What does our knowledge of adolescent thought imply about school? Educators, developmentalists, political leaders, and parents wonder exactly which curricula and school structures are best for 11- to 18-year-olds. There are dozens of options: academic knowledge/vocational skills, single sex/co-ed, competitive/cooperative, large/small, public/private, religious/secular, charter/voucher, and more.

To complicate matters, adolescents are far from a homogeneous group. As a result,

some youth thrive at school—enjoying and benefiting from most of their experiences there; others muddle along and cope as best they can with the stress and demands of the moment; and still others find school an alienating and unpleasant place to be.

[Eccles & Roeser, 2011, p. 225]

Given all these variations, no single school structure or style of pedagogy seems best for everyone. Various scientists, nations, schools, and teachers try many strategies, some based on opposite but logical hypotheses. To begin to analyze this complexity, we present definitions, facts, issues, and possibilities.

Each year of schooling advances human potential, a fact recognized by leaders and scholars in every nation and discipline. As you have read, adolescents are capable of deep and wide-ranging thought, no longer limited by concrete experience, yet they are often egocentric and impulsive, and their thinking intuitive. The quality of education matters: A year can propel thinking forward or can have little impact (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2010).

Secondary education—traditionally grades 7 through 12—denotes the school years after elementary or grade school (known as primary education) and before college or university (known as tertiary education). Adults are healthier and wealthier if they complete primary education, learning to read and write, and then continue on through secondary and tertiary education. This is true within nations and between them.

Even cigarette-smoking by European American adults—seemingly unrelated to education—is almost three times as common among those with no high school diploma than it is among those with BA degrees (40 percent versus 15 percent, respectively) (National Center for Health Statistics, 2013).

These cigarette data are typical: Data on almost every condition, from every nation and ethnic group, confirm that high school and college graduation correlates with better health, wealth, and family life. Some reasons are indirectly related to education (e.g., income and place of residence), but even when poverty and toxic neighborhoods are equalized, education confers benefits.

Partly because political leaders recognize that educated adults advance national wealth and health, every nation is increasing the number of students in secondary schools. Education is compulsory until at least age 12 almost everywhere, and new high schools and colleges open daily in developing nations.

The two most populous countries, China and India, are characterized by massive growth in education. In India, for example, less than 1 percent of the population graduated from high school in 1950; the 2002 rate was 37 percent; the 2010 rate was 50 percent; now it is even higher (Bagla & Stone, 2013).

In many nations, two levels of secondary education are provided. Traditionally, secondary education was divided into junior high (usually grades 7 and 8) and senior high (usually grades 9 through 12). As the average age of puberty declined, middle schools were created for grades 6 to 8, and sometimes for grades 5 to 8.

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Adjusting to middle school is bound to be stressful, as teachers, classmates, and expectations all change. Regarding learning, “researchers and theorists commonly view early adolescence as an especially sensitive developmental period” (McGill et al., 2012, p. 1003). Yet many developmentalists find middle schools to be “developmentally regressive” (Eccles & Roeser, 2010, p. 13), which means learning goes backward.

For many middle school students, academic achievement slows down and behavioral problems increase. Puberty itself is part of the problem. At least for other animals studied, especially when they are under stress, learning is reduced at puberty (McCormick et al., 2010).

For people, the biological and psychological stresses of puberty are not the only reason learning suffers in early adolescence. Cognition matters, too: How much new middle school students like their school affects how much they learn (Riglin et al., 2013).

A longitudinal study found a decline in school interests and grades from age 7 to 16, with a notable dip in the transition to middle school (Dotterer et al., 2009). African American and Latino middle school students particularly seem less engaged in school (McGill et al., 2012; Hayes et al., 2014). Students become aware of expectations for them in the larger community. This makes the decline in academics particularly steep for young adolescents of ethnic minorities.

Unfortunately, many students of every group have reasons to dislike middle school compared to elementary school. Bullying is common in middle school, particularly in the first year (Baly et al., 2014). Middle schools undercut student–teacher relationships (Meece & Eccles, 2010), and parents are less involved, partly because students want to seem independent.

