K-8 Structure Gives No Academic Boost, Analysis Finds

When it comes to improving academic achievement for early adolescents, a study out of Philadelphia suggests that the strategy of shifting from middle schools to K-8 schools may not do the trick—at least not in and of itself.

The report, published last month in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Education , comes as city school districts including Cincinnati and New York are joining Philadelphia in phasing out middle schools in favor of K-8 grade configurations. ( "City Districts Embracing K-8 Schools," May 19, 2004.)

But Christopher C. Weiss, the lead author of the new study, said it turned up no evidence that K-8 schools alone confer such benefits in Philadelphia. All other things being equal, the study found, 8th graders in that city’s K-8 schools had no higher grade point averages and no fewer F’s or absences than their...