Promoting Students’ Well-Being during the Transition to High School

While all school transitions are important, the middle to high school shift stands out. It coincides with biological, social, and cognitive changes in young people that began in early adolescence but continue into high school. These changes can be quite stressful, often disrupting students’ academic performance and social and emotional well-being immediately following the transition but with lingering impacts for some.[1] To help middle school students transition successfully to high school, state policymakers can support targeted interventions that take both academic and social stressors into account.

Academics

Researchers exploring the transition to high school have primarily focused on academics. The stakes are high for students themselves but also for educators, policymakers, and parents: Those students who perform better academically in high school are more likely to complete college, have more prestigious jobs, and have higher incomes later in life.[2]

When adolescents make the transition to high school, they often take more challenging classes to prepare them for college and careers, and their teachers expect more from them. As a result, some students struggle. They often see their grades decline, are more likely to fail a course, and attend school less regularly.[3] While some students bounce back after the initial transition, others do not.[4] Interestingly, students’ confidence in their academic abilities, beliefs in their ability to succeed, interest in school, and their views on the importance of education tend to stay the same or get better as they move into high school.[5]

Social and Emotional Development

The high school transition’s impact on students’ social and emotional well-being has received less research attention, although much is known about adolescent brain development. During this period of development, adolescents become more able to take other people’s perspectives, and they begin to figure out who they are and who they hope to become. But brain growth and cognitive changes make youth at this age more sensitive in social situations, for example. They also have heightened emotional reactions and are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as substance use than they were during late childhood.[6]

Another important shift that happens as students move through secondary school is the growing influence of peers. Parents and teachers are still important, but peers wield more social influence. Adolescents’ peer relationships deepen and take on greater personal meaning. These changes can help adolescents build critical social skills that they will need far beyond middle school. But peers can also increase pressures to engage in risky behaviors, which are developmentally more attractive at this age.

Because the transition to high school often shifts peer networks and disrupts the strong connections that students forged in middle school, it is important to understand the impacts the high school transition has on well-being. The organizational plans that govern how students move between particular schools or their options to attend magnet or charter schools affect these networks and often require students to make new friends and develop relationships with a new set of teachers and school staff. These connections take time to form and strengthen, with some students struggling to fit in.

Failure to form bonds quickly changes how students see themselves, with declines in general and social self-concept occurring more frequently during the high school transition compared with the middle school years.[7] Students also experience feelings of depression more frequently during the high school transition.[8] Skipping school or getting into trouble tends to increase in frequency as well.[9]

Feelings of loneliness often worsen after the move to high school, and for some youth, these feelings persist across early high school.[10] In terms of school support broadly and the warmth they receive from teachers specifically, students often feel less supported overall during the transition to high school.[11] As with academic challenges, these challenges are not limited to the immediate transition period and persist for many into later high school years.

The Role of Supportive Relationships

Positive relationships help students navigate the transition to high school. Parents, friends, and teachers all play important roles. Students who have close, supportive friendships and a strong sense of peer belonging tend to experience fewer academic and emotional difficulties during the transition to high school.[12] In contrast, when adolescents feel excluded or disconnected from their peers, they are more likely to struggle emotionally as they leave middle school.[13]

Equally important are positive, supportive relationships with teachers. Strong connections with teachers in middle school can help students navigate the challenges of transitioning to high school, and it is just as critical for students to build new relationships with teachers once they enter high school. Students who feel close to their teachers and perceive them as caring and supportive tend to perform better academically and are more engaged in the classroom as they make the high school transition.[14] On the other hand, when students experience conflicts with teachers, they face greater emotional struggles during the move from middle to high school.[15] Given that students often feel greater distance from their teachers immediately after the high school transition, fostering positive teacher-student relationships early is key to supporting their well-being during and after the transition to high school.

Another vital source of support is parents. When parents are involved and actively monitor their children’s academic and social activities during the transition, students tend to experience fewer transition disruptions, are more likely to be recognized by their teachers as bright students, and are more successful academically.[16] Parents who provide consistent support and guidance help their children feel more confident in navigating new academic and social challenges, setting them up for long-term success. Therefore, prioritizing parental involvement is essential to young people’s adjustment to high school.

Opportunities for State Boards

Across the United States, a number of state and district policies and interventions are critical for helping transitioning students manage the challenges they face. Texas, with its size and diversity of student populations, provides a valuable context for examining these policies.

State Accountability Systems. State leaders’ recognition of the significance of the middle to high school transition ought to be reflected in accountability standards that track student progress across these grades and thus support academic trajectories leading to on-time graduation. However, fewer than a third of states, including Texas, have defined ninth grade on-track academic indicators in their accountability systems.[17] Among states that have, the standards are operationalized differently and do not consistently use on-track indicators for both middle and high school, an essential step in facilitating the transition. Researchers have recommended that accountability systems include a comprehensive set of indicators including ninth-grade credit accumulation, core course completion, absences, and course performance in middle school. As such, a first step for state boards is to reevaluate state accountability standards to streamline their operationalization of “on-track” and include both middle and high school achievement and progress in courses to identify at-risk students.

