Respondents to a questionnaire about the elementary-middle and middle-high school transition experience respectively were 173 sixth grade students, 83 parents, and 12 teachers, and 320 ninth grade students, 61 parents and 17 teachers. Results revealed that school transitions posed both challenges and opportunities for students. Parents and…

The authors examined the effectiveness of a support model to instruct five youth with EBD to self-direct the problem-solving processes and promote self-determination skills by enabling them to: (a) set employment/career related goals, (b) develop and implement a plan toward goal attainment; and (c) adjust and evaluate progress toward meeting their…

This "snapshot" illustrates how one school is managing to make a positive difference for ninth graders. It describes the Ninth Grade Success Academy, a school-within-a-school at Thomas A. Edison High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which has a number of features specifically designed to help ninth-graders make successful…

Although transitioning from school to school can be challenging at any level, the transition to high school may be particularly fraught with challenge because students are experiencing a change in schools as well as the physical, emotional, and psychological changes inherent to adolescence. Educators and researchers agree that ninth grade is a…

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process by which people develop the skills to recognize and manage emotions, form positive relationships, solve problems that arise, motivate themselves to accomplish a goal, make responsible decisions, and avoid risky behavior. The Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), at the University of…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has worked with states, districts, and high schools since 1988 and with middle-grades schools since 1999 to improve student achievement. SREB followed students tested in 2000 and 2001 from eighth grade through ninth grade and found both middle-grades schools and high schools must find ways for students…

New 9th graders reflect on the worries they had as middle school students about moving into high school. They also suggest ways of easing the transition and providing support in 9th grade. Teens want teachers to connect middle school students regularly with high school students, give them more responsibility in middle school, and focus on…

The transition from middle school to high school represents a significant event in the lives of adolescents, one that necessitates support from and collaboration among teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators at both educational levels. Successful transitions place particular emphasis on ninth-grade initiatives and can create one of…

This issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Center for Mental Health in Schools includes the following features and regular segments: (1) Complex Problems, Limited Solutions; (2) Research into Practice: Supporting Successful Transition to Ninth Grade; (3) Schools & MH Research; and (4) Response Form.

The Baltimore City Public School System's (BCPSS) Grade 9 Transition Program was implemented in 2001-02. It is designed to increase student achievement in an era of No Child Left Behind federal legislation by providing additional time and learning opportunities for eighth-grade students who have not met all promotion standards established by the…

Personalized learning: Everyone knows it needs to happen, but how? It is one thing to believe in the importance of high school reform. It is quite another to embrace a system that helps every student leave high school with a diploma and plans for postsecondary education or training that lead to productive and self-sufficient adulthoods. This…