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Unlike primary school, when each classroom has one teacher all year, middle school teachers may have hundreds of students. They become impersonal and distant, opposite to the direct, personal engagement that young adolescents need.

As was true for James, the early signs of a future high school dropout are found in middle school. Those students most at risk of leaving before graduation are low-SES boys from minority ethnic groups, yet almost no middle school has male guidance counselors or teachers who are African American or Latino. Given the egocentric and intuitive thinking of many young adolescents, they may stop trying to achieve if they do not see role models of successful, educated men (Morris & Morris, 2013).

To pinpoint the developmental mismatch between students’ needs and the middle school context, note that just when egocentrism leads young people to feelings of shame or fantasies of stardom (the imaginary audience), schools typically require them to change rooms, teachers, and classmates every 40 minutes or so. That makes both public acclaim and supportive new friendships difficult to achieve.

Recognition for academic excellence is especially elusive because middle school teachers mark more harshly than their primary school counterparts. Effort without accomplishment is not recognized, and achievement that was earlier “outstanding” is now only average. Acclaim for after-school activities is also elusive, because many art, drama, dance, and other programs put adolescents of all ages together, and 11- to 13-year-olds are not as skilled as older adolescents. Finally, athletic teams become competitive; those with fragile egos avoid them.

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Many middle school students seek acceptance from their peers. Bullying increases, physical appearance becomes more important, status symbols are displayed (from gang colors to trendy sunglasses), expensive clothes are coveted, and sexual conquests are flaunted. Of course, much depends on the cultural context, but almost every middle school student seeks peer approval in ways that adults disapprove (Véronneau & Dishion, 2010), a topic further discussed in the next chapter.

One way to cope with stress is directly cognitive, that is, to blame classmates, teachers, parents, or governments for any problems. This may explain the surprising results of a Los Angeles study: Students in schools that were more ethnically mixed felt safer and less lonely. They did not necessarily have friends from other groups, but students who felt rejected could “attribute their plight to the prejudice of other people” rather than blame themselves (Juvonen et al., 2006, p. 398). Furthermore, since each group was a minority, the students tended to support and defend other members of their group, giving each individual some ethnic allies.

Another way middle school students avoid failure is to quit trying. Then they can blame a low grade on their choice (“I didn’t study”) rather than on their ability. Pivotal is how they think of their potential.

If they hold to the entity theory of intelligence (i.e., that ability is innate, a fixed quantity present at birth), then they conclude that nothing they do can improve their academic skill. If they think they are innately incompetent at math, or reading, or whatever, they mask that self-assessment by claiming not to study, try, or care. Thus, entity belief reduces stress, but it also reduces learning.

By contrast, if adolescents adopt the incremental theory of intelligence (i.e., that intelligence can increase if they work to master whatever they seek to understand), they will pay attention, participate in class, study, complete their homework, and learn. That is also called mastery motivation, an example of intrinsic motivation. (Developmental Link: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are discussed in Chapter 10; stereotype threat in the epilogue.)

This is not hypothetical. In the first year of middle school, students with entity beliefs do not achieve much, whereas those with mastery motivation improve academically, as found in many nations including Norway (Diseth et al., 2014), China (Zhao & Wang, 2014), and the United States (Burnette et al., 2013).

The implicit belief that skills can be mastered is crucial for learning social skills as well as academic ones (Dweck, 2013). Students are highly motivated to improve their peer relationships. Adults need to convince them that improvement is possible, and then guide them. That advances academic as well as social skills.

The contrast between the entity and incremental theories is apparent not only for individual adolescents but also for teachers, parents, schools, and cultures. If the hidden curriculum endorses competition among students and tells some students they are not “college material,” then everyone believes the entity theory, and students are unlikely to help each other (Eccles & Roeser, 2011). If a teacher believes that some children cannot learn much, then they won’t.

International comparisons reveal that educational systems that track students into higher or lower classes, that expel low-achieving students, and that allow competition between schools for the brightest students (all reflecting entity, not incremental, theory) also show lower average achievement and a larger gap between the scores of students at the highest and lowest score quartiles (OECD, 2011).

