Investigation school adjustment of middle school students

The middle school period is a period in which students finish primary school and transition into adolescence. Students who pass to middle school start middle school earlier with the 4 + 4 + 4 system and encounter more than one branch teacher after the classroom teacher. Students' academic responsibilities increase with this situation. In addition to these changes, students have to adapt to pyhsical and psychological changes with onset of puberty. Students' likehood of experiencing academic and social problems, failure in the future and risk of dropping out of school increase in later education stages who have trouble adapting. For this reason, it is thought that it is important to examine the school adjustment of middle school students with various variables. The main aim of this study is to examine the school adjustment levels of middle school students in terms of gender, class, school success, being in the same school with best friend, economic status of the family, relations with the family, perceived academic success and companionship, conflict, help, security and closeness in peer relations variables. Participants of the study were 218 female and 157 male in total 374 middle school students who were continuing their education in the city center of Kırşehir in the 2020-2021 academic year. To collect the data, Personal Information Form, School Adjustment Scale, and Peer Relationship Scale were used in present research. Also, Multiple Regression Analysis was used to determine whether the variables were an important predictor of school adjustment. It was concluded that the sub-dimension variables of perceived academic achievement, grade, family relations, and help in peer relations, conflict, and closeness positively predicted the school adjustment levels of middle school students. It was concluded that the variables of gender, school success, being in the same school with best friend, economic status of families, companionship and security in peer relations variables didn't predict school adjustment significantly in the study. This study can help psychological counselors working in schools to increase academic success, improve family relations and improve peer relations in order to improve school adjustment.