Replicating an Intervention Designed to Mitigate Academic and Social Adversity for Transitioning Middle School Students

• In Event: Motivation, Reading, and Writing

Abstract

Undergoing any transition from the familiar to the unknown may cause the experience of belonging uncertainty, or anxiety resulting from being unsure of one’s social place in an environment. Any transition may cause this experience, but the near-universal middle school transition, more so than other school displacements, is fraught with risks. A brief, but theoretically precise, reading and writing activity that prompts students to reevaluate this adversity has produced promising impacts in two prior districtwide randomized trials. Here, we report a preregistered replication of the intervention in a new district context. In contrast to prior results, we find limited positive impacts on transitioning middle school students’ grades and engagement. We explore evidence and explanations that help explain these findings.

Authors

• Geoffrey D. Borman, Arizona State University

• Trisha Borman, American Institutes for Research

• So Jung Park, American Insitutes for Research

• Bo Zhu, American Institutes for Research

• Scott Houghton, American Institutes for Research

• Alejandra Martin, American Institutes for Research