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Many of the patterns and problems of middle school continue in high school, although with puberty over, adolescents are better able to cope. As we have seen, adolescents become increasingly able to think abstractly, analytically, hypothetically, and logically (all formal operational thought) as well as subjectively, emotionally, intuitively, and experientially. High school curricula and teaching methods often require the former mode.

From a developmental perspective, the fact that high schools emphasize formal thinking makes sense, since many older adolescents are capable of abstract logic.

In several nations, attempts are underway to raise standards so that all high school graduates will be ready for college. For that reason, U.S. schools are increasing the number of students who take classes that are assessed by externally scored exams, either the IB (International Baccalaureate) or the AP (Advanced Placement).

Such classes satisfy some college requirements if the student scores well. More and more students are taking AP and IB classes: 33 percent of high school graduates did so in 2013, compared to 19 percent in 2003 (Adams, 2014).

Some students are discouraged from taking the AP exams, and those who avoid taking AP classes are often African or Latino American. Some students who might pass do not enroll—because the class is not offered, the student is not motivated or encouraged, or the cost of the test ($91) is prohibitive.

Another problem is that taking an AP class does not necessarily lead to college readiness (Sadler et al., 2010). One study showed that overall, almost a third of those who took the exam failed. Failure rates were higher among African Americans, lower among Latino and Asian Americans (Adams, 2014). The IB is less common, but again, few receive the highest scores.

Students who score well on AP or IB tests tend to do well in college. Since students who are capable and motivated, and who have college-educated parents, are most likely to take advanced high school courses, later success in college may be the result of who they are, not what they have learned (Challenge Success, 2013).

Of course, AP and IB exams are not the only measure of high school rigor. Another indicator is an increase in the requirements to receive an academic diploma. (In many U.S. schools, no one is allowed to earn a vocational or general diploma unless parents request it.) Graduation requirements usually include two years of math beyond algebra, two years of laboratory science, three years of history, and four years of English. Learning a language other than English is often required as well. Standards within those classes have often been raised by the Common Core, accepted by some, not all, high schools.

In addition to mandated courses, 24 U.S. states now also require students to pass a high-stakes test in order to graduate. (Any exam for which the consequences of failing are severe is called a high-stakes test.) A decade ago no state had such a test as a graduation requirement. Because the more populous states more often have high-stakes tests, 74 percent of U.S. high school students must take exit exams before graduation. This requirement is controversial, as the following explains.

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In the United States, a sizable minority (about 30 percent) of high school graduates do not enter college. Moreover, of those who enter public community colleges, most (about three-fourths) do not complete their associate’s degree within three years, and almost half of those entering public or private four-year schools do not graduate. Some simply take longer, or enter the job market first, but even 10 years after the usual age for high school graduation, only 34 percent of U.S. young adults have earned a bachelor’s degree (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013c).

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Rates are even lower in many of the largest cities. For example, only 18 percent of the approximately 60,000 students entering ninth grade public schools in the district of Philadelphia managed to graduate on time from high school and then complete at least two years of college (Center for Education Policy, 2013).

The 82 percent who fell off track are often a disappointment to their parents: In Philadelphia and nationwide, almost all parents hope their children will graduate from college. The students may be a disappointment to themselves as well. Many quit high school before their senior year, but among the Philadelphia seniors, 84 percent plan to go to college but only 47 percent enroll the following September. Some will begin college later, but their chance of college completion is low.

These sobering statistics underlie another debate among educators. Should students be encouraged to “dream big” early in high school, aspiring for tertiary learning? This suggestion originates from studies that find a correlation between dreaming big in early adolescence and going to college years later (Domina et al., 2011a, 2011b). Others suggest that college is a “fairy tale dream” that may lead to low self-esteem (Rosenbaum, 2011). If adolescents fail academic classes, will they feel bored, stupid, and disengaged?

Business leaders have another concern: that high school graduates are not ready for the demands of work because their education has been too abstract. They have not learned enough through discussion, emotional maturation, and real-world experience.

