A longitudinal examination of the transition into senior high school for adolescents from urban, low-income status, and predominantly minority backgrounds

The current 6-year study investigates the impact of the elementary (K-8)-to -high school (9-22) transition on the school completion outcomes of 107 ado lescents from urban, minority, low-income status backgrounds. Descriptive f indings provide a longitudinal profile of students' enrollment status throu ghout high school. Students who had graduated or were Active in the school system at the end of the study evidenced more marked change in perceptions of social support following the transition to the ninth grade compared to I nactive students, dropouts, who evidenced little change. With respect to ac ademic performance, while both groups evidenced declines following the tran sition and failed to recover sustained losses, Inactive students declined m ore sharply in grades and attendance. Findings are discussed in terms of th e mixed support for the transitional life events perspective. In addition, study limitations and directions for future research are discussed, includi ng variables that should be considered in research with the targeted group.