Grade Configuration: Who Goes Where?

Context

A grade span that is desirable or possible in one setting may be undesirable or not possible in another. For instance, some experts on rural schools feel that in a rural setting the middle school concept is inappropriate and can actually damage community values. This is because when a middle school is opened the local elementary school often becomes too small for state support and must eventually be consolidated, thus undermining the sense of community identity, the feeling of ownership, and the levels of parent participation associated with a local elementary school (DeYoung, Howley, & Theobald, 1995).

In a rural area the grade-span issues may be very different from those in an urban area. Most parents will not be in favor of their child attending a larger middle school or high school if it involves the child having to commute long distances everyday or to live elsewhere during the week. In such a case, whatever expanded course offerings and social opportunities the larger, more distant school might provide, a school closer to home will still likely be seen as preferable.

Another example in which context may play a role is socioeconomic status, as was found in one study that looked at achievement differences between sixth-graders in elementary schools as opposed to those in middle schools:

"Becker (1987) reported a significant advantage to locating the sixth grade in the elementary, rather than middle, grade span. Interestingly, Becker also found that the elementary-school advantage declined as student socioeconomic status (SES) rose. In fact, sixth-graders in the upper tail of the SES distribution performed slightly better in non-elementary settings" (Wihry, Coladarci, & Meadow, 1992).

Becker speculated that the student achievement differences his study revealed might be related to differences in teacher training and expectations in elementary and middle schools.