Because learning changes everything.

Adolescence
18th Edition
John W. Santrock

Chapter 10—Schools

© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.
 Contemporary Approaches to
Student Learning 1
The two main contemporary approaches to student
learning are constructivist and direct instruction.

The constructivist approach is learner centered and

emphasizes the importance of individuals actively
constructing their knowledge and understanding with
guidance from the teacher.
• Students should be encouraged to explore their world,
discover knowledge, reflect, and think critically, with careful
monitoring and meaningful guidance.
• Today, constructivism may include an emphasis on
collaboration.
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 Contemporary Approaches to
Student Learning 2
The direct instruction approach is structured and
teacher centered. It is characterized by:
• Teacher direction and control.
• High teacher expectations for students’ progress.
• Maximum time spent by students on academic tasks.
• Efforts by the teacher to keep negative affect to a minimum.

An important goal is maximizing student learning time.

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 Accountability 1
Since the 1990s, the U.S. public and governments at
every level have demanded increased accountability
from schools.
• One result has been the spread of state-mandated tests to
measure just what students had or had not learned.
• This approach became national policy in 2002 when the No
Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was signed into law.

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 Accountability 2
Advocates of NCLB argue that statewide standardized
testing has a number of positive effects, including
improved student performance.
Critics argue that the NCLB legislation is doing more
harm than good.
• Using a single test as the sole indicator of students’ progress
and competence presents a very narrow view of their skills.
• NCLB reflects social policy that focuses only on academic
reforms and ignores the social aspects of school.
• Each state is allowed to have different criteria for what
constitutes passing or failing grades on tests designated for
NCLB inclusion.

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 Accountability 4
The most recent initiative in U.S. education is the Every
Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

What is ESSA?

In 2020, the government suspended standardized

testing for the 2020−2021 school year due to the
impact of COVID-19 on in-person learning.

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 Guiding Adolescents to
Use the Internet Effectively
When used effectively, the Internet expands access to a
world of knowledge and people.

The internet can be used effectively in the classroom

through project-centered collaborative activities.
• Blog publishing; surveys; internet “scavenger hunts”.

Teachers are also using social media for professional

networking and development.

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 High School Dropouts 2
Students drop out of school for school-related,
economic, family-related, peer-related, and personal
reasons.
• School-related problems are consistently associated with
dropping out of school.
• Students from low-income families are more likely to drop out
than those from middle-income families.
• Many dropouts have friends who are also dropouts.

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 Reducing the Dropout Rate
Provide early reading intervention, tutoring, counseling,
and mentoring.
• They also emphasized the importance of creating caring
environments, building relationships, and offering community
service opportunities.

Early detection of children’s school-related difficulties

and getting children and youth engaged with school in
positive ways are important strategies for reducing the
dropout rate.

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 Transition From High School to College 1
The transition from high school to college parallels the
transition from elementary to middle or junior high
school in many ways:
• Replays the top dog phenomenon.
• Involves a move to a larger, more impersonal school structure.
• Interaction with peers from diverse geographical and
sometimes more diverse ethnic backgrounds.
• Increased focus on achievement and performance and their
assessment.

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 Transition From High School to College 2
Today’s college students experience more stress and are
more depressed than in the past.
• In 2019, 42.7% of college freshmen said they frequently “felt
overwhelmed with what I have to do.”
• The pressure to succeed in college, get a great job, and make
lots of money were pervasive concerns of students.

One study comparing the upper 10% of college students

who were very happy with college students who were
average or very unhappy found that very happy
students were highly social, were more extroverted, and
had stronger romantic and social relationships.
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 Transition From College to Work
Having a college degree is a strong asset.
• College graduates can enter careers that will earn them considerably more
money in their lifetimes than those who do not go to college.
• Income differences between college graduates and high school graduates
continue to grow.

The transition from college to work is often a difficult one, however.

• Accelerated technical and occupational change in the future may make it even
more difficult for colleges to provide training that keeps up with a fluid and
shifting job market.

What are the top skills employers are looking for in today’s workforce?

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 Classroom Climate and Management 1
It is important that classrooms present a positive
environment for learning.

One way to do this is to use the authoritative strategy

of classroom management.
• This encourages students to be independent thinkers and
doers but still involves effective monitoring.
• Engage students in verbal give-and-take attitude.
• Caring attitude but have limits.

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 Classroom Climate and Management 2
The authoritative strategy contrasts with two
ineffective strategies:
• Authoritarian strategy of classroom management: restrictive
and punitive, with the focus mainly on keeping order rather
than on instruction and learning.
• Permissive strategy of classroom management: offers
students considerable autonomy but provides them with little
support for developing skills or managing their behavior.

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 Classroom Climate and Management 3
A well-managed classroom:
• Fosters meaningful learning but also helps prevent academic
and emotional problems from developing.
• Keeps students busy with active, appropriately challenging
tasks.
• Has activities that encourage students to become absorbed
and motivated and learn clear rules and regulations.