An even more comprehensive approach would incorporate a holistic profile of student development, including evaluations of students’ social and emotional well-being, such as any behavioral concerns noted by middle school educators, counselors, and other relevant staff. Support efforts should begin before the high school transition and focus on strengthening relationships between teachers, parents, and adolescents.

Expanding Teacher Training and Professional Development and Building Student-Teacher Relationships. Teacher professional development can help educators better understand adolescent development and build the positive teacher-student interactions that improve student outcomes. State leaders can incentivize such training. They can also ensure that preservice secondary school teachers build the skills to address social and emotional challenges so common during the transition to high school. State boards across the country can create effective teaching standards that emphasize evidence-based social and emotional learning practices. For example, Texas’s standards require teachers to support student learning by applying research-based practices and principles of social-emotional development.[18]

State boards can advocate for smaller learning communities that foster strong teacher-student connections and supportive peer relationships. These organize students into smaller groups within grade level, building consistent course schedules for the groups and establishing dedicated teams of teachers for each group.[19] In Texas, teachers reported that organizing grades into smaller groups enhanced their ability to support individual students by fostering closer relationships and improving communication with both students and the other teachers working with them. Theme-based groups (e.g., arts and humanities, STEM) further allowed educators to design curricula and assignments that aligned with students’ interests, thereby increasing engagement. However, teachers said the success of these programs largely depends on the clarity of their vision and goals as well as strong teacher and student buy-in.

State leaders can also advocate for clear, accessible communication between parents and teachers through online portals that allow parents to monitor their child’s academic progress and stay in touch with teachers, and they can train parents in how to access the portals. This communication can be used to provide updates on students’ academic progress, school events, and opportunities for parental educational involvement, creating a safety net to ensure early identification and planning if students are struggling with the high school transition.

Implementing Peer Support Programs. Given the importance of peer relationships during adolescence, schools need built-in opportunities for adolescents to forge strong peer connections before and after the transition to high school. State boards should advocate for state funding to implement research-informed transition support. A notable example is the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention program, a robust transition intervention that significantly improved students’ academic outcomes. It featured a summer program for incoming ninth graders to develop their academic, social, and study skills; an early-warning data system to identify at-risk students; and fall and spring interventions to support at-risk students.[20]

State boards can recommend retaining such programs as well as encouraging districts and communities to consider similar programs. Such programs should center strong social and emotional learning principles and peer mentorship, where older students help guide newcomers, or activities that encourage social engagement, helping new students make friends and expand their social circles. Given that the quality of friendships matter, these programs should continue throughout high school, with adjustments to make them suited to young people’s development at different stages. State boards can recommend collecting data to evaluate these peer-support programs to 1) help ensure they are adequately tailored to youth throughout their schooling and 2) understand which school districts may need greater transition support.

Expanding Support for Counseling Services. Given the range of academic, social, and emotional challenges that adolescents can face during the transition to high school, youth need access to comprehensive counseling services.[21] State boards can help facilitate this by advocating for funding to hire more mental health and academic counselors. Trained mental health professionals can play a crucial role in identifying and addressing emotional distress, while academic counselors can offer support to help students manage the increased academic demands and expectations of high school. Counselors can also play a key role in leading peer support groups or schoolwide wellness programs. These initiatives would not only provide emotional and academic support but also foster a sense of community and belonging among students, helping them navigate the challenges of the transition more effectively. State boards can emphasize the essential role of community partners in mental health and social services, facilitating coordination between schools and local resources to support struggling youth.

A Path Forward

Promoting adolescents’ well-being during the challenging transition to high school requires adults’ attention to students’ academic, social, and emotional development. When supported by parents, peers, teachers, and supportive policies, students can thrive during the high school transition. Absent targeted interventions, many students will falter, imperiling their academic performance and mental health. Fostering positive relationships, boosting parental involvement, and offering mental health support are essential for minimizing the risks associated with the transition. Moreover, instituting ninth grade on-track indicators in state accountability systems and state policies that prioritize professional development, peer support, and counseling services can create an environment where adolescents feel supported and equipped to navigate change, both at ninth grade and for their long-term resilience.

[1] Aprile D. Benner, “The Transition to High School: Current Knowledge, Future Directions,” Educational Psychology Review 23, no. 3 (September 1, 2011): 299–328.

[2] Maren Stabel Tvedt and Edvin Bru, “Completion of Upper Secondary Education: Predictions of the Psychosocial Learning Environment and Academic Achievement,” Learning and Instruction 88 (December 2023): 101824; Tyler W. Watts, “Academic Achievement and Economic Attainment: Reexamining Associations between Test Scores and Long-Run Earnings,” AERA Open 6, no. 2 (April 1, 2020).

