Table 1.

Characteristics of reviewed studies

Author(s)	Focus of measure(s)	Data collection waves	Sample Size	Race/ethnicity	Sample description
Akos and Galassi 2004a	Transition concerns, difficulty in making transition, best/worst aspects of 9th grade	Fall 9th	320	10% AA, 6% AS, 3% LA, 76% WH, 2% OTH	Students in a single high school in a medium-sized, generally high performing southern school district in a university community
Akos and Galassi 2004b	Difficulty in making transition, connectedness to high school, persons most helpful during transition	Fall 9th	320	10% AA, 6% AS, 3% LA, 76% WH, 2% OTH	Students in a single high school in a medium-sized, generally high performing southern school district in a university community
Alspaugh 1998	Achievement test scores in reading mathematics, science, and social studies	Spring 8th, spring 9th	–	–	48 rural/small town school districts in Missouri with different feeder pattern structures
Barber and Olsen 2004	School climate, school performance, extracurricular participation, psychological functioning, interpersonal competence, and youth problem behaviors	Spring 8th, spring 9th	933	16% LA, 81% WH	Ogden Youth and Family Project: predominantly middle-income students in the Ogden City School District
Barone et al. 1991	Grade point average, attendance, life stress, social support (family, friends, school personnel)	Summer before 9th, fall 9th, end of 9th	113	59% AA, 1% AS, 10% LA, 28% WH, 2% OTH	Students recruited in 8th grade from 3 middle schools in a suburban Washington DC school district. Students transitioned to 3 high schools in the district.
Benner and Graham 2007	School climate, school worries	Spring 8th, fall 9th	918	17% AA, 15% AS, 55% LA, 13% WH	PEER Project: Students transitioning from 11 urban Title 1 middle schools to more than 100 high schools across southern California.
Benner and Graham 2009	School climate, psychological well-being, academic behaviors	Fall and spring of 7th–10th grades	1,979	21% AA, 11% AS, 46% LA, 9% WH, 13% OTH	PEER Project: Students transitioning from 11 urban Title 1 middle schools to more than 100 high schools across southern California.
Catterall 1998	School dropout, educational expectations, academic resilience	8th and 10th	4,264 and 6,779	12% AA, 6% AS, 13% LA, 66% WH	National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS)
Dotterer et al. 2009	GPA, interest in academics, parent educational expectations, parent interest in academics,	4th–12th grade (annually)	402	100% WH	Students from two-parent, working/middle class families living in small cities and rural areas
Estell et al. 2007	Aggression, popularity, academic competency, grades, substance use	Spring 6th, spring 8th, spring 9th	447	100% AA	Students from 2 poor, rural counties in the south
Falbo et al. 2001a	Parent involvement, family resources, social network involvement, student characteristics, transition success (GPA, credits earned, absences)	Spring 8th and fall 9th	26	8% AA, 24% LA, 68% WH	Students in a suburban, predominantly white, working/middle class school district
Felner et al. 1981	GPA, attendance	1st–9th grade (annually)	250	67% AA, 10% LA, 22% WH, 1% OTH	Students attending 3 predominantly non-white, lower income schools in a small, northeastern city
Felner et al. 1982	Self-concept, school climate, GPA, attendance	Spring 8th, fall 9th, spring 9th	172	NP	Transition Project: Students attending a large, urban, predominantly non-white, low-income high school; includes intervention and matched control group
French et al. 2000	Racial identity, perceived social transactions (daily hassles, social support, school involvement), race/ethnic congruence	Spring 8th/9th, Spring 9th/10th	144	23% AA, 35% LA, 42% WH	Adolescent Pathways Project: Students attending low-income schools in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington DC
Frey et al. 2009	School attachment, school climate, teacher support, parental supervision/control, violent behavior, aggressive beliefs	Spring 8th and spring 9th	652	54% AA, 23% LA, 10% WH, 13% OTH	Social and Health Assessment: Students attending 17 innercity schools in the north-eastern US
Gillock and Reyes 1996	School climate, teacher instruction, teacher authority, teacher relationships, self worth, scholastic competence, GPA, attendance	Fall 8th and spring 9th	46	13% AA, 85% LA, 2% WH	High School Transition Pilot Project: Students attending two innercity K-8 schools in Chicago; includes intervention and matched control group
Isakson and Jarvis 1999	GPA, attendance, school belonging, daily stressors, coping strategies, autonomy, social support	Spring 8th, fall 9th, spring 9th	41	NP	Students attending a university K-8 laboratory school in central Illinois
Kinney 1993a	Self perceptions, everyday social experiences at school	Spring 9th	120	NP	Students attending high school in a small Midwestern city
Langenkamp 2009	GPA, feeder pattern, social integration (teacher bonding, popularity, extracurricular participation)	8th/9th and 9th/10th	2,679	16% AA, 4% AS, 4% LA, 67% WH, 9% OTH	National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)
