Does being assigned to a low school track negatively affect psychological adjustment? A longitudinal study in the first year of secondary school

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the 1st year in secondary school for some students goes hand in hand with an increase in adjustment difficulties. One factor that might influence this process on an individual, compositional, and institutional level is the academic track a student attends. It was hypothesized that being assigned to a low-qualifying track predicts a stronger increase in adjustment problems than being assigned to higher tracks. A sample of 734 seventh-grade students from Switzerland attending 1 of 3 regular academic tracks or special educational classes participated. Pupils reported anonymously on their antisocial behavior, anger control problems, self-worth, and emotional distress. Multilevel analyses were performed, predicting end of seventh-grade adjustment by track controlling for initial adjustment and background variables. Students enrolled in the low-qualifying regular track increased significantly more than students from other tracks regarding their problems with global adjustment, antisocial behavior, and emotional distress.

Keywords:

• adjustment problems
• behavioral problems
• academic track
• ability grouping

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Gérard Bless, Thomas Begert, Janine Fleischli, and Xenia Müller for their support in conducting this research. We further wish to thank the educational administration of the canton of Fribourg, in addition to the school headmasters, teachers, parents, and students for their cooperation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation [132210].

Notes on contributors

Christoph Michael Müller

Prof. Dr. Christoph Michael Müller is an associate professor at the Institute of Special Education at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

Verena Hofmann

Verena Hofmann is a research assistant financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation at the University of Fribourg’s Institute of Special Education in Switzerland.