the need for more high schools to consider the use of programs that address the academic difficulties, anddeficiencies, of entering ninth-grade students, as well as the social needs of early adolescents.

While a majority of high schools in Maryland are linked with their feeder middle schools in a superficial way, such as having high school students or counselors present information at the middle grades school, fewer schools are making an effort to link ninth-grade curriculum and requirements with that being taught to middle school students. Interviews with ninth-grade teachers and administrators, and the drop in grades and high failure rates seen in ninth-graders, demonstrate that many incoming ninth-graders are unprepared for the academic demands of high school. Yet, few schools remediate students during the summer before ninth grade to better prepare them for ninth-grade course content or discuss ninth-grade academic requirements and curriculum with middle school teachers.

Similarly, many schools continue to use traditional practices to provide ninth-graders with additional remediation in core subject areas, such as summer school for students who have failed one or more classes, or before or afterschool help during the school year. The use of Double Dosing, a practice supported by whole-school reform models, is being used by a third of Maryland high schools. This method of providing ninth-graders with a transition, or “catch up” class before exposing them to the accepted ninth-grade curriculum is a promising way of addressing skill deficiencies and preparing incoming students for the academic rigor of high school. At the same time, Double Dosing allows students of varying skill levels to experience a common core curriculum, while less-skilled students avoid being assigned to a remedial track, thereby possibly derailing their trajector toward an on-time high school graduation.

Finally, Maryland high schools are beginning to experiment with reformoriented practices to ease the transition of ninth-graders into the high school environment, including those suggested by current research on communal school organization as likely to promote a stronger sense of school community. However, practices that require a fundamental change to the organizational structure of the school, as well as the roles and responsibilities of teachers and students, are less prevalent. In fact, additional results from implementation data show that many of the more broad, organizational practices are relatively new or have been implemented with only a target group of ninth-grade students.

For example, less than 10 percent of schools have implemented interdisciplinary teams or small learning communities for schools-within-a-school are a relatively new practice in Maryland high schools, but more often include all or nearly all of the ninth-grade class, while interdisciplinary teams are both a new and often targeted practice. The foregoing analyses document the use of a wide range of organizational practices with ninth-grade students in Maryland public high schools.

Not surprisingly, the most widely used practices represent traditional activities and those practices requiring only a superficial change to traditional high school organization. Practices such as interdisciplinary teams and small learning communities for ninth-graders, while requiring greater change when implemented fully, involve a more individualized approach to meeting the academic and social needs of ninth-graders.

In light of the continuing struggles of high schools to successfully integrate ninth-graders into the high school community, additional attention must be paid to programs that can effectively address the unique needs of ninth-graders, thereby promoting positive educational trajectories.

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