Langenkamp 2010	Math course placement, course failure, social ties (teacher bonding, popularity), feeder pattern	8th/9th and 9th/10th	2,065	63% WH	National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)
Little and Garber 2004	Depressive symptoms, aggressive symptoms, interpersonal orientation, achievement orientation, stressors	8th and 9th	129	12% AA, 85% WH, 2% OTH	Students attending school in a metropolitan school district
Murdock et al. 2000	Motivational contexts, academic self-concept, academic effort, value of educational success, GPA, discipline referrals, educational expectations	Spring 7th and spring 9th	238	35% AA and 60% WH	Students attending a mid-Atlantic school district that included both urban and suburban schools
Neild et al. 2008	Dropout, course failure, achievement test scores, attendance, risky peer affiliations, academic engagement, teacher engagement, social engagement	Summer before 9th, fall 9th, summer after 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, fall post 12th	NP	NP	Philadelphia Education Longitudinal Study (PELS)
Newman et al. 2000a	Classes, school environment, family, peer relationships, extracurricular involvement, transition challenges	8th/9th	29	76% AA, 17% LA, 7% OTH	Students participating in the Young Scholars Program at Ohio State University that targeted low-income, minority students
Newman et al. 2007	Peer support, family support, school belonging, depression, stressors	8th/9th	274	NP	Students attending school in middle to high income, predominantly white community in southern Rhode Island
Reyes et al. 1994	Readiness for high school, self perceptions, school perceptions, social support, GPA, absences, enrollment status	Fall 8th, spring 8th, fall 9th, spring 9th	145	24%/12% AA, 69%/80% LA	High School Transition Pilot Project: Students attending two innercity K-8 schools in Chicago; includes intervention and matched control group
Reyes et al. 2000	GPA, absences, enrollment status, self perceptions, school perceptions, social support	Fall 8th, spring 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th	107	16% AA, 79% LA, 5% OTH	High School Transition Pilot Project: Students attending two innercity K-8 schools in Chicago; includes intervention and matched control group
Rice 2001	Achievement test scores, parent participation in education, activities with parent, parents talk about school, school size and diversity, school safety, school learning environment, students working to ability, school standards, teacher academic push, student autonomy	7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th	3,116	NP	Longitudinal Study of American Youth
Roderick 2003a	GPA, course failure, dropout, attendance, achievement test scores, teacher ratings of academic skills/engagement and behavior, parent involvement, community supports, relationships with teachers	Spring 8th, 4 times in 9th, 4 times in 10th	32	100% AA	Student Life in High Schools Project: Students attending an average-achieving school with a 100% African American study body on the south side of Chicago
Roeser et al. 1999	Achievement motivation, self worth, psychological distress, truancy, affiliations with non-school oriented peers, problem behaviors, GPA	Spring of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th	210	95% WH	Students attending school in a predominantly white, middle-income Mid-western school district
Schiller 1999	Mathematics grades, characteristics of the transition	8th and 10th	~12,000	12% AA, 4% AS, 9% LA, 75% WH	NELS
Seidman et al. 1996	Self esteem, academic and social efficacy expectations, interpersonal competence, class preparation, GPA, daily hassles, social support, peer involvement, peer values	Spring 8th/9th, Spring 9th/10th	330	25% AA, 8% AS, 32% LA, 35% WH	Adolescent Pathways Project: Students attending low-income schools in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington DC
Smith 1997	Dropout status, GPA, transition support services, parental support for learning, school engagement and misbehavior, positive learning environment	8th and 10th	7,924	NP	NELS
Smith et al. 2008	Perceptions of the transition (academic, social, organization), transition social support	8th and 9th	172	55% AA, <1% AS, 7% LA, 29% WH, 7% OTH	Students attending schools in a large Midwestern school district in an urban/suburban area
Weiss 2001	Average course grades, course failure, school turbulence,	Fall 9th and spring 9th	NP	NP	Philadelphia Education Longitudinal Study (PELS)
Weiss and Bearman 2007	Physical fights, substance use, delinquency, carrying weapon to school, GPA, school integration, trouble in school, college aspirations, social connections/isolation,	8th and 9th	1,680	NP	National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health)
Weiss and Baker-Smith 2011	Middle school type, average course grades, course failure	8th and 9th	NP	NP	PELS

AA African American, AS Asian American, LA Latino, WH white, OTH other race/ethnicity, NP not provided

^aQualitative study