Factors Affecting Student\'s Adaptation to Learning Environments

Transitioning and Student Wellbeing

Integration, Wellbeing, and Success of Transitioning of Students Background

Migration is a common phenomenon for many families around the globe. When a family moves, children often face the challenges of adapting to the behavior, culture, and requirements of the new school (Heinlein & Shinn, 2000). Significant evidence shows that the effects of moving affect students and teachers moving to a new school more than it does for the receiving students and teachers. However, those affected by changes in the learning environment are more resilient and can adapt easily to the new environment than their parents and teachers. The influence of mobility on the performance of the students has been an area of focus with a history that dates back to the beginning of World War II.

Significant evidence shows conflicting results on the effect mobility have on the performance of students, with some postulating it reduces their performance and others postulate a lack of any effects on the academic performance of the students (Franke & Hartman, 2003). Therefore, this research paper provides literature analysis of the influence of mobility on the performance of the students. It analyses studies postulating mobility affecting academic performance whilst focusing on studies supporting the lack of influence on the performance of the students.

Literature review

Determining the effect of mobility on the performance of the students can be a challenging process for most of the researchers. Factors like poverty in families with a high rate of mobility and their minority nature affect the credibility of the effects of mobility because of the low levels of education among students. Significant evidence shows that mobility has undesired effects on the performance of the students. The effects include lower scores on the criterion and the norm-referenced tests that increase the likelihood of them dropping out of school. The inability of the students to adapt to the demands of the new learning environment often present through an increase in the rate of absenteeism, inferior evaluation of their citizenship and increased incidences of retention of their grades.

An exploration by Robinson, Hohepa, & Lloyd (2009) determining the effects of migration of the performance of the students showed that severe negative effects of mobility on the performance of students in their early elementary grades as compared to those in the advanced classes. The exploration also showed that effects on achievement are evident in students who change within the locality during the academic year, unlike those changing schools at the start of their academic years.

Noble et al., (2008) found that high-school students who had migrated to a new school had high rates of not being promoted to their desired classes as compared to their counterparts. The findings collated with Franke & Hartman (2003) findings that showed that a negative relationship between mobility and student's academic performance exists in urban areas. The decline in the academic performance becomes evidenced by a decrease in their overall academic achievement. In addition, mobility affects the grade-point average (GPA) of the students entering into a new learning environment. Heinlein & Shinn (2000) showed that mobility correlates with poor academic achievement, more so among the Black Hispanic Students considered as a minority group in most of the American societies. Specifically, migration translates to an increase in the rate of absenteeism, high rates of school dropout, and decrease in their overall GPA. Other studies such as that conducted by Strand (2002) revealed that mobility resulted in a decrease in the grades of the students and citizenship. Combining the findings from these studies shows that the migration influences the academic achievement of the students.

On the other hand, some studies have unveiled the lack of relationship between the performance of the students and mobility. A study by Hattie (2009) that involved the use of stepwise regression showed that mobility does not affect the academic performance of the student. The little variance seen in the study represented the normal psychological responses employed by the students as they adjust to the new environment. Other studies have shown that the poor performance of most of the students existed even before their migration or change of the learning environment. As such, their history of poor academic performance does not make it conclusive that mobility has a direct effect on their performance. Similarly, a study conducted by Strand (2002) and Heinlein & Shinn (2000) that used longitudinal study styles found that mobility led to a decrease in the social capital of the students.