Students' reading achievement during the transition from primary to secondary school.

Hopwood, Belinda ; Hay, Ian ; Dyment, Janet 等

Introduction

Adolescent literacy achievement has been, and continues to be, a hot topic in the educational community, with concerns about students' literacy capabilities consistently dominating the educational landscape. According to national reports and results from high stakes testing, such as the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), Australia faces a serious issue in terms of of declining literacy achievement (Dugdale & Clark, 2008). Past research and government reports (see Dugdale & Clark, 2008) have proposed that literacy levels in the adolescent years are in decline; so much so that some adolescents fail to achieve the required grade level standards by the time they leave school or drop out of school early without the necessary literacy skills to read or write at a functional level (Snipes & Horwitz, 2008). As a consequence, these students fail to acquire the adequate skills needed for active participation in contemporary society later in their lives (see PISA, 2012; Bronzo, 2009; Greenleaf & Hinchman, 2009; Freebody, 2007). This is concerning as it has been found that entering the workforce or entering further education can become increasingly difficult for indivuals who possess low literacy skills (Ailwood, 2001; Bronzo, 2010; Freebody, 2007; Goiran-Bevelhimer, 2008; Lingard, 2011; Mills, 2003). As a result, many Australian students are in need of significant literacy support during their time in secondary school (Freebody, 2007; Hanewald, 2013; Woolley & Hay, 2011).

Despite there being a number of factors which contribute to a student's literacy development, one particular period that has been identified to present difficulties for students' literacy attainment is the transition phase. This is defined in the context of this research as the move students make from primary school (Year 6) to secondary school (Year 7). Research has identified that the transition period can be problematic for some students, suggesting that as students transition from the primary school years into the secondary school years, their literacy achievement stalls, or in more serious cases, declines to levels below that of their primary school years (Hanewald, 2013). This suggests that transition can have a detrimental impact on students' educational success (Akos & Galassi, 2004; Alspaugh, 1998; Galton, Grey & Ruddock, 1999; Huggins & Knight, 1997; Nield, 2009; Pervin, 2005; West & Schwerdt, 2012; Zeedyk et al., 2003).

Understanding that the transition from primary to secondary school can have negative impacts upon student achievement is not a new revelation, with research in this area dating back to over 40 years ago. In their Scotland based study, Nisbet and Entwistle (1969) investigated the effect transition had on students' academic progress. They concluded that certain groups of students, such as those who already found school a challenge, had low motivation or came from low income backgrounds, were more likely to experience negative outcomes as they transitioned into secondary school. Since this time, numerous research studies have been conducted in the hope of developing further understandings as to why the transition phase can present such difficulties for students. For example, research conducted in the United States by West and Schwerdt (2012) investigated whether transition had an effect on students' achievement as they transitioned into middle school (Year 6 or Year 7) and secondary school (Year 8 to Year 9). The researchers found that the process of transition caused a substantial drop in students' test scores the first year following transition for those students who transitioned from Year 6 (primary school) to Year 7 (secondary school). A small drop in achievement for students transitioning into secondary school from Year 8 to Year 9 was also found, with students experiencing declines in the areas of mathematics and reading, which equated to a loss of between 3.5 and 7 months of learning achievement. In addition, Hanewald (2013) investigated declines in students' academic achievement across the transition phase and concluded that transition continues to be an issue of concern in regards to students' social and emotional wellbeing and achievement.

The evidence for such academic decline is quite alarming and suggests that there is still work to be done in order to address this issue. Previous research has focused predominantly on the general academic achievement of students and their perspectives of the challenges associated with the move to secondary school. However, despite numerous efforts to understand the transition process, many students continue to struggle in regards to their academic achievement across transition. This highlights a need for further investigations into the transition phase, with a central focus on determining why students continue to underperform during transition, and how the transition phase can be improved to prevent the declines in achievement that are so prevalent for many adolescent students. This research therefore aimed to explore the impacts of transition upon adolescent students' literacy achievement. While this research acknowledges the multifaceted nature of literacy, it aimed to investigate a key area of literacy which has been recognised as essential for all students' future success; that of reading.

Literature Review The transition

For most early adolescents, the transition from primary school into secondary school is not an easy process (Moje, 2008). Transitioning is not simply about finishing one school and beginning the next; it marks a time of considerable change in a young adolescent's life. During the transition phase, adolescents experience a variety of physical, emotional and social changes and challenges. For many students, the process of transition is not simply about adjusting to a new, and sometimes much larger physical environment; it is also about adapting to new teachers, establishing new ways of thinking and learning, working across a variety of subject areas, adjusting to different school expectations and interacting with a large number of peers. Transition is a difficult time for students and their ability to cope with the many changes they encounter will have a significant impact on how they feel about school and how they progress through secondary education (Cox & Kennedy, 2008).

