The Transition to High School: Why Are Today's Freshmen Struggling?

2232 Words9 Pages
McClain 1
11 October 2013
The Transition to High School: Why Are Today 's Freshmen Struggling? It 's the rock bottom of a student 's educational career: The day a student drops out of high school. From there, the world may seem to go down in a spiral. Today, 16% of dropouts are unemployed and 32% live below the poverty line. Dropouts with jobs earn an average of only $12.75 per hour (Messacar 55). Students who do graduate from high school have an unemployment rate of only 7.6% (Bureau of Labor Statistics). While the graduation rate may be improving, there are still some out there who find it hard to adjust to the high school atmosphere after leaving their cozy little middle school. Sometimes, middle school poorly prepares their…show more content…
This is usually the result of when a student grows unattached from school and begins to receive inadequate grades. With the use of a freshman academy, however that can change for the better. Even though freshman academies can be helpful, there is always some sort of fault about whether it is actually helping or not. Although students still merge with the rest of the school in elective classes, most freshmen would not appreciate being isolated because it gives them the inability to participate in school dances and sports activities (63). Usually, they have their own freshman teams and events. Some students feel that it 's the same as having two freshman years in high school. It has also been known to create rivalries between high school teachers who focus more on the freshmen rather than the rest of the school (McIntosh and White 46). Freshman academies can become ineffective if the teachers teaching them are not prioritizing these freshman students as the first priority. Schools would need a dedicated group of teachers willing to teach freshman and to help them adjust to the high school setting. Most of these problems are only social problems, however. McClain 4 The good news about the freshman academy is its ability to improve a student 's performance in school. Freshman who are enrolled at freshman academies generally do better compared to freshman who aren 't. Julie McIntosh and Sandra
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