Brent Johnson, a former principal in Pittsburgh, credits his
school's performance (one of those rated highly in the Rand Corp.
study) to the fact that he has between 100 and 500 fewer
middle-graders to deal with than the average middle school. About
half his sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders have been in the
school since kindergarten, making relationships with teachers,
administrators, and their "buy-in" to the school culture more
likely. The K-8 model tends to keep parents more attached and
involved, too, another plus for the model, according to the Rand
Corp. study.
Plus, when kids stay in grade school, they tend to stay
"younger, longer," reports a Long Beach, Calif., principal, and
that's been my experience, too. I didn't pick a Catholic grade
school for my younger son because of the K-8 structure that most
Catholic schools retain, but I immediately noticed the benefits.
Same kids, same principal, same parents for eight years -- it
does build community. And maybe it's a "kibbutz effect," but kids
who have been in class together since kindergarten seem less
eager to launch into the distracting peer torture of premature
dating games.
"It turns out the onset of puberty is really a bad reason to
try to move kids to another structure and to another school
altogether," the Rand report's primary author, Jaana Juvonen,
told Education Week.
Another bad idea from ed school hits the dust.