Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that helping students reappraise common social and academic worries during the difficult transition to middle school can improve their academic achievement. To further test this outcome, we conducted a pre-registered randomized controlled trial at scale among students transitioning to middle school in seventh grade (N = 2,171). The intervention increased students’ seventh-grade grade point average, the sole confirmatory outcome proposed in preregistration, and reduced course failures when compared to controlgroup students. Differences in effects between those found for white students and for other racial/ethnic groups were not statistically significant. These results reinforce previous findings suggesting that reappraising stressful school situations during the transition to middle school may improve academic achievement for students across all demographic groups.

摘要

最近的证据表明，帮助学生重新评估在过渡到中学期间的社会和学术方面的共同忧虑可以提高他们的学业成绩。为了进一步检验这一结果，我们对七年级（N = 2,171）过渡到中学的学生进行了预先注册的随机对照试验。与对照组学生相比，该干预措施提高了学生的七年级平均绩点，是预注册中唯一的确认结果，并且减少了课程失败率。在白人学生和其他种族/族裔群体中发现的效果差异没有统计学意义。