A Simple Practice Yields Big Results in Middle School For Less Than $2
August 26, 2019
By: Laura Lee
Source: Edutopia
A low-cost intervention can make a big difference for students in their formative years, according to a new study by University of Wisconsin researcher and professor Geoffrey Borman. In an interview with Borman in Time, writer Belinda Luscombe explores how a simple writing exercise improved the experiences of more than 1,000 new middle schoolers.
While other social and emotional interventions cost more than $500 per student, according to researchers, the writing intervention costs a tiny fraction of that—an eye-popping $1.35 per student—and the results outperform the more expensive interventions, Lunscombe writes.
Middle school is an especially difficult time for many students because in addition to developmental and physical changes, they move from a single teacher to multiple teachers, often in a new location. “The process of alienation and disengagement from school often takes root at the beginning of middle school,” Borman says. The study’s intervention was designed to ease that transition by reminding kids that their fears are common and by fostering a sense of belonging with peers and teachers.