Detachment Starts in Middle School, Study Finds

By Lynn Olson

Washington

Teenagers' disengagement from school starts as early as middle school, a study released at the Brookings Institution asserts.

"Something important happens between 7th and 9th grade that adversely affects many students," said Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, during a conference on the American high school held here this month at the public-policy think tank. ( "Research Underscores Need for Tough Courses," May 22, 2002.)

Mr. Steinberg based his conclusions on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, or AddHealth. The data, collected in the middle to late 1990s, come from a nationally representative sample of about 12,000...