The transition phase (Year 6 to Year 7) is a critical period contributing to students' academic achievement (Serbin, Stack & Kingdom, 2013), and it is well documented in the literature that the transition phase can be a particularly challenging time for a young adolescent student (Alspaugh, 1998; Coffey, Berlach & O'Neill, 2011; Cox & Kennedy, 2008; Hanewald, 2013; Huggins & Knight, 1997; Migdley et al., 2000; Topping, 2011). It should, however, be recognised that not all young adolescents will find the transition to secondary school problematic (Dinham & Rowe, 2008); there is diversity in how different students respond to transition, and how school systems prepare students for the move to secondary school. Many students look forward to the upcoming change and regard the move as an exciting experience and students who experience a smooth transition into secondary school are more likely to experience long-term, positive outcomes (Resnick et al., 1997). However, for many adolescent students, the process of transition can be a very difficult and challenging experience (Ashton, 2008; Chedzoy & Burden, 2005; Coffey et al., 2011). Even when students have a successful transition, the transition process is almost always accompanied by feelings of stress and concern (Zeedyk et al., 2003).

Student achievement and transition

Academic transition has been defined in the research literature as 'a process during which institutional and social factors influence which students' educational careers are positively or negatively affected by the transition phase' (Schiller, 1999, pp. 216-217). Changes in students' social relationships and the changing context of moving to secondary school can strongly affect students' academic outcomes (Hanewald, 2013) and it is well documented that many students experience declines in their academic achievement during the transition phase (Akos & Galassi, 2004; Alspaugh, 1998; Galton, Grey & Ruddock, 1999; Huggins & Knight, 1997; Nield, 2009; West & Schwerdt, 2012; Zeedyk et al., 2003). Such declines in pupils' progress during the transition phase have been reported in numerous studies conducted in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In an exploration of achievement loss associated with the transition to middle school, and from middle school to secondary school, Alsplaugh (1998) reported that students' achievement significantly declined across two transition points: from Year 5 to Year 6 and from Year 8 to Year 9 in the areas of reading, mathematics, science and social science.

Galton et al. (1999) reviewed a number of transition studies and professional reports and identified signs of a post-transition dip during secondary school, when students were in the early stages of Year 7. Galton and colleagues found evidence indicating that many students drop backwards in their level of achievement as they make the move from primary to secondary school. Similar findings were also reported in research conducted by Migdley et al. (2000). These researchers examined students' grade point averages (GPA) as they transitioned from sixth through to ninth grade, and reported that GPA scores declined significantly each year they progressed through secondary school. These findings were consistent with a study conducted by Reyes, Gillock, Kobus and Sanchez (2000), who examined the long-term effects that transition related perceptions had on students' final academic outcomes and found significant declines occurred in their GPAs from Year 8 to Year 9.

More recent transition literature investigating declines in students' academic achievement across the transition phase has revealed that transition continues to be an issue of concern (Hanewald, 2013). In response to the academic and professional literature identifying transition as an issue for some students, a major exploratory study was conducted in 2008 in New Zealand by the Research Division of the Ministry of Education. This study followed a group of 112 Year 8 students as they made the transition from Year 8 to Year 9 and Year 9 to Year 10. The main focus of the research was to examine student achievement in mathematics, reading and writing as they transitioned from primary to secondary school. Findings from the study revealed that, for the average student, achievement in reading and writing plateaued from Year 8 to Year 9, but declined in mathematics (Cox & Kennedy, 2008).

What causes academic decline during transition?

Many researchers have sought to determine the possible causes for the decline many students experience in their achievement across transition. While many ideas and conclusions have been proposed, the question of what causes the decline has not been specifically answered. West et al. (2010) state 'the question remains controversial, in large part because the evidence base remains inconsistent and incomplete' (p. 22). However, a review of the transition literature revealed a number of common factors that have been found to contribute to the decline in students' achievement levels across the transition phase. Such factors include: teacher content knowledge and pedagogy, curriculum sequencing from primary to secondary school, communication between primary and secondary schools, socioeconomic factors, family support, social adjustment, and students' self efficacy. While it is beyond the scope of this paper to explore all of these factors in detail, one of the most prevalent factors, the onset of adolescents, has been described below in more detail.

Adolescence

In Australia, the time at which the transition between Year 6 and Year occurs coincides with adolescent developmental changes (Ganeson & Ehrich, 2009). In Tasmania, transition typically occurs when students are anywhere between the ages of 11 and 13. The fact that many students are entering adolescence and going through puberty during transition has been highlighted as a contributing factor to the impact of transition. Research has stated that the changes that occur during puberty, such as social, emotional and cognitive development, and the increased importance of friendship groups, are additional contributing factors to the anxiety and stress students experience during transition (Cauley & Jovanovich, 2006; Hawk & Hill, 2001; McGee, Ward, Gibbons & Harlow, 2004; Nield, 2009; Reyes et al., 2000). During the onset of adolescence, students' cognitive abilities develop, they grow in their ability to think abstractly and hypothetically, peer acceptance and the establishment of friendship groups become very important, and they begin the search for independence and a greater sense of autonomy. In addition, it has been reported that students' intrinsic motivation, academic self-concept and interest in school and grades decline (West et al., 2010).

