Dive Brief:
- Researchers from Syracuse University and NYU studied 90,000 students in more than 500 New York City schools over three years, finding what they call the first credibly causal evidence that “top dog status” improves academic achievement and the learning environment.
- Middle schoolers face greater bullying than other grade levels and their grades tend to suffer, but NPR reports being in a K-8 school helped students during this particularly difficult time — and researchers found sixth graders reported less bullying and had higher grades and test scores than their peers in 6-8 or 6-12 schools.
- Researchers could rule out alternative explanations for the positive effects of being the “top dog” in a K-8 school rather than a “bottom dog” in another arrangement because they had so much data, finding also that tall students who can blend in with older kids don’t have it any easier as bottom dogs and that transfer students to K-8 schools still see the benefits of being top dog despite being new.
Dive Insight:
As schools consider ways to improve school climate, administrators might spend time re-thinking the grade spans in their schools serving sixth through eighth graders. Sixth grade is a particularly vulnerable time for students going through puberty, and even though they can’t escape being “bottom dogs” forever, pushing off the experience until ninth grade can be beneficial.
Beyond changing the school structure, administrators can work to create a more inclusive school community, emphasizing programs that teach students how to appreciate each other’s differences. They can also create clearer systems to give students an outlet for reporting bullying, whether they are the ones being bullied or witnesses to it.