Internationally, vocational education that explicitly prepares students for jobs via a combination of academic classes and practical experience seems to succeed better than a general curriculum (Eichhorst et al., 2012). On the other hand, in the United States, many students whose test scores suggest they could succeed at a four-year college do not enroll. Some high schools do better than others.

For example, students who entered high school with high scores in two major cities in neighboring states (Albuquerque, New Mexico and Fort Worth, Texas) had markedly different college enrollment rates (Albuquerque was 83 percent, compared to 58 percent in Fort Worth) (Center for Education Policy, 2012).

Overall, the data present a dilemma for educators. Suggesting that a student should not go to college may be racist, classist, sexist, or worse. On the other hand, many students who begin college do not graduate, so they lose time and gain debt when they could have advanced in a vocation. Everyone agrees that adolescents need to be educated for life as well as employment, but it is difficult to decide what that means.

Employers usually provide on-the-job training, which is much more specific and current than what high schools provide. They hope their future employees will have learned in secondary school how to think, explain, write, concentrate, and get along with other people.

As one executive of Boeing (which hired 33,000 new employees in two years) wrote:

We believe that professional success today and in the future is more likely for those who have practical experience, work well with others, build strong relationships, and are able to think and do, not just look things up on the Internet.

[Stephens & Richey, 2013]

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Those skills are hard to measure, especially on national high-stakes tests or on the two international tests explained in Chapter 12, the PIRLS and the TIMSS.

The third set of international tests mentioned above, the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), was designed to measure students’ ability to apply what they have learned. The PISA is taken by 15-year-olds, an age chosen because some 15-year-olds are close to the end of their formal school career. The questions are written to be practical, measuring knowledge that might apply at home or on the job. As a PISA report described it:

The tests are designed to generate measures of the extent to which students can make effective use of what they have learned in school to deal with various problems and challenges they are likely to experience in everyday life.

[PISA, 2009, p. 12]

For example, among the 2012 math questions is this one:

Chris has just received her car driving license and wants to buy her first car. The table below shows the details of four cars she finds at a local car dealer.

What car’s engine capacity is the smallest?

A. Alpha  B. Bolte  C. Castel  D. Dezal

For that and the other questions on the PISA, the calculations are quite simple—most 10-year-olds can do them; no calculus, calculators, or complex formulas required. However, almost half of the 15-year-olds worldwide got that question wrong. (The answer is D.) One problem is decimals: Some students do not remember how to interpret them when a practical question, not an academic one, is asked. Even in Singapore and Hong Kong, one out of five 15-year-olds got this question wrong. Another problem is that distance traveled is irrelevant, yet many students are distracted by it.

As noted in Opposing Perspectives, overall the U.S. students perform lower on the PISA compared to many other nations. International analysis finds that the following items correlate with high achievement (OECD, 2010, p. 6):

The PISA and international comparisons of high school dropout rates suggest that U.S. secondary education can be improved, especially for those who do not go to college. Surprisingly, students who are capable of passing their classes, at least as measured on IQ tests, drop out almost as often as those who are less capable. Persistence, engagement, and motivation seem more crucial than intellectual ability alone (Archambault et al., 2009; Tough, 2012).

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An added complication is that adolescents themselves vary: Some are thoughtful, some are impulsive, some are ready for analytic challenges, some are egocentric. All of them, however, need personal encouragement.

A study of student emotional and academic engagement from the fifth to the eighth grade found that, as expected, the overall average was a slow and steady decline of engagement. However, about 18 percent were highly engaged throughout while about 5 percent dramatically reduced engagement year by year (Li & Lerner, 2011). The 18 percent do well in high school. The 5 percent usually drop out, but some of them are late bloomers who could succeed in college if given time and encouragement. Thus, schools and teachers need many strategies if they hope to reach every adolescent.

Now let us seek practical, general conclusions for this chapter. The cognitive skills that boost national economic development and personal happiness are creativity, flexibility, relationship building, and analytic ability. Whether or not an adolescent is college-bound, those skills are exactly what the adolescent mind can develop—with proper education and guidance. Every cognitive theorist and researcher believes that adolescents’ logical, social, and creative potential is not always realized, but that it can be. Does that belief end this chapter on a hopeful note?

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