Canadian researchers De Wit, Karioja and Rye (2010) proposed a 'stage environment fit theory' (p. 452) which suggested that there is a lack of fit between the developmental needs of adolescents and the demands of schooling, on both social and emotional levels.

According to these researchers, if students are not provided with the appropriate social and emotional support at this particular stage in their education, a time when they are seeking support from teachers and fellow peers, they are likely to disengage from school and, in many instances, experience academic difficulties. A similar theoretical model developed a number of years earlier, the Participation Identification Model (Finn, 1989) proposed that if adolescent students are not able to develop strong feelings of identification with their schools environment, they will likely withdraw from school. Such withdrawal leads to declines in achievement and school drop-out.

At a time when students are searching for autonomy, it has been proposed that schools reduce the opportunity for student input and decision making. While students are beginning to develop their higher level thinking skills, it has been reported that lower secondary school teachers tend to use low level thinking and student engagement strategies with their students (Jindal-Snape & Miller, 2008). Eccles and Wigfield (1993) suggest that the secondary school structure disrupts social relationships at a time when students are most searching for social acceptance and belonging.

The evidence for such academic decline is quite alarming and suggests that there is still a need to further explore and address this issue. While previous research across a number of areas has been important for developing a broad understanding of the many ways transition can impact adolescent students' levels of achievement, further exploration is warranted to develop an understanding of the impact this stage can have upon a students' education.

Research context

This paper reports the findings from a larger research project conducted in the state of Tasmania (Hopwood, Hay & Dyment, 2014). In Tasmania, the education system is divided into two systems: the independent/ private system and the government/public system. Much of the independent/private system is typically sponsored by boards, religious organisations or the Catholic Education Department. Some independent schools are operated by semi-secular educational philosophies; however, the majority are religious. This research was conducted in the government/public system, which is managed primarily by the Department of Education (DoE). The DoE is responsible for all aspects of a student's education, including schooling, adult education and vocational learning Schooling in Tasmania is broken into three components: primary school, secondary school and senior secondary school (also known as college).

The structure of government schooling in Tasmania differs slightly from other parts of Australia. In most Tasmanian government schools, primary school comprises Kindergarten to Year 6. At the end of Year 6, students will then transition into secondary school, which comprises Year 7 to Year 10. Upon completion of Year 10, students move to senior secondary school to complete Year 11 and Year 12. Some government schools in Tasmania operate on a Kindergarten to Year 12 model; however, within this model the distinction in years for primary, secondary and senior secondary schools remains the same. In New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Queesland (QLD) and Tasmania, the transition occurs between Year 6 and Year 7 when students are typically around 11 to 13 years of age. In South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA), the transition occurs between Year 7 and Year 8 when students are typically around 12 to 14 years old (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2013). The focus on the transition from Year 6 to Year 7 was chosen as the focus point for this research in line with the researchers' interest in the Tasmanian education context, as well as this being the predominate transition point in most parts of Australia.

Research procedure

Due to the number of educational facilities in the state, the research began with a careful selection of schools. A number of particular school attributes were desired for the study and initial criteria were established in order to narrow the selection of schools. In line with the central aim of this research, the following criteria were established to ensure a representative sample of schools was obtained to best meet the needs of the research. Such criteria included:

1. Geographical location: The schools chosen for the study varied in their location from the south, southeast and north-west of Tasmania. The participating schools came from both urban (N=3) and rural (N=4) areas.

2. Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA): The second criterion was to ensure the participating schools were representative in terms of the Australian Government's ICSEA. This is a Commonwealth Government developed home and community socio-economic status (SES) measure of social-educational advantage. Participating schools were chosen from high, middle and low ICSEA bands.

3. School type: Two types of department of education government schools were included in the investigation. These included Kindergarten to Year 6 primary schools (N=4) and Year 7 to Year 10 secondary schools (N=3).

Once the schools had been chosen for the research, the participants were then selected. The participant sample consisted of 244 student participants from seven co-educational government schools. The research took place over two phases whereby students were in Year 6 during the first phase of data collection, and in Year 7 during the second phase. Specific details regarding data collection have been provided later in the paper.

