“School transitions are a pressing issue to practitioners; however, surprisingly little research exists about the extent to which school transitions pose a challenge and cause academic and social performance declines” (Malaspina, D., & Rimm-Kaufman, S. E. ,2008). The researcher is looking to understand student’s perception of motivation, elementary and middle school differences, teacher-student relationships, and self-efficacy during the transition from elementary to middle school that occurs in a public school setting. The knowledge gained will help develop programs that support students as they transition from elementary to middle school.
The review of literature will focus on student’s perception of motivation, elementary and middle school differences, teacher-student relationships, and self-efficacy during the transition from elementary to middle school along with adolescences, and the stage-environmental fit theory. The review of literature is divided into seven major sections and a summary.
The first section provides an insight into to cognitive, social, and emotional development of the adolescent child. The second section reviews what research says about the stage-environment fit theory. The third section discusses self-efficacy of the student. The fourth section …show more content…
Curry and Chote (2010) believe students embracing their uniqueness during adolescence, and developing a sense of self allows them to feel secure, valuable, and worthy of respect. However, adolescents who experience psychological distress may also display low self-efficacy and varying levels of depression (Flouri & Buchanan, 2003). Adolescence commonly become more apprehensive about their appearance and their body image (NMSA, 2003). They may sacrifice academic concerns to satisfy their social needs (Shoffner & Williamson,