EXAMINATION OF UPPER SCHOOL PERFORMANCE RELATED TO MIDDLE SCHOOL ATTENDED AT AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Date

2013-05

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Abstract

“The Gulf School,” an independent K-12 day school in the southwestern United States enrolls students into their upper school from not only their own middle school but other area middle schools as well. Since the students enter the upper school from different learning environments, there exists the possibility of differing levels of academic and extracurricular performance. Social interaction and development of social bonds between students will also play a role. This study evaluated quantitative and qualitative archival data to examine whether the middle school where a student attends had any impact on their academic and extracurricular performance in the Gulf School’s upper school as evidenced by admissions data, transcripts, and extracurricular resumes. The study found that students who did not attend the Gulf School’s middle school outperformed their classmates who did attend the Gulf School’s middle school in terms of academic achievement, while the reverse held true with regard to the frequency of involvement in extracurricular activities. These were also the findings when controlled for gender.

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Keywords

Independent, Middle schools, Upper, Extracurricular, Comparison, Academic performance

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