California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Articulation Agreements with Destination High Schools

Just as elementary students fear the changes involved in moving to middle school, some middle grades students may develop anxieties about moving on to high school. However, in non-K-12 unified districts, open enrollment agreements often mean that middle school students transition to high schools in a different district in which there may be little, if any, articulation with the feeder middle school. If this is the case, the middle school will need to initiate articulation with the most likely destination high schools. Again, counselors can work with students to develop personalized learning plans that help narrow the choice of a potential high school to one that will best meet individual student needs and goals. In spite of the difficulties, there are many ways middle grades staff members can develop transition programs that will help students make a successful move to high school.

Researchers find that social, emotional, and academic factors contribute to the difficulties associated with students’ transition from middle school to high school. Among other things, students worry about:

  • Having friends
  • Feeling comfortable in a large school
  • Finding classrooms
  • Succeeding in difficult classes
  • Understanding teacher expectations
  • Interacting with older, more mature students
  • Interpreting block schedules
  • Managing time
  • Finding time for social activities1

In one survey, former middle grades students listed four things that would have helped with their transition to high school:

  • Regular connections with high school students so they could learn more about what to expect.
  • Preparation with the skills and strategies needed for high school success.
  • Development of strong connections with adults (for planning and goal setting).
  • Summer bridge options during the eighth-grade summer.2

The following sections include some of the many creative ways that middle grades teachers and administrators work with area high schools to help their students prepare for success.

In the Spotlight

Los Angeles Unified School District
The school district hosts Transitions Institutes that are a unique collaboration between the district and a number of individuals and agencies throughout southern California, including professors from California State University, Dominguez Hills; representatives from the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission; and district psychiatric social workers and counselors. The goals of the institutes are as follows:

  1. Ease the transition from eighth to ninth grade by positively inculcating freshman into their respective high schools as evidenced by a measurable reduction in aversive behavior.
  2. Promote interpersonal and intergroup understanding between and among diverse student populations.
  3. Support the small learning communities model by empowering advisories to create and follow through on service-learning projects.
  4. Create postsecondary awareness through structured activities on a university campus.

San Francisco Unified School District
The district's 17 public and charter high schools offer an array of exciting academic and extra-curricular options. However, yet many of the city's eighth graders do not know about the schools or their programs. For example, one high school sends students on monthly camping trips; another offers after-school skateboarding; a third brings in professional chefs to teach students to cook; and a fourth guarantees a college acceptance letter upon graduation.

Toby Johnson Middle School, Elk Grove Unified School District, a 2006 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
The school’s modified 4x4 block schedule mirrors that of the adjacent high school campus. This arrangement allows students to cross from the middle to the high school class to take higher-level courses.

 

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Footnotes
1Transition from Middle to High School, in Works in Progress: A Report on Middle and High School Improvement Programs (PDF; Outside Source). Washington, D.C.: The Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center, American Institutes of Research, January 2005, 41.
2Kathleen Cushman, “Help Us Make the 9th Grade Transition” (Outside Source), Educational Leadership, Vol. 63, No. 7 (April 2006), 47-52.

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