Research: The Middle School Slump is Real

Imagine a growth chart, where children’s height and weight are mapped to monitor their physical development. But what about their developing skills to interact well with others and manage their emotions? Until now, no such chart has existed for adolescents’ social and emotional competencies.

By examining survey data from nearly 100,000 students in California, researchers at the UVA School of Education and Human Development mapped the development of four SEL competencies—self-efficacy, self-management, social awareness and growth mindset —from 4th grade through 12th grade. Their research was published this month in the prestigious journal, American Psychologist.

Unlike academic achievement, which tends to grow year to year, they found three of the four SEL competencies dipped during middle school and then rebounded through high school.

“When we talk about academic achievement, we know that typically grows over time,” said Sara Rimm-Kaufman, Commonwealth Professor of Education. “But when we talk about social-emotional competencies, especially kids’ own reports of these skills and abilities, they're going to increase at some times and show declines in others. It's very important to understand that some of the declines are normative.”

The slumps, beginning around 6th grade, were seen in self-efficacy, self-management, and social awareness. Middle school students expressed feeling less able to meet academic expectations, expressed finding it difficult to pay attention in the presence of distractions, and expressed being increasingly intolerant of others’ perspectives. Though their perceptions of their abilities declined, their actual academic achievement continued to climb.

“Kids keep on learning. But if you ask a kid how confident they are in their learning, it dips when they're in middle school,” said Jim Soland, assistant professor. “So even as they're learning more, their perception of how good they are at learning is going down. And that's one of the puzzles that is important for educators and others to understand.”

The Outlier: Growth Mindset

The only SEL competency that continued to climb during middle school was growth mindset. Students completing the survey generally responded positively to these statements: I can change my intelligence with hard work. I can increase my intelligence by challenging myself. I'm capable of learning anything, and I can do well in a subject, even if I'm not naturally good at it.

“It is interesting that growth mindset is increasing while self-efficacy is decreasing,” Rimm-Kaufman said. “It's suggesting students believe they have an ability to be challenged and to grow intelligence. Self-efficacy is much more school oriented. Middle school students expressed not having as much confidence in their abilities to do things like earn As in their classes, do well on tests, master the hardest topic in their classes, or meet all the learning goals set by teachers.”

The researchers believe this conflict suggests that, while kids feel like their own intelligence can grow and expand, the standards set by school might be too narrowly defined to do well.

“We really feel like our schools need to take into consideration how kids are experiencing school,” Rimm-Kaufman said. “We know from other research that a lot of kids are experiencing school like it is taking the joy out of learning. It's an important time to make sure that whatever kids are learning feels very relevant to them.”

The survey data serves as a reminder of the value of listening to students and hearing about their lived experiences in school.

“In what ways can we change schools to be more youth-centered?” asked Rimm-Kaufman. “We can't do everything all at once. So, in what ways do we understand kids differently and support them differently during this time of change?”

Support with Increasing Autonomy

Ultimately, the researchers hope that with a better understanding of what is happening, adults might be more patient with young adolescents. Right at a time when adolescents are seeking more autonomy, some of these self-reported social-emotional skills are declining. That poses a real challenge for parents, teachers and caregivers to know when and how much to support these students.

Like on a growth chart, individual students may vary on this trajectory.

“It is important for adults to remember that, even with a general declining trend identified, some students may go up in those areas during middle school, while others may go down even more,” Soland said. “It varies a lot by individual student.”

According to the paper, self-management is declining in grades 6, 7 and 8, right when there is an increase of demands on students’ self-management skill. Students need to have the right materials and show up to the right classroom at the right time. They also need to practice staying calm when they are bothered or criticized, right at a time when their sensitivities to status and criticism increase.

“It's possible that some of their self-management skills are just getting swamped given the increased expectations for managing their own materials at school and experiencing so many social opportunities for distraction,” Rimm-Kaufman said.

She emphasizes that, even while adolescents do need opportunities to exercise their autonomy, they need support from the adults around them.