THE MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE - EFFECTS ON THE MATH AND SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT OF ADOLESCENTS WITH LD

The present study examined the relation between middle school transiti ons and achievement gaps in math and science between adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD). An abundance of research indic ates that motivation and achievement decline during the early adolesce nt years, and that this decline is often attributable to the transitio n from elementary to middle grade schools during early adolescence. Us ing data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, it was found that, on average, there was a strong gap in achievement between the tw o groups of early adolescents. Hierarchical linear modeling was used t o examine school effects on these achievement gaps. Results indicated that although there were achievement gaps in math and science between adolescents with LD and non-LD adolescents, this gap was greatly reduc ed for adolescents who did not make a school transition until at least the ninth grade. It is proposed that the policies and practices of ty pical middle-grade schools are particularly incompatible with the educ ational and psychological needs of young adolescents with LD.