School Connectedness: Improving Students Lives

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School ConnectednessImproving Students Lives

• Robert Blum, MD, MPH, PhD
• Dept. of Population and Family Health Sciences,
  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Baltimore, MD, 2005

http//cecp.air.org/download/MCMonographFINAL.pdf
http//allaboutkids.umn.edu/presskit/monograph.pd
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School Connectedness is

• the belief by students that adults in the
  school care about their learning and about them
  as individuals.
• Students are more likely to succeed when they
  feel connected to school.

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Prior research

• from The National Longitudinal Study of
  Adolescent Health
• has shown a strong association
• between school connectedness
• and every risk behavior
• studied.

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Methods

• The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent
  Health
• A stratified random sample of 80 high schools
  with primary feeder schools
• N134 schools (127 participated in school survey)
• N71,515 students in 7th through 12th grade
• N127 school administrator surveys

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Substance Use
Students who feel connected to school are less
likely to use substances
Frequency of Use
Level of Substance Use (SD Units)
Levels of connectedness
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Emotional Distress
Students who feel connected to school experience
less emotional distress
Level of Emotional Distress (SD Units)
Levels of connectedness
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Violence or Deviant Behavior
Students who feel connected to school engage In
less violent or deviant behavior
Level of Violence or Deviant Behavior (SD Units)
Levels of connectedness
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Pregnancy
Students who feel connected to school are less
likely to become pregnant
Percent ever Pregnant
Levels of connectedness
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Results
Factors Associated with School Connectedness THE
SCHOOL

• School size mattered (optimal under 600)
• Classroom size did not
• School type is not associated with connectedness
• public, private, or parochial
• Location is not associated with connectedness
• urban, suburban, rural

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Results
Factors Associated with School Connectedness SCHO
OL POLICIES

• No single school policy was associated with
  connectedness.
• A climate of harsh discipline is associated with
  lower school connectedness
• The directionality of the relationship cannot be
  deduced from the present study

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Results
Factors Associated with School Connectedness TEAC
HERS

• Teacher experience was not associated with
  connectedness.
• Having a masters degree was not associated with
  connectedness.

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Critical requirements for feeling connected
include

• high academic rigor and expectations, coupled
  with
• support for learning,
• positive adult-student relationships, and
• physical and emotional safety.

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Relationship to academic performance

• Strong scientific evidence demonstrates that
  increased student connection to school.
• Decreases
• Absenteeism
• Fighting
• Bullying
• Vandalism
• While promoting
• Educational motivation
• Classroom engagement
• Academic performance
• School attendance
• Completion rates

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Qualities that influence students positive
attachment to school

• Having a sense of belonging and being a part of a
  school (see Students As Allies in Improving
  Their Schools-October 2004)
• Liking school
• Perceiving that teachers are supportive and
  caring
• Having good friends within the school
• Being engaged in their own current and future
  academic progress
• Believing that discipline is fair and effective
• Participating in extracurricular activities

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Shouldnt we just focus on content instruction?

• There are those who believe that schools should
  focus only on the acquisition of knowledge or
  that we expect too much from schools.
• However, current research across disciplines
  shows that non-academic aspects of school are
  also significant contributors to both school and
  student success

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Research-based strategies for increasing student
connectedness

• Implement high standards and expectations, and
  provide academic support to all students
• Apply fair and consistent disciplinary policies
  that are collectively agreed upon and fairly
  enforced (authoritative, not authoritarian)
• Create trusting relationships among students,
  teachers, staff, administrators and families
• Hire and support capable teachers who are skilled
  in content, teaching techniques and classroom
  management to meet each learners needs
• Foster high parent/family expectations for school
  performance and school completion
• Ensure that every student feels close to at least
  one supportive adult at school

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Influences on school connectedness

• Individuals students and school staff
• Environment school climate and school bonding
• Culture social needs and school learning
  priorities

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Individuals

• Students who perceive their teachers and school
  administrators as creating a caring,
  well-structured learning environment in which
  expectations are high, clear and fair are more
  likely to be connected to school.

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The importance of teachers

• Teacher support is essential in guiding students
  toward positive, productive behaviors.
• Effective teachers use proactive management
  strategies
• Effective teachers use interactive and
  experiential teaching methods that are oriented
  to explicit learning objectives

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Evidence-based strategies for individuals

• Student participation in cross-age and peer-led
  tutoring
• Peer counseling/support
• Cooperative/collaborative learning that pairs
  stronger and weaker students
• Participate in new-student orientation programs,
  buddy programs and welcome programs (e.g., Link
  Crew, WEB)
• Parent and community members
• Mentors
• Community service
• Parent training opportunities
• Develop ongoing relationships with corporations
  and universities
• Provide opportunities for service learning

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Environment/Climate

• Schools have a responsibility to provide
  students with a safe environment in which to
  develop academically, emotionally and
  behaviorally, while at the same time developing
  relationships with others.

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What makes a school engaging?

• Provide students with choices and opportunities
  to engage around their interests.
• National Academy of Sciences--Four Principles of
  Engaging Schools
• High standards
• Personalization
• Relevance
• Flexibility

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Administrators can

• Be committed to authoritative rather than
  authoritarian leadership.
• Adopt school rules and policies that are fair and
  equitably applied.
• Provide a clear academic mission.
• Create an orderly school environment.
• Use a school social climate assessment tool.
• Promote high academic standards and expectations.
  
• Develop school-wide community service projects.
• Ensure that every student in the school has an
  adult assigned to know and watch out for that
  student.
• Create small learning environments
• Ensure that parents are well informed.
• Foster team teaching.

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Teachers can

• Establish high academic expectations.
• Provide consistent classroom management
• Strengthen parent-teacher relationships.
• Encourage cooperative learning
• Use behavioral and cognitive-behavioral
  educational techniques.
• Rely on peer-assisted teaching.
• Create democratic classrooms.
• Develop identified jobs for all students
• Share positive reports of student behavior and
  achievement with parents.
• Develop routines and rituals for the class.

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Best Practices improving parent-school relations

• Create a supportive home environment.
• Improve communication.
• Recruit volunteers.
• Promote home learning.
• Include parents in school decision-making.
• Collaborate with the community.

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School Culture

• An individual schools culture represents a
  balance of priorities between social needs and
  learning. While learning might be the priority of
  teachers, students have many other reasons to
  come to school. For some, socializing, sports and
  extracurricular activities are at least as
  important as learning. Likewise, being athletic,
  funny, friendly, outgoing, attractive and popular
  are more important achievements for some students
  than being smart or getting good grades.

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Educating the Whole Child

• The prevailing question before us is not about
  what children need to succeed. The research is
  clear. They need supportive environments that
  nurture their social, emotional, physical, moral,
  civic, and cognitive development. Instead, the
  question becomes, who bears responsibility for
  creating this environment?
• Educating the whole child requires the whole
  community.
• ASCD Education Update, Message from the
  Director Supporting the Whole Child,
• Gene R. Carter- December 2006 Volume 48
  Number 12

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Be a rock

• After a nasty fight with her mother, a 15 year
  old girl slammed the door to her bedroom, cried
  herself into exhaustion, and didnt come out of
  her room for the rest of the night.
• The next morning, when she opened the bedroom
  door, she found a little box on the floor just
  outside her room. She picked it up, plopped
  herself on the bed, and opened the small package.
  Inside she found a rock wrapped in a piece of
  paper on which were written 20 words.
• It took less than a minute to read the message,
  but shell have a lifetime to bask in its
  meaning. She practically flew to her mom and
  wrapped her in a bear hug.
• The words on the note This rock is 30 million
  years old. Thats how long it will be before I
  ever give up on you.
• Do you know someone who could use a rock?

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The work of many researchers has shown over the
past two decades that resilient youth have at
least one adult who cares deeply for them.
Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner said that all
children need someone in their lives who is
simply crazy about them.
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References

• Blum, R.W., McNeely, C.A., Rinehart, P.M., (2002)
  Improving the Odds The untapped power of schools
  to improve the health of teens. Center for
  Adolescent Health and Development, University of
  Minnesota, 200 Oak St. SE, Suite 260,
  Minneapolis, MN.
• Blum, Robert, (2005) School Connectedness
  Improving the Lives of Students. Johns Hopkins
  Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
• From What Kids Can Do, Inc. and MetLife
  Foundation. (2004) Students As Allies in
  Improving Their Schools A report on work in
  progress. Available at http//www.whatkidscando.o
  rg/specialcollections/student_as_allies/pdfs/saa_f
  inalreport.pdf
• Link Crew and WEB are year long mentoring
  programs for high school and middle school
  respectively. More information about these two
  programs is available from The Boomerang Project
  at http//www.boomerangproject.com