Reading and the transition into secondary schooling

As adolescents progress through school, the curriculum becomes more demanding, with students' expected to be independent readers, able to comprehend a complex range of texts (Duke, Pearson, Strachan & Billman, 2011; Hay, 2014). For example, Heller and Greenleaf (2007) argue that for students to be truly prepared for their future, in terms their education, work and general citizenship, schools cannot settle for a modest level of literacy for their students, but they must strive to develop within all their students the advanced literacy skills now required of a contemporary curriculum and society. There is also a growing concern that many primary and secondary students are not achieving the required level of literacy instruction for the development of reading capabilities (Bronzo, 2009; Dinham & Rowe, 2008; Heller & Greenleaf, 2007). The Australian Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST, 2005) for example highlighted that while many Australian adolescent students performed better in assessments of literacy than students from other countries, up to 28% of adolescent students still failed to achieve the necessary literacy skills required for further education, training and work. The report also noted that 20% of Australians between the ages of 15 to 74 had very poor literacy skills, and a further 28% experienced difficulties later in life on literacy related tasks (DEST, 2005). From a transition perspective, many students entering secondary school have failed to acquire the necessary and basic literacy skills needed by the time they leave primary school (Lonsdale & McCurry, 2004) and many students stall or even show declining literacy achievement as they transition from primary into secondary school (Culican, 2005). As a result these students are less likely to manage the higher demands of the secondary curriculum.

In their exploration of transition programs for students entering middle or secondary school, Cauley and Jovanovich (2006) reported that, in the United States, 38% of students performed less well on literacy tasks after they have undergone the process of transition. These researchers noted that more students failed in the post transition year into secondary school than any other grade in school, and that students from low SES and minority groups are twice as likely as others to fail on post transition school measures of achievement. Twenty per cent of those students who struggled with basic literacy (and numeracy) failed to complete their secondary schooling (Cauley & Jovanovich, 2006). This research is not an isolated finding and a pattern exists which suggests that as students transition into secondary school, many experience declines in their reading achievement, particularly those who are reading below the expected grade level (Alspaugh, 1998; Cauley & Jovanovich, 2006; Nield, 2009; West & Schwerdt, 2012). Many students will perform less well in reading after they have undergone the process of transition (Mizelle, 2005; Pervin, 2005) and will experience a dip in their reading progress (Alspaugh, 1998; Galton et al., 1999), particularly those who are already underachieving in reading. Nield (2009) also explored the primary to secondary transition with a particular focus on why students fall 'off track' during the transition phase (p. 53). From a summary of state reports, national surveys and national data, Nield (2009) identified that, during transition, students with poor reading skills of two or more years below grade level were overwhelmed by the academic demands of secondary school and were 25% more likely to underachieve than students who were reading at the satisfactory grade level. Nield's (2009) work also identified that below average readers were 50% more likely to fail or drop out of secondary school early.

For some adolescent students, enthusiasm and motivation for learning decreases as they transition from primary to secondary school and this is particularly true for reading (Moje, 2008). Research has proposed that adolescents become apathetic and reluctant and many develop feelings of resistance and negativity towards the process of reading during this period (Du Toit & Bouwer, 2009). Du Toit and Bouwer (2009) also maintained that secondary schools offered little opportunity for students to read for pleasure due to pressures to cover specific classroom content and curriculum deadlines and that the relationship between students' reading achievement and their transition into secondary schooling has not yet been comprehensively studied. Given the limited available Australian data focused specifically on effective student transition in the reading literacy domain, the aim of this research is to ascertain the pattern of reading achievement of students from primary to secondary schooling using a range of school settings.

Method

Participants

A total of 244 students from seven Tasmanian (Australian) government schools participated in the research. Students ranged in age from 11 to 13 years old. As the data collection took place over a two year period, the student participants were in Year 6 at the beginning of the research and in Year 7 at the completion of the data collection phase.

Descriptions of schools

To ensure the confidentiality of each participating school, each school was given a number (1 to 7), which replaced the name of each school. Kindergarten to Year 6, and Year 7 to Year 10 secondary schools were also attributed a letter, where 'a' represented a primary school and 'b' represented the feeder secondary school. Three of the participating schools were Kindergarten to Year 10 schools and therefore a letter was not sttributed to these schools, as students remained on the same campus during transition. Below is a description of the participating schools:

School 1a: A Kindergarten to Year 6 school located in a metropolitan area in southern Tasmania. The school was in the upper third ICSEA ranking, with an ICSEA score of 1013. School 1a had an enrolment of 541 students, with 24% of these students achieving in the top quarter for literacy and numeracy and 27% achieving in the bottom quarter.

School 1b: A Year 7 to Year 10 secondary school located in a metropolitan area in southern Tasmania with an upper third ICSEA score of 967. The enrolment was 450, with 13% of students achieving in the top quarter and 33% achieving in the bottom quarter. The school was a direct feeder school for School 1a, though the school attracted students from a number of surrounding areas. Students from School 4 also transitioned to this school.

School 2: A Kindergarten to Year 10 district school in northern Tasmania. The school was in the upper third ICSEA ranking with a score of 918. The school's enrolment size was 462, with 11% of students achieving in the top quarter and 59% achieving in the bottom quarter.

School 3a: A Kindergarten to Year 6 school located in a small town in the south-east of Tasmania. School 3a had a diverse population of students, with an enrolment number of 274. The school was in the lower third ICSEA ranking, with a score of 891 with 0% of the students achieving in the top quarter for literacy and numeracy and 70% achieving in the bottom quarter.

