Scaling Problems in the System of Transition from Elementary to Secondary Education in Turkey with the Rank-Order Method

• Published in: International electronic journal of elementary education 2020-09, Vol.13 (1), p.57-75
• Main Authors: Demir, Ergül, İnceçam, Beyza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Anxiety; Articulation (Education); Comparative Analysis; Content analysis; Educational Change; Elementary education; Elementary School Students; Elementary School Teachers; Elementary schools; Entrance examinations; Extracurricular activities; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Grade 8; Grade 9; Methods; Preschool education; Primary Education; Scaling; Secondary education; Secondary School Students; Secondary schools; Stress Variables; Student Attitudes; Students; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods
• ISSN: 1307-9298; 1307-9298
• DOI: 10.26822/iejee.2020.173

The purpose of this study was to examine the significance level of problems experienced in the transition from elementary to secondary education by using the rank-order scaling method. The study was conducted using a mixedmethods design. Forty-two eighth-and ninth-grade students from different types of public schools and 15 teachers were selected as the sample for the qualitative phase. The sample for the quantitative phase constituted consisted of 336 eighth- and 397 ninth-grade students, with 130 eighth-and 139 ninth-grade teachers. An essay instruction and semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data. Then, scaling forms for students and teachers were developed in accordance with the qualitative data. The qualitative data were analyzed with the content analysis technique. "Thurstone's law of comparative judgments" and "the composite standard" solutions were utilized to analyze the ranked data. The stimulus of "constant and rapid changes in the transition system to secondary education" was scaled as the most significant problem by eighth-grade students and teachers. "Not allocating time for leisure time activities" stimulus was evaluated as the most crucial problem by ninth-grade students. In terms of the independent variables, rankings of the stimuli were more consistent in eighth graders' judgments. However, ninth-grade students' judgments revealed that there was less similarity in rankings for both gender and school type variables. Besides, according to the judgments of teachers, rankings descriptively differed in terms of the branch and seniority level variables.