The
answers to these questions demonstrate as many alternative philosophies as
years of debate.
By
the early twentieth century, the little red K-8 schoolhouse with its single
classroom and school-marm seemed unable to address the learning needs of adolescents.
The historic Committee of Ten endorsed the potential of the junior high school
as a more effective structure than the K-8 school to increase rigor and boost
middle grades student achievement.
Other
groups advocated for K-6 elementary schools followed by combination 7-12 junior-senior
high schools. In some instances, schools rejected grade configuration changes
entirely and remained K-8. Others pursued yet another design by extending
the K-8 school to educate grades K-12.
In
the School District of Philadelphia, schools using all these different grade
configurations are functioning today.
Why
else might districts and communities pursue K-8 schools?
Not
all movements in favor of K-8 schools emerge from discussions of student achievement
or adolescent development. Nationally, some districts find K-8 schools to
be less expensive to operate than simultaneously running elementary and middle
schools. Other districts convert to K-8 schools to address perceptions of
unruly behavior in the middle schools.
Some
residential communities turned towards K-8 schools as a means to create true
neighborhood schools. The local K-8 school allowed families to avoid sending
children across informal boundaries to the middle school, which serves a broader
geographical area.
Other
communities sought K-8 schools as a way to preserve racial and/or economic
segregation.
What
does the national research say?
Current
national research on K-8 schools may be a shallow body of literature, but
consistent, positive findings surface while wading through it. In a number
of published studies comparing K-8 schools to junior high schools in Milwaukee
and New York City, K-8 schools outperform junior high schools in almost every
category assessed.
In
the 1970s, Milwaukee researchers Simmons and Blyth studied over 600 students
beginning in the sixth grade and followed them through eighth grade. During
this three-year period, some students transitioned from a K-6 school into
junior high school, while others remained in a K-8 school.
The
researchers found that by the end of eighth grade, students in the K-8 school
showed higher self-esteem, less victimization by other students, greater levels
of participation in extracurricular activities, and healthier adolescent development.
In
the 1980s, researcher Denis Moore replicated the Milwaukee study in New York
City. His findings revealed similar advantages of K-8 schools over junior
high schools.
Moore
added the variable of reading achievement to his analysis. Eighth grade reading
scores of the students in the K-8 schools surpassed their counterparts in
junior high schools.
In both the Milwaukee and New York City studies, researchers selected K-8 and junior high schools that demonstrated similar levels of teacher education, racial composition, and economic means to anchor the validity of their comparisons.
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Olney Elementary is one of the School District's many long standing K-8 programs. The District is looking to create more K-8 schools. Photo by: Harvey Finkle |
What
does the local research say?
In
a Philadelphia study conducted in the 1990s, researcher Dr. Robert Offenberg
used a different method of analysis to study a larger sample of K-8 and middle
schools. A statistical technique known as multivariate regression allowed
Offenberg to control for the effects of poverty and race while analyzing school
performance and student achievement.
Offenberg’s
study yields positive results for Philadelphia’s K-8 schools. SAT-9 scores
in reading, math, and science are significantly stronger in K-8 schools than
in middle schools. On the school Performance Index used during the Children
Achieving era, the edge that K-8 schools had over middle schools grew larger
over a two-year period, particularly in math.
Offenberg
also compared the ninth grade performance of students from K-8 schools to
students from middle schools. Results show the percentage of students from
K-8 schools who enroll in the special admit high schools to be more than 11%
higher than the percentage of students from middle schools.
Students
from the K-8 schools also demonstrate a higher Grade Point Average in ninth
grade by approximately one-tenth of a letter grade.
The
Philadelphia study reveals an unanticipated finding as well. Offenberg discovered
that as a school’s number of students per grade (not the total number of students
per school) increases, the performance of K-8 schools and middle schools becomes
more similar. This finding suggests not only that grade configuration may
be a factor in student achievement, but that the number of students per grade
– which is often smaller in a K-8 school – carries significant impact.
Beyond
statistics, what might be advantages of K-8 schools?
Conversations with a number of Philadelphia principals suggest further advantages:
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Charter
Schools with Middle Grades
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Source:
School District of Philadelphia current enrollment reports
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