Middle Level Leaders' Responsiveness to the Needs of the Sixth Grade Student Transitioning to Middle School in Two Virginia School Divisions

The purpose of this study was to identify middle level leaders' perceptions of their responsiveness to students' developmental needs and their support of staff and structures related to meeting those needs. This study also sought a broader understanding of how transition programs aligned with the developmental needs of young adolescents. A mixed-methods approach was used to address the study's research questions. Participants in the study included middle school principals and assistant principals in two Virginia school divisions. Participants completed an online questionnaire reporting their self-perceptions about their responsiveness to their students' developmental needs and their support of staff and structures related to meeting those needs. Participants rated their responsiveness to their students' developmental needs as fairly often and their responsiveness to supporting staff and structures related to those needs as falling between frequently, if not always, and fairly often. Middle school leaders also shared how their schools' transition programs aligned to their students' developmental needs in focus group interviews. Participants identified that young adolescents need additional emotional, social-emotional and organizational support during the transition to middle school. They also shared the need and desire for training to best serve young adolescents. Overall, the findings aligned with existing research underscoring the critical role middle level leaders play in meeting the developmental needs of young adolescents when transitioning to middle school. This study provided implications for middle level and school division leaders and principal prep programs to emphasize strategic, on-going, and collaborative learning opportunities to prepare middle level leaders.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department dc:contributor.department

Counselor Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Natia Keem

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Cash, Carol S.
• Price, Ted S.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Brinkmann, Jodie Lynn
• Gratto, John Robert

• developmental responsiveness to young adolescents
• transition to middle school
• middle level leadership

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:36294

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/113667