The Academic Effects of Moving to Middle School on Students With Disabilities Relative to Their General Education Peers.

This article examines the academic effects of the structural transition from elementary to middle school on students with disabilities (SWDs) relative to their general education peers (GENs) using longitudinal data from New York City public schools. The study finds that moving to middle school in sixth grade causes significant immediate declines in math (0.29 standard deviations) and English language arts (ELA) performance (0.16 standard deviations) for SWDs, along with a one percentage point increase in grade retention, with similar negative effects observed for GENs. After accounting for changes in school and peer characteristics (mediators), the widening of the SWD-GEN math performance gap is no longer statistically significant, suggesting that differences in school contexts rather than the transition itself may drive disparities. Subgroup analyses indicate that students with learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, those in self-contained classrooms, and those declassified during middle school experience larger negative impacts, though changes in the SWD-GEN gap are generally not statistically significant. The authors highlight the transition to middle school as a critical intervention point and suggest that districts consider programs to ease this transition and explore grade configurations with fewer mandated moves.