School 3b: A Year 7 to Year 10 secondary school with a current enrolment of 355 students. School 3b was the direct feeder school for School 3a, though there was also an intake of pupils from other surrounding areas. Located approximately five minutes from the feeder primary school, this school has a low ICSEA score of 896, with no students achieving in the top quarter and 72% in the bottom quarter for literacy and numeracy.

School 4: A Kindergarten to Year 6 school located in a metropolitan area in southern Tasmania. The school was situated in the lower third ICSEA ranking with a score of 857. School 4a had an enrolment size of 239 students, with 1% of students achieving in the top quarter for literacy and numeracy and 73% achieving in the bottom quarter.

School 5a: A Kindergarten to Year 6 school located in the north-west of Tasmania. The school had an ICSEA score of 876. The school population was 251, with 3% of students achieving in the top quarter for literacy and numeracy and 50% achieving in the bottom quarter.

School 5b: A Year 7 to Year 10 secondary school. This school was the direct feeder school for School 5a. Also located in the north-west of the state, School 5b had an ICSEA score of 877, with a lower third ICSEA ranking. The school had an enrolment of 312 students, with 3% of students achieving in the top quarter for literacy and numeracy and 78% achieving in the bottom quarter.

School 6: A Kindergarten to Year 10 district school situated in a metropolitan area in southern Tasmania.

Located in the middle ICSEA ranking with an ICSEA score of 918, this school had an enrolment of 774 students, with 3% of students achieving in the top quarter and 59% achieving in the bottom for literacy and numeracy.

School 7: A Kindergarten to Year 10 district school located on the north-east coast of Tasmania. School 7 had a middle ICSEA ranking with a score of 943. There were 554 students enrolled in the school, with 5% of students achieving in the top quarter and 43% achieving in the bottom quarter for literacy and numeracy.

Instrumentation

To identify any changes in students' reading achievement from Year 6 to Year 7, student participants completed the Progressive Achievement Test in Reading (PAT-R) (Stephanou, Anderson & Urbach, 2008). The PAT-R is a standardised test which measures students' skills in reading and comprehension. The PAT-R (Stephanou et al., 2008) was designed to assess students' reading and comprehension skills, as well as their skills in vocabulary knowledge and spelling. The three components of the PAT-R are structured to enable a wide range of year levels to be assessed validly, providing an estimate of a student's capabilities across the three literacy components. The PAT-R has been thoroughly researched and it has been normed for measuring and tracking student achievement, where student performance or performances are compared to a larger group of students. For the PAT-R, the larger group, or norm group, is a national sample representing a wide and diverse cross-section of students.

The PAT-R was an appropriate instrument for the collection of student data, as it enabled students' individual skills in reading to be measured against a particular standard, where comparisons could be made between individual test scores from one year to the next.

The PAT-R is a valid and reliable literacy test which has been normed for Australian students from the early primary years through to secondary schooling, where test items increase in difficulty from one year to the next. The test also aligns with the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) (ACARA, 2013), providing a profile of information on a students' reading performance.

There were explicit purposes for using the PAT-R as an assessment tool for this research. First, the PAT-R was chosen to enable an independent, objective and standardised assessment of students' reading capabilities to be recorded over time. As an estimate of students' achievement in literacy, it was a constructed scale that allowed the raw scores from each student participant to be recorded and compared over time. Of central importance to this research, the PAT-R enabled students' literacy performance to be monitored over time from two administrations of the same test, revealing any increases or decreases in literacy capabilities over the two year period.

Data collection

The collection of data occurred over two phases. Phase 1 took place when students were in their final year of primary school (Year 6). During this phase, students from each of the participating schools were administered the PAT-R Comprehension Test (ACER, 2013). To ensure consistency across the sample and the independence of the data collection, an experienced literacy testing person was employed to administer the testing. Phase 2 took place one year later after students had transitioned into their first year of secondary school (Year 7). Using methods consistent with Phase 1, the students completed the PAT-R Comprehension Test for a second time, which was administered by the same experienced literacy tester, under the similar testing conditions as the previous year. The PAT-R (Test 7) contained 35 items and students were allocated 40 minutes to complete the test (Stephanou et al., 2008).

As mentioned above, this research was part of a larger scale study which collected pre and post PAT-R data from individual students. PAT-R test scores were collected for each student in the sample and as a result pre and post test data could be matched and compared for each student participant. Data was only included from those students who completed the PAT-R test on two occasions (once in Year 6 and once in Year 7). While this individual data was collected, this paper reports the findings based on a school level analysis rather than the individual student level.

Data analysis

Student test scores from the PAT-R were gathered and two sets of raw scores were collected for each student participant from each of the schools. Raw scores were analysed quantitatively using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v.18). Inferential statistics were performed to establish an understanding of the differences between students' PAT-R performance in Year 6 and Year 7. A number of statistical analyses were conducted on the test results over the two-year period to determine the difference between mean scores of individual schools and to identify which schools experienced the greatest change in PAT-R scores from Year 6 to Year 7. Follow up analyses of Year 6 and Year 7 scores for PAT-R were performed to obtain school level comparisons of literacy outcomes.

