A new study tests the theory that pupils in a school’s oldest grade have better experiences—less bullying, heightened feelings of safety, and better academic outcomes—than those in younger grades.
Analysts examined two cohorts of New York City middle school students (sixth- through eighth-graders) totaling about 90,000 students and 500 schools between 2008 and 2011. They utilized various student-level demographic data, as well as student self-reported data on the NYC School Survey, which includes questions about school environment and other non-academic information.
Through causal analysis, the study finds that students who are in the top of the grade span in a school (most of whom are also the oldest) are indeed less likely to report bullying, fights, and gang activity and more likely to report feeling safe and welcome than those in the bottom of the grade span (who are usually a school’s youngest). The latter report the opposite on all of those measures, while, fittingly, those in the middle of a school’s grade span report experiences that fall between those of buildings’ top- and bottom-grade tiers.
Interestingly, being in a school’s senior-most grade had a greater positive effect on sixth-graders than it did on eighth-graders. Analysts found that the larger a school’s grade span, the greater the benefit to its most senior students. So sixth-graders in a building that serves grades K–6 (a seven-year span) enjoy a bigger boost than eighth-graders in 6–8 middle schools (with their three-year spans).
Data also show that being in a school’s top grade span also led to better academic achievement, but this was a secondary focus of the paper and not given much discussion.
The bottom line, according to the analysts, is that “longer grade spans that enable middle grade students to serve as relative top dogs would improve student experiences in school and academic achievement.” Less clear is how much of the effect is due to a child’s age and maturity level, not the upper grade level.
All of this raises the possibility that the 1990s-era push to create middle schools serving grades 6–8 (vs. K–8 elementary schools or 7-8 junior high schools) was a mistake. We initially carved out such middle schools because those years are difficult for young people and, the thinking went, this would ease the hard transition to high school. (We also didn’t want to mix little kids with teenagers.) This research calls that thinking into question. Now what?
SOURCE: Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, and Michah W. Rothbart, "Do Top Dogs Rule in Middle School? Evidence on Bullying, Safety, and Belonging," AERA (September 2016).
