School closure : the effects of forced transfer on students entering grades eleven and twelve

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate how senior students adjust to a new school when their school has been phased-out and closed. The specific problem investigated was the effect of forced school transfer on the academic performance, the self-concept, and the social adjustment of high school students entering grades eleven and twelve. Grade Point Average, the Adjective Check List, the California Test of Personality, the School Sentiment Index, the Neumann Research Questionnaire, and the incidence of absenteeism were the instruments selected to measure the dependent variables. The two independent variables were forced school transfer and grade level. As an external force manipulated the independent variable, a quasi-experimental--Nonequivalent Control Group design was used. There were five sample groups in this study, two experimental and three control, drawn from two school populations. All of the students were tested prior to the closure of Delbrook high school and one year after the closure. The findings and conclusions of this study were: 1. The academic performance of the transferred students did not differ from the academic performance of the students not required to transfer. 2. The self-concept of the transferred students did not differ from the self-concept of the students not required to transfer. 3. With two exceptions, the social adjustment of the transferred students did not differ from the social adjustment of the students not required to transfer. The students who transferred after grade eleven differed significantly from the other groups on two measures of social adjustment and had some difficulty integrating into their new school. 4. The grade level at which students were forced to change schools did not prove to be a significant factor in their total adjustment to their new school. The subjective measures indicate, however, that the students entering grade twelve were more negatively affected by the change of schools than the students entering grade eleven in the area of social adjustment.Education, Faculty ofEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofGraduat