The period of the middle grades has seen numerous reforms to improve education for students in early adolescence. However, although several current reforms seek to overhaul middle schools, only a handful of studies have directly compared the effects of different configurations of grades. Our analysis uses district and student data from one of the few American urban districts that contain both middle schools and K–8 schools. We compare student outcomes in eighth grade, finding few differences by school type. Only self‐esteem and perceived threat differ by type of eighth‐grade school. We also show that students’ self‐esteem benefits academic outcomes, a benefit that primarily accrues to students in middle schools.