Student, Parent, and Teacher Contributions to the Creation of an Effective Middle to High School Transition Program

The transition from high school and middle school can be a very difficult time for students. They are experiencing physical, social and emotional changes while at the same time changing school settings. The transition to high school is often accompanied by a decrease in academic performance, increase in discipline referrals, and an increased difficulty with peer relationships. Transition programs have been created to help ease student transition to high school. In order for transition programs to be effective they need to involve parents. Transition programs focus primarily on the student, and in many cases ignore the role of the parent. The results of the survey show that parents need additional transition services made available to them in order to properly support their child during the transition to high school. The two main types of services that they would find beneficial include services that increase the amount of communication they have with teachers, administrators, students, and other parents. Examples of possible services include weekly updates from teachers on student progress and access to assignments online. They also want services that help educate them, and make them more knowledgeable about what their child will be experiencing as they enter hig