Results

Reading achievement from primary school to secondary school

Across all students from the seven schools, and based on the same cohort of students, results revealed an overall decrease in student PAT-R scores from Year 6 (M = 22.74, SD = 6.38) to Year 7 (M = 21.60, SD = 6.63). A repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that the decrease in test scores was statistically significant (F=14.491 (1,196), p<.001). See Figure 1.

As can be seen in Figure 1, students experienced a significant decline in their test scores from the end of primary school to end of their first year of secondary school in terms of reading and comprehension as measured by the PAT-R. To gain a more detailed picture of students' reading and spelling achievement during the transition phase, follow up analysis were further conducted to investigate the effects of transition upon students' test scores at the individual school level. Differences in students' PAT-R mean test scores from Year 6 to Year 7 are displayed in Figure 2.

As noted in Figure 2, the analysis of students' test performance within individual schools revealed that students from four of the seven schools experienced a significant decrease in their reading performance, with students from two additional schools demonstrating a trend towards a reading decline. Figure 2 also demonstrates that for students in one school, School 7, PAT-R scores increased from Year 6 to Year 7, however this result indicated a trend and was not statistically significant.

A Cohen's d analysis (Cohen, 1988) was conducted to verify and identify the difference between mean scores of individual schools across the two year period, in order to identify which individual schools experienced the greatest change in PAT-R across the transition phase. See Table 1.

Table 1 reveals that the largest difference in mean test scores occurred between School 4a and School 1b, whereby, for the students who transitioned between these schools, their reading significantly declined as they progressed from Year 6 (M = 24.67, SD = 1.53) into Year 7 (M = 20.00, SD = 4.01), with a large Cohen's d effect size (d = -1.54) suggesting a high, significant negative change in the students' reading performance. Students from Schools 3a and 3b also demonstrated a decline in reading achievement from Year 6 (M = 20.90, SD = 6.39) to Year 7 (M = 18.50, SD = 6.72), demonstrating a moderate effect size decease (d = -0.36). Students transitioning across Schools 1a and 1b also demonstrated a decline in reading test scores from Year 6 (M = 25.38, SD = 5.53) to Year 7 (M = 23.38, SD = 6.12), with a Cohen's d effect size value (d = 0.34) demonstrating a moderate difference, and a decline in reading scores. The Cohen's d analysis found small effect sizes for the remaining schools (d = <0.25).

Discussion

Findings from this research revealed that the transition phase had a significant negative impact upon students' reading achievement and development, with an overall significant decline in their PAT-R reading achievement scores. These findings suggest that the transition phase is a significant contributing factor for the difficulties many adolescent students experience in their reading skills as they move into secondary education. These findings add to a body of literature surrounding adolescent students' literacy achievement and transition, suggesting that many students will experience a drop in their levels of achievement (Alspaugh, 1998; Benner & Graham, 2009; Hanwald, 2013). For many students, the move to a bigger, unfamiliar environment is quite daunting, and can cause emotional apprehensiveness as well as a decline in academic achievement (Akos & Galassi, 2004). Traditionally, the primary school environment is generally smaller than a secondary school with fewer classrooms, smaller grounds and a lesser number of students and teachers. The nature of the primary school setting is also regarded to be more nurturing than secondary schools, whereby students are well known to their teachers, their needs can be readily catered for and their peer groups have been established throughout the primary school years (Hawk & Hill, 2001). The structure of a secondary school, however, is quite different. Secondary schools are typically larger, with many more teachers and a much greater number of students. As students in the present research transitioned from one school campus to another, it could be proposed that the decline in their achievement was due to the difference in structure between the primary and secondary school environments. For some students, the move to a new environment and the opportunity to make new friends is an exciting and rewarding experience. Even so, the majority of the research literature states that for many students, the transition from one school campus to the next brings a number of challenges (Cohen & Smerdon, 2009; De Wit et al., 2010; West & Schwerdt, 2012). Not only are students required to leave their familiar primary school environment and adjust to new rules and regulations, but they are also required to break the bonds they had previously developed with their primary school teachers and peers (Nield, 2009). Making new friends, developing new relationships with teachers, coping with new forms of curriculum delivery and meeting teachers' expectations present additional stresses for students and as a consequence has implications for their academic achievement (McGee et al., 2004).

There is also research evidence to suggest that while reading achievement declines are most common for students who are already underachieving at school, high achievers have also been found to experience declines in their reading capabilities (Cox & Kennedy, 2008). This was also evident within the present research, as those schools who had reported some of the highest PAT-R test scores in Year 6 showed a decline in these scores in Year 7. For these schools, while their reading performance was established, it was not maintained and extended in the secondary school context. Such a finding indicates that well planned transition programs should not be considered something just for the 'at risk' group of students, but it is necessary for all students including those who are performing well in the primary school context.

