Education Law

School connectedness: what is it and why is it important?

A new publication on school connectedness recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed something BoardBuzz already knew: when students feel connected to school, they are more likely to succeed academically and engage in healthy behaviors.  One of the studies analyzed for this publication found that school connectedness was the strongest protective factor for both boys and girls to decrease substance abuse, school absenteeism, early sexual initiation, violence, and risk of unintentional injury.  In addition, research has also demonstrated a strong relationship between school connectedness and educational outcomes, including staying in school longer, and higher grades and classroom test scores. 

But what exactly is school connectedness and how can it be increased?  As defined by the CDC, school connectedness is a belief by students that adults and peers in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals. 

BoardBuzz knows, however, that improving school connectedness is a large undertaking that requires efforts of not only those within school buildings, but also people and organizations outside of schools.  Thus, one of the six strategies that the CDC publication offers to increase school connectedness includes: create decision-making processes that facilitate student, family, and community engagement, academic achievement, and staff empowerment.

And NSBA’s School Health Programs targets school connectedness by providing information and technical assistance to school leaders on Coordinated School Health Programs (CSHPs), a systemic and efficient school health model that includes a family and community involvement component.  Moreover, NSBA’s staff have been working with parent and family involvement organizations to develop resources that will better inform school leaders on how to get families involved in school health issues - a strategy that NSBA believes will ultimately leverage family involvement in other areas of the school as well. 

What are your schools doing to increase school connectedness?  Leave us a comment.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 09, 2009 (boomark / email).