Grade Span and Eighth-Grade Academic Achievement: Evidence From a Predominantly Rural State

Although the twentieth century has witnessed two major waves ofgrade reorganization in American public. schools, little empirical evidence exists pertaining to the effects of grade span the range of grades making up schools on academic achievement. In the present study, a series of production functions was employed to examine the influence ofgrade span, and several control variables, on eighth-grade student performance on a state-wide test of academic achievement. Results suggested that, other things equal, the elementary setting (K-8, K-9, 3-8) surfacedas the most favorable location for the eighth grade, and the junior/seniorsetting the least favorable. The junior high and middle grade-span arrangements emerged as more effective than the junior/ senior setting, but less effective than the elementary grade span. These findings point to the importance of continued research on the effectiveness of policy andpractice characterizing various grade-span arrangements in which eighth grades are located, as well as on the social environment these arrangements present to the student.