While the overall participant cohort demonstrated a decline in reading achievement, one School, School 7, demonstrated an overall increase in reading achievement, bringing to light the fact that not all students find the transition phase academically challenging. Such a finding supports the notion that the way literacy is taught and the way students are prepared for transition plays an important role in sustaining students in their move into secondary schooling. This is consistent with the notion which proposes that students' reading decline is not a condition of the transitioning process as such, but rather it is due to other contributing factors. These factors include; inconsistent approaches to the curriculum between primary and secondary schools (Hanewald, 2013), disparities between primary and secondary school pedagogical teaching methods (Galton et al., 1999; Hopwood, Hay & Dyment, 2014; Topping, 2011), disparities between the primary and secondary school environments (Alspaugh, 1998), socioeconomic factors (West & Schwerdt, 2012), and developmental factors associated with the adolescent years (Cauley & Jovanovich, 2006). Further investigations exploring these contributing factors would be warranted in order to understand why transition affects some students' reading capabilities more than others.

The question as to why students' reading achievement is challenging to maintain across the transition phase has emerged from this research. Ortlieb, Verlaan and Cheek (2013) offered the opinion that too often secondary school teachers did not continue to teach reading explicitly, and did not focus on the necessary instruction associated with vocabulary development, word meanings and word families, reading fluency strategies in order to engage students with the reading process. The lack of pedagogical content knowledge some secondary teachers may have in regards to reading instruction can be viewed as an important factor in the reading achievement of secondary school students. If secondary teachers are not well equipped with the skills to teach reading and reading comprehension appropriately in the early secondary grades, then students are less likely to develop and build upon their existing skill set. This is particularly problematic for students who already find the demands of reading difficult.

While there are many factors which can shape a student's transition experience, such as teacher pedagogy, curriculum sequencing, communication between primary and secondary schools, socio-economic factors, family support, social adjustment, and students self efficacy, the developmental factors associated with adolescence have been identified as significant contributors to a student's success during transition. During adolescence, students are undergoing a number of developmental changes. Adolescence is characterised by physical growth, increased sexual development and activity, bodily maturation, and cognitive and psychological changes (Hoyt, Chase-Lansdale, McDade & Adam, 2012). Socially, adolescence is the developmental stage that offers young people the opportunity to broaden their social spheres, away from the previous confines of immediate family relationships. Friendships are most prominent during the early to mid-adolescent years (11 to 16 years), where the influence of parents wanes and the lure of social peer interactions outside of the family unit take hold (Marion, Laursen, Zettergren & Bergman, 2013) and a decrease in intrinsic motivation for academic work is common (Frydenberg, 2010). While many students may regard the transition phase as a step into adulthood, moving into secondary school is typically a step down in psychological status for students as they move from being the oldest in primary school to the youngest in secondary school (Jindal-Snape & Foggie, 2008; Kingery et al., 2011). Thus, the transition of students moving from primary to secondary school is just one of the many changes students encounter at this stage that secondary teachers need to aware of and consider when planning their program of instruction (Hawk & Hill, 2001; Reyes et al., 2000).

Hormonal and physical changes also need to be considered as important influences during the transition phase. These changes have an impact upon students' physical appearance (Hoyt et al., 2012), self-concept (Hay & Ashman, 2012), motivation in school (Frydenberg, 2010; Migdley et al., 2000) and risk-taking behaviour, particularly by adolescent boys. These developmental factors are considered to contribute to the anxiety and apprehensiveness many students experience during transition, particularly for students who transition into a new and more complex social setting and who are already at risk of underachievement (Kingery et al., 2011; Migdley et al., 2000). Teachers and schools therefore need to be sensitive to the development changes students encounter during the transition phase, and effective transition programs need to take developmental factors into account.

Attaining the necessary literacy skills to be successful at secondary school is essential for young adolescents, whereby strong literacy skills can be regarded as the key to academic success (Dugdale & Clark, 2008). Students who enter secondary school without adequate literacy skills are reported to be at greater risk of failure in their secondary years (Duke et al., 2011) and as a consequence, are more likely to experience severe difficulties later in life; socially, emotionally and academically (Reyes et al., 2000). Therefore, research into the transition phase is essential in developing a greater understandings for how to improve the academic and social transition experience for students, particularly those students who are at risk of underachievement, but not exclusively for this population alone.

Research limitations

When considering the results from this research, it is important to acknowledge that there were some limitations associated with this study and that these should be taken into account when considering the research findings. Limitations of this research included:

1. The study included a sample of student (N=244) participants, from a limited number of schools (N=7), from only one Australian State: Tasmania, whose structures, practices, and policy may not be reflective of the full Australian educational context. Therefore, the achievement levels reported from each school may be unique to this sample.