[3] Aprile D. Benner and Yijie Wang, “Shifting Attendance Trajectories from Middle to High School: Influences of School Transitions and Changing School Contexts,” Developmental Psychology 50, no. 4 (Apr 1, 2014): 1288–1301; Aprile D. Benner, Alaina E. Boyle, and Farin Bakhtiari, “Understanding Students’ Transition to High School: Demographic Variation and the Role of Supportive Relationships,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 46, no. 10 (October 1, 2017): 2129–42; Christopher C. Weiss and E. Christine Baker-Smith, “Eighth-Grade School Form and Resilience in the Transition to High School: A Comparison of Middle Schools and K-8 Schools,” Journal of Research on Adolescence 20, no. 4 (December 2010): 825–39.

[4] Aprile D. Benner and Sandra Graham, “The Transition to High School as a Developmental Process among Multiethnic Urban Youth,” Child Development 80, no. 2 (March 2009): 356–76.

[5] Aryn M. Dotterer, Susan M. McHale, and Ann C. Crouter, “The Development and Correlates of Academic Interests from Childhood through Adolescence,” Journal of Educational Psychology 101, no. 2 (May 1, 2009): 509–19; Tamera B. Murdock, Lynley H. Anderman, and Sheryl A. Hodge, “Middle-Grade Predictors of Students’ Motivation and Behavior in High School,” Journal of Adolescent Research 15, no. 3 (May 1, 2000): 327–51; Edward Seidman et al., “The Impact of the Transition to High School on the Self‐System and Perceived Social Context of Poor Urban Youth,” American Journal of Community Psychology 24, no. 4 (August 1996): 489–515; Kathryn R.Wentzel et al., “Perceptions of Competence, Control, and Belongingness over the Transition to High School: A Mixed-Method Study,” Contemporary Educational Psychology 56, (January 2019): 55–66.

[6] Delia Fuhrmann, Lisa J. Knoll, and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, “Adolescence as a Sensitive Period of Brain Development,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19, no. 10 (October 1, 2015): 558–66.

[7] Kathryn L. Modecki, Corey Blomfield Neira, and Bonnie L. Barber, “Finding What Fits: Breadth of Participation at the Transition to High School Mitigates Declines in Self-Concept,” Developmental Psychology 54, no. 10 (October 2018): 1954–70.

[8] Benner, Boyle, and Bakhtiari, “Understanding Students’ Transition to High School.”

[9] Benner and Wang, “Shifting Attendance Trajectories from Middle to High School.”

[10] Benner, Boyle, and Bakhtiari, “Understanding Students’ Transition to High School.”

[11] Jan N. Hughes and Qian Cao, “Trajectories of Teacher-Student Warmth and Conflict at the Transition to Middle School: Effects on Academic Engagement and Achievement,” Journal of School Psychology 67 (April 1, 2018): 148–162.

[12] Watts, “Academic Achievement and Economic Attainment”; Anne M. Sebanc, Amy B. Guimond, and Jeff Lutgen, “Transactional Relationships between Latinos’ Friendship Quality and Academic Achievement during the Transition to Middle School,” Journal of Early Adolescence 36, no. 1 (January 2016): 108–38; Murdock, Anderman, and Hodge, “Middle-Grade Predictors.”

[13] Heidi Gazelle and Richard A. Faldowski, “Multiple Trajectories in Anxious Solitary Youths: The Middle School Transition as a Turning Point in Development,” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 47, no. 7 (July 1, 2019): 1135–52.

[14] Wentzel et al., “Perceptions of Competence, Control, and Belongingness”; Claudio Longobardi et al., “Student-Teacher Relationships as a Protective Factor for School Adjustment during the Transition from Middle to High School,” Frontiers in Psychology 7, (December 23, 2016): 1988.

[15] Modecki, Neira, and Barber, “Finding What Fits”; Claudio Longobardi et al., “Students’ Psychological Adjustment in Normative School Transitions from Kindergarten to High School: Investigating the Role of Teacher-Student Relationship Quality,” Frontiers in Psychology 10, (May 29, 2019): 1238.

[16] Melissa Roderick, “What’s Happening to the Boys?” Urban Education 38, no. 5 (September 1, 2003): 538–607.

[17] Achieve, Inc., “On Track or Falling Behind? How States Include Measures of 9th Grade Performance in Their ESSA Plans” (February 2018), https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED591914.pdf .

[18] Texas Administrative Code Chapter 149, Subchapter AA §149.1001, Teacher Standards, Standard 2—Knowledge of Students and Student Learning.

[19] Daniel C. Humphrey et al., “Study of the Austin Independent School District’s Redesign and High School Reform Initiative,” interim report (Texas Education Agency, 2010).

[20] Lisa Hoogstra et al., “Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention (TNGTI) Grant Program: January 2011 Evaluation Report” (American Institutes for Research, January 2011).

[21] Caitlyn Donaldson, Graham Moore, and Jemma Hawkins, “A Systematic Review of School Transition Interventions to Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes in Children and Young People,” School Mental Health 15, no. 1 (March 1, 2023): 19–35.