The STeps
What i need to know |
When I took my first step into high school, I looked like an idiot. I was wearing bermuda shorts, ankle boots, and jewelry that my mom wore in the 90s. I might as well have written “TRASHCAN ME PLEASE” across my forehead in Sharpie. Honestly, I wasn’t ready to be in with the general population of public school; I was thirteen, a mega nerd, and had negative social skills. It took me way too long to adjust to the reality of high school, so I decided to return to my middle school and try to make some changes.
I got good grades my freshman year, but I didn’t know that a stigma could be attached to them, or that I could be labelled “braggy” or a “nerd” my first week of school. I made friends my freshman year, but I didn’t know that the popular kids were not to be feared and could actually be amazing people. I learned my freshman year, but I didn’t know that most of this teaching would be from books, rather than a hands-on experience. There were a lot of adjustments to make, and the kids from normal middle schools were ready and prepared for them, but I definitely wasn’t. DaVinci Middle School and World Language Academy were the breeding grounds of my adolescent awkwardness; both schools are packed with enriching educational opportunities and similarly nerdy children. I was in 8th grade when I first figured out what eyeliner was, while kids at Davis had been wearing it since they were 10. I had never had to make friends or lose friends, but kids from normal schools were accustomed to drama daily. Everything I knew about high school came from Mean Girls and Clueless. I was genuinely clueless. My goal in conducting this research is to develop a program that will aid in the transition of a highly ambitious student from one of these specialized schools into the scary new environment of public high school. |
What I assume |
I believe that a buddy program will help kids transition, and I think that high level kids don’t need to focus so much on their grades but on how to adjust socially. Kids need more guidance to aid in choosing classes based on their goals rather than the bare minimum, and I assume that counselors are spread too thin to provide this. High level kids can get ignored or set aside for later because they are not at risk to drop out or fail, but this can prohibit them from setting and reaching high goals.
For example: John has always gotten A’s, he pushes himself to meet the goals his teachers set for him at DaVinci. At the small, academic school, the teachers make it clear that excellence is an expectation and mediocrity is not an option, so John has never had to think about setting his own path for success. But he’s in eighth grade. Soon, he will be kicked out of this cushy world and into the reality of a non specialized public school, where students have to guide themselves. He gets into a POC, but doesn’t really know what that means for his future. Flash forward to high school, where John has stopped taking language classes, because he read somewhere that Georgia Tech only requires two. The counselors don’t notice, because they’re focused on the kids bound to drop out. When John applies to Tech with only two on-level language classes, he’s probably not going to get in. He’s smart, motivated, and a well-rounded kid, but he ended up doing the bare minimum because he had no one pushing him and didn’t know how to push himself. If John had been paired with a successful rising senior, the senior could have taught him how to find success. If John had been told how to create his own expectations, he would have set higher goals for himself than the expectation for many high school students regardless of talent. I think there are many students who get put in situations like this every year, but go unnoticed or are overlooked. |
the search |
I started researching with a combination of looking into bilingual advantages in education and the general transition from middle school into high school. I thought about what I needed to know from a statistical standpoint, but also from an emotional standpoint. I ended up developing a three tier methodology to my research: a wide base with data and studies from all over the nation, a more narrow second layer with surveys from current high schoolers, and a very specific interview with Ms.Vera, who has worked with these students for many years.
For my larger, informational research I focused on scholarly articles and counselor informative sites. I found several articles and journals on the general transition to high school, but they were mostly focused on preventing dropouts and setting a bare minimum for success, exactly the problem I’m trying to solve. These include articles by Kate Menken, Christopher Weiss, and Louise Kennelly. However, I used these articles to establish what many of the students might encounter in high school, and to find a baseline to build my more high-achieving program off of. From this research, I learned some programs around the nation that I could model mine after, and I learned the three main types of transition into high school, which influences the program a lot. I also wanted to reach out to successful students within Hall County, and get a comprehensive look into what the students thought aided in their success, and get some advice from them. I used a Google Survey, and got a pretty high number of respondents, and the diversity within their responses themselves showed me exactly what I thought; a more individual approach to this problem is necessary. These students helped me design my program from the student’s perspective, and approach the issue with many suggestions in hand. Finally, my interview with Ms.Vera, the counselor for both WLA and DVA, gave me insight into the current system and what changes could and should be made. Ms. Vera stressed that counselors are stretched thin, and some have far too many students with far too many unique needs to be able to have a one-on-one or small group session with students about high school. Her responses showed me that my program should be involved with the counselors or teachers, but should not burden them. |
what i discovered |
There needs to be a bridge between middle school and high school. My research illustrated that too many students struggle adjusting, whether in high achieving or not. My research also demonstrated that there are ways to solve this problem, but not enough resources. Students at the top of the heap tend to be set aside as they are not at-risk, and counselors have too much on their plates to handle these high students, so I have developed a way to reach these students without adding additional stress onto the school system. I believe that a mentorship program will help these students adjust without too many growing pains. I am very excited to see where this program leads kids and to see the new communities that will be brought about.
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Works Cited
Kennelly, Louise, and Maggie Monrad. "Easing the Transition to High School: Research and Best Designed to Support High
School Learning." National High School Center (n.d.): n.pag. Betterhighschools.org. National High School Center.Web.
Menken, Kate. "Restrictive Language Education Policies And Emergent Bilingual Youth: A Perfect Storm With Imperfect
Outcomes." Theory Into Practice 52.3 (2013): 160-168. Business Source Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Vera, Anita. "Interview with Anita Vera." Personal interview. 10 Feb. 2017.
Weiss, Christopher C., and Peter S. Bearman. "Fresh Starts: Reinvestigating the Effects of the Transition to High School on
Student Outcomes." American Journal of Education 113.3 (2007): 395-421. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 17 Jan. 2017
Kennelly, Louise, and Maggie Monrad. "Easing the Transition to High School: Research and Best Designed to Support High
School Learning." National High School Center (n.d.): n.pag. Betterhighschools.org. National High School Center.Web.
Menken, Kate. "Restrictive Language Education Policies And Emergent Bilingual Youth: A Perfect Storm With Imperfect
Outcomes." Theory Into Practice 52.3 (2013): 160-168. Business Source Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Vera, Anita. "Interview with Anita Vera." Personal interview. 10 Feb. 2017.
Weiss, Christopher C., and Peter S. Bearman. "Fresh Starts: Reinvestigating the Effects of the Transition to High School on
Student Outcomes." American Journal of Education 113.3 (2007): 395-421. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 17 Jan. 2017