Secondary school students’ problems can be more long

standing and deeply ingrained—and therefore more
difficult to modify—than those of elementary school
students.
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 Person-Environment Fit 1
Needs of developing adolescents =/ the opportunities
afforded them by the schools they attend.

A lack of fit between the middle school or junior high

environment and the needs of young adolescents can
produce increasingly negative self-evaluations and
attitudes toward school.

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 Teachers, Parents, Peers, and
Extracurricular Activities 1
Competent teachers of adolescents:
• Have a good understanding of their development.
• Know how to create instruction materials that are appropriate
for the developmental levels of the adolescents in their
classroom.

What are teachers traits and dimensions that are

associated with positive student outcomes?

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 Teachers, Parents, Peers, and
Extracurricular Activities 2
A recent analysis by leading experts in educational
psychology concluded that the following teaching
practices and strategies are linked with positive student
outcomes:
• Developing caring classroom communities.
• Enhancing students’ motivation to learn.
• Planning and delivering engaging, assessment-driven
instruction.
• Supporting students’ deep processing and self-regulation
skills.

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 Parents and Schools 1
Family management practices are positively related
to grades and self-responsibility and negatively
related to school-related problems.

Maintaining a structured and organized family

environment includes:
• Establishing routines for homework, chores, bedtime, etc.
• High expectations for achievement.

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 Parents and Schools 2
Parental involvement is minimal in elementary school
and even less in secondary school.

The more involved parents are in their children’s

learning, the higher the level of achievement their
children will attain.

Research indicates that East Asian parents are far more

involved in their children’s and adolescents’ learning
than are U.S. parents.

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 Parents and Schools 3
Eva Pomerantz recently offered the following
recommendations for parents who want their children
and adolescents to do well in school:
• Keep in mind that ability is not fixed and can change.
• Be involved.
• Support autonomy and self-initiative.
• Be positive.
• Understand that each child or adolescent is different.

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 Peers 1
Middle schools are structured in a way that encourages
students to interact with larger numbers of peers on a
daily basis.

Peer statuses have been studied in relation to school

success: Being popular or accepted by peers is usually
associated with academic success, whereas being
rejected by peers is related to more negative academic
outcomes.

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 Peers 2
Significant numbers of students are victimized
by bullies.
• Boys are more likely to be bullies than girls, but gender differences
regarding victims of bullying are less clear.
• Boys and younger middle school students are most likely to be bullied.
• Anxious, socially withdrawn, and aggressive children are often the victims
of bullying.
• Research shows that 70%–80% of victims and their bullies are in the same
school classroom.

Many bullies are not rejected by the peer group.

Children who are bullied are more likely to experience depression, have low
self-esteem, engage in suicidal ideation, and attempt suicide than their
counterparts who have not been the victim of bullying.

A dramatic increase in cyberbullying—bullying on the Internet—has recently

occurred.
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 FIGURE 1
BULLYING BEHAVIORS
AMONG U.S. YOUTH
This graph shows the types of bullying most often experienced by U.S.
youth. The percentages reflect the extent to which bullied students said
that they had experienced a particular type of bullying. In terms of
gender, note that when they were bullied, boys were more likely to be
hit, slapped, or pushed than girls were.

Access the text alternative for slide images.

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 Adolescents Who Are Exceptional
For many years, public schools did little to educate
adolescents with disabilities.

Federal legislation now mandates that all children and

adolescents with disabilities receive a free, appropriate
education.

Increasingly, these students are being educated in the

regular classroom.

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 Learning Disabilities 1
Adolescents with learning disabilities have difficulty in
learning that involves understanding or using spoken or
written language.
• The difficulty can appear in listening, thinking, reading,
writing, spelling, or math.

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 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 1
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a
disability in which children or adolescents consistently
show one or more of the following characteristics over
a period of time:
• Inattention.
• Hyperactivity.
• Impulsivity.

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 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 2
The number of children and adolescents diagnosed and
treated for ADHD has increased substantially.
• The disorder occurs as much as four to nine times more often
in boys than in girls.
• Some experts attribute the increase mainly to heightened
awareness of the disorder; others are concerned that many
children and adolescents are being incorrectly diagnosed.

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 Autism Spectrum Disorders 1
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized
by brain dysfunction, problems in social interaction,
problems in verbal and nonverbal communication,
difficulties in processing information, and repetitive
behaviors.

These disorders are dramatically increasing in

occurrence (or are increasingly being detected).
• In 2018–2019, 11% of all children receiving special
education in the United States were autistic compared
with only 6.5% in 2010–2011.

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 Autism Spectrum Disorders 2
What causes autism spectrum disorders?
• The current consensus is that autism is a brain dysfunction
characterized by abnormalities in brain structure and
neurotransmitter levels.
• Genetic factors also play a role.

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© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.