2. Student reading attainment across transition was measured using one standardised test instrument that measured students on one elements of literacy: reading. While the PAT-R was chosen due to its reliability and validity, this test did not enable broader areas of literacy skills to be measured, such as writing, disciplinary literacies, or multiliteracies. The study has relied on the PAT-R as the main measure of reading achievement of students over time. While this test is based on Australian norms and is regarded as a reliable and valid measure, it needs to be acknowledged that this test of performance is an estimate of a student's ablity in the reading domain.

3. This research focused solely on reading achievement. It is acknowledged that a student's success at school and a successful transition cannot be measured by these this skills alone. A student's ability in other areas of the curriculum, as well as social and emotional development, must also be acknowledged and encouraged in order to determine what constitutes a successful transition experience.

4. The age at which students in Tasmanian schools engage in transition from Year 6 to Year 7 is different to students from other parts of Australia, and also in other countries. Therefore, students who transition at different stages/ages may have slightly different educational outcomes.

Although this research was based within one state within Australia, it is hoped that the results provide insights that are interesting to other researchers and that can be interpreted and adapted to suit educational settings in Australia and beyond.

Concluding comments

This research highlights the serious impact that the transition phase can have on young adolescents. While transition research has previously been explored in Australian schools (Hanewald, 2013), it has been done on a minimal basis and most of what is known about transition comes from research conducted in the Unites States (Alspaugh, 1998; Benner, 2011; Cauley & Jovanovich, 2006; Reyes et al., 2000), the United Kingdom (Galton et al., 1999; Jindal-Snape & Foggie, 2008; Jindal-Snape & Miller, 2008; Topping, 2011; West et al., 2010), as well as in New Zealand (Cox & Kennedy, 2008), where the transition process occurs at different stages in students' education. The transition from primary school to secondary school may be considered a natural progression for adolescent students, something they must undergo in order to complete their education. As the previous literature indicates and this research has highlighted, while transition may be a standard part of students' schooling, it can be quite problematic for many students (Benner, 2011). The reading achievement a young adolescent will experience during the transition phase can have a lasting effect beyond the transition years and beyond school and there is still a great deal that needs to be done in regards to improving and enhancing students' reading achievement across transition. Further research should build on the strengths and limitations of the existing research in this area.

The present research was part of a larger scale study conducted with the aim of developing further understandings of why many adolescent students continue to struggle in their reading achievement as they progress through secondary school, what is causing the struggle, and how the problem can be addressed. It is hoped that the findings of this research will be of scholarly and practical interest to education departments, principals, teachers, parents and other members of the educational community who are interested in improving the reading achievement of young adolescents. School transitions will continue to be a part of all students' educational careers and, therefore, transition needs to be given a priority in the educational community. It is the responsibility of researchers, educators and policy workers to work together to prevent student academic decline and to promote successful learning experiences for all young adolescent students. A key step in achieving this positive learning for all students is a positive and meaningful transition from a primary school learning environment to a secondary school learning environment that values the needs of students as they take a monumental step in their educational career.

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Belinda Hopwood, Ian Hay and Janet Dyment

University of Tasmania

Belinda Hopwood is a researcher and lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Belinda's research interests include: the middle years of schooling, students' reading achievement and attainment, literacy education and English teachers' pedagogical content knowledge for the teaching of reading. Belinda has worked extensively with primary and secondary teachers in order to identify reasons for student academic decline in the middle years of education, specifically in the area of literacy.

Ian Hay (PhD) is Professor Emeritus and the former Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Australia. His main research focus is on: students' cognitive development and learning; literacy education; and the influence of psychosocial factors on students' achievement. Professor Ian Hay has supervised over 30 research higher degree students, and has been awarded over 15 significant national research grants. At the University of Tasmania he still holds a research position in the Faculty of Education.

Janet Dyment is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania, Australia. She is also the Course Coordinator for the Master of Teaching. She completed her doctorate at Lakehead University (Canada) and her masters at Simon Fraser University (Canada). Janet's teaching and research interests focus on teacher inquiry, reflective practice, sustainability education, and outdoor learning.

Caption: Figure 1. Students' PAT-R Scores Year 6 and Year 7

Caption: Figure 2. Mean PAT-R Scores for Participating Schools from Year 6 and Year 7 Table 1. Cohen's d Value for Students' PAT-R Achievement in Year 6 and Year 7 School N M Year 6 SD Year 6 M Year 7 M Year 7 School 1a/1b 42 25.38 5.53 23.38 6.12 School 2 26 22.54 7.50 22.04 7.37 School 3a/3b 30 20.90 6.39 18.50 6.72 School 4a/1b 3 24.67 1.53 20.00 4.00 School 5a/5b 28 21.96 5.98 20.96 6.34 School 6 45 22.96 5.86 21.24 5.89 School 7 29 21.48 7.69 23.17 7.36 School N Cohen's d Value School 1a/1b 42 -0.34 # School 2 26 -0.07 School 3a/3b 30 -0.36 # School 4a/1b 3 -1.54 ## School 5a/5b 28 -0.16 School 6 45 -0.29 # School 7 29 +0.22 # Indicates moderate effect size ## Indicates large effect size