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In this article, we analyze data obtained from "Education in the Middle Grades," a national survey of practices and trends using a representative sample of principals in public schools that contain grade 7, to examine the use and perceived effects of practices that are believed by many educators to be especially responsive to the needs of early adolescents. These responsive practices include group advisory periods, interdisciplinary teacher teams, remedial instruction programs, and "school transition" activities. Multiple regression analyses suggest that grade organization is not a consistent determinant of responsive middle-grades practices. Overall, 7-9 junior high and 7-12 combination schools have fewer responsive practices than other middle-grade organizations. There are educationally significant but modest relationships between a school's use of responsive practices and principals' perceptions of the outcomes obtained by the school and its students. Different practices are associated with different indicators of school and student success. Principals report a stronger school program overall when they invest heavily in interdisciplinary teams of teachers to create supportive conditions for teachers and students. Principals expect fewer students to drop out before high school graduation when the school uses supportive advisory group activities or responsive remediation programs. Principals report that extensive school transition programs reduce the number of students who need to repeat the grade immediately following the transition. The implications of the results for the improvement of education in the middle grades are discussed.
Joyce L. Epstein (Thu,) studied this question.