Several authors have suggested reasons for children transferring to new schools, and they have hypothesized that the reasons may affect the nature and tenure of the transition process. The present study investigated the reasons parents of 451 elementary school children gave for changing schools and demonstrated that the reasons influenced children's ability to adjust to their new schools. Specifically, children transferring because their old school closed were more competent academically and had a higher average socioeconomic status than did the other groups. On the other hand, those transferring because of changing households had poorer academic performance and more stressful life events on average than the other groups. Finally, reasons for moving not only vary according to race, but the effects of the reasons are different for each racial group. Implications for school personnel seeking to integrate transfer students into their schools effectively are discussed.
This study was made possible by support from NIMH (Grant MH40851).
We wish to thank the principals, teachers, transfer students, and parents who provided us with valuable information. We also acknowledge the staff of the School Transition Project who gathered and coded the data. Our thanks also to Andrew Weine and Michael Anes for helping to edit this paper.