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Holistic Intervention Strategies on School Adjustment of
Grade 11 Students in Catholic Schools
JULY, 2020
LITERATURE REVIEW
Senior high school is seen as important feature of the new K-12 program. The program has the
goal to create several opportunities for students who pass through the system. As a pre-tertiary
program, it starts with grade 11 and the student writes final exams after grade 12, in order to
make another transition to the tertiary level. The period for the senior high school is so brief and
as such, students have little time to prepare for the tertiary education.
GRADE 11 OF HIGH SCHOOL
Moving to grade 11 is a critical point in the life of students because, it is a time of major
transition which demands proper adjustment to set a strong foundation for the students.
Since students have individual need levels for adjustment, there is a need for effective program
to help students make smooth adjustment. any program to provide intervention for smooth
transition and adjustment of grade 11 students in high school will serve as incentive for students
wellbeing and academic outcome.
SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT
School adjustment involves the ability of a student to adapt to the demands of the school
environment and to be able to become part of the process of that environment. (Lakhani,
Chandel, & Jain, 2017). This process demands deliberate and careful planning on the part of
educators, and conscious and active involvement of students. A study conducted by Permiakova,
(2018) revealed that one of the most critical moments students need help for adjustment is during
transition to high school grade 11. The study found poor adjustment to school environment as a
contributing factor to the problem of students.
A research conducted by Lidstrom, Hemmingsson, and Ekbladh, (2020) with the aim to
find out how students fit into school environment and their possible need for adjustments
revealed that some of the students could not meet the demands of the school environment. The
findings revealed students’ individual need of adjustment, and recommended that interventional
programs for school adjustment should be flexible enough to take care of individual students’
needs for adjustment. The recommendation is important because studies have shown that
students who experience poor school adjustment dropout and become low income earners or
unemployed at the end. (Gustafsson, Katz, & Österberg, 2016). Other consequences of poor
school adjustment include, low academic performance and negative wellbeing of students, which
is also seen as causes of school dropout and absenteeism. (Korhonen, Linnanmäki, &
Aunio, 2014; Havik et al. 2015)
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A study in which Li, & Grineva, (2017) adopted basic qualitative approach to data
collection and analysis, identified a wide range of issues affecting new comers in a new school
environment. Among the issues included, school related and discipline issues, teacher-student
relations, and peer interaction. Others include school academic climate, school adjustment and
social interaction, financial worries and emotional distress, and identity conflicts. The study
concluded that effective intervention is needed to help newcomers to adjust in school for effective
teaching and learning to take place.
Another study conducted by Mesdidor, (2016) on factors that contribute to the adjustment
of international students identified academic, cultural, social, and psychological adjustments as
the main challenge of international students. The aim of the research was to help students,
educational institutions, and policy makers, to provide the resources necessary for smooth
transition, and to facilitate the adjustment of international students to new environment. Study has
also shown that each different student has different levels of abilities to adapt to a new school
environment. While some easily adapt to their new situation others struggle and may need the help
of counseling to adjust smoothly. Maladjustment was identified to have a lifelong devastating
impact on students therefore, the need to address every problem that might arise as a result of poor
school adjustment (Lakhani, Chandel, & Jain, 2017).
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES
Literature abound in efforts made by other scholars and policy makers to identify major
challenges of students adjustment in school, and some concrete interventional programs already
implemented. Many of this scholarly works have identified specific factors which make students
find it difficult to adjust to new school environment and valuable suggestions are made to deal
with the problem of school adjustment. (Bucholz, & Sheffler, 2009; Arif, and Mirza, 2017).
Although some studies (DeRosier, & Lloyd, 2010), have made giant strides to develop
intervention program to address the problem of school adjustment, not much result has been
achieved as we still experience many students dropping out of school at different stages. Some
students remain unattached and unengaged in school activities and those who persevere to
complete come out with poor grades which kills their dreams of furthering to college or
university(Itzhaki, Itzhaky, & Yablon, 2018).
Katamei, and Omwono, (2015) in their study identified high school as a pivotal period for
providing quality education to train future manpower. As pre-tertiary institution, they expect high
school education to help young people to be well equipped with the needed skills for tertiary
formation. They concluded that these objectives cannot be achieved if students are not able to
adjust properly to the school environment, which can result in poor academic output. They
discovered that strategies implemented in some schools are not grounded on research evidence,
and have been found counter-productive. Based on research, they identified the following
intervention strategies as capable of helping to address problem of students adjustment and
achievement. These include: Friendly school culture system; Teacher-student-parent relationship;
Academic indicator strategy comprising monitoring homework, education expectation and
encouragement of students; Teachers capacity building; Student support program like mentoring,
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counseling, coaching, academic and tutoring guidance; Behavior modification strategy; and Life
skill strategies.
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