Check & Connect: A Model to address Student Engagement Colleen Kaibel Director, Student Retention & Recovery

Check & Connect

Equality and Equity Equality is treating everyone the same. Equity is about fairness. Equality aims to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help. Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful.

Educational Equity Inclusion is the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate.

Educational Equity Providing all students with the unique supports they need to succeed. The challenge is formidable. Inequitable funding. Lack of access for all students to strong teachers, support staff, and curriculum. Homework

What is Check & Connect? Check & Connect is a model of sustained intervention used to enhance and maintain students’ engagement with school.

Origins of Check & Connect Began as a partnership between the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis Public Schools. OSEP funded grant to develop and field test dropout prevention strategies for middle school youth with disabilities (1990-1995). Model developed collaborative by practitioners, parents, and researchers.

Origins of Check & Connect Student’s engagement with school is a process (Finn) Need to build on protective factors, by promoting (Masten) resiliency thru mentoring-type approach (Masten) competency thru cognitive-behavioral approach (Bloomquist, Walker, Sugai, Horner, Gresham, Lewis) home-school collaboration thru family-centered approach (Christenson) Problem solving steps, based on a cognitive-behavioral approach.

Origins of Check & Connect Finn (1989,1993) - made a significant contribution to research and conceptual approach toward school dropout… Focused on factors that educators, students, parents, communities can change and influence. student levels of engagement with school school practices and policies on attendance, discipline, parent outreach family support for learning access to and responsiveness of community resources

Origins of Check & Connect Status Variables Socioeconomic status Ethnicity Metro status and region Gender Family structure Disability IQ Alterable Variables Attendance, suspensions Extracurricular participation Grades, accrual of credits Age to grade level Parental support for learning School outreach Access to community resources

Check & Connect Components A mentor who keeps education salient for students. Systematic monitoring. Timely and individualized intervention. Enhancing home-school communication and home support for learning.

Check & Connect Model … is designed to promote student’s engagement with school. … can be implemented as a targeted intervention or as an intensive, individual intervention. Ideally intended to be used in conjunction with universal interventions that facilitate student engagement.

Check & Connect Model

Check & Connect Model Check – to systematically assess students’ connections to school Connect – to regularly respond to students educational needs according to their type and level of risk of disengagement

Check & Connect Model Connect: Basic Interventions A regular structured conversation, at least once to twice a week to no less than weekly when a student is on track. Review student’s progress in school Make connection between school completion and check indicators of engagement (credit accrual) Emphasis importance of staying in school (economics) Go through problem-solving steps (real or hypothetical) Communicate belief in student’s ability to succeed

Check & Connect Model Connect: Intense Interventions Identifying strategies to promote attendance, participation and engagement. Problem solving with parents, students, staff. Negotiating alternatives to out-of-school suspension. Accessing resources (academic support, community agencies) Connect: Intense Interventions

Check & Connect Model Cornerstone of Check & Connect is relationship building, leading to change in student’s educational trajectory. “SIGNIFICANT LEARNING DOES NOT OCCUR WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP” Dr. James P. Comer

Check & Connect Model Strength based Features Strength based Personalized and Flexible interventions Teaches students to be self-managers Parental/Family Involvement School & Community Partnership

Check & Connect Model Key Elements Relationship Building – mutual trust and open communication, nurtured through long-term commitment focused on students educational success. Routine Monitoring of Alterable Indicators – systematic check of warning signs of withdrawal (attendance, grades, suspensions) using data readily available to school personnel.

Check & Connect Model Key Elements Individualized and Timely Intervention – support that is tailored to individual student needs, based on level of engagement with school , associated influences of home and school, and the leveraging of local resources Long-term Commitment – committing to students and families for at least 2 years, including the ability to follow mobile youth from school to school.

Check & Connect Model Key Elements Persistence Plus – persistent source of academic motivation, continuity of familiarity with youth and family, and consistency in the message that “education is important for your future”. Affiliation with School and Learning - facilitate student’s access to and active participation in school-related activities and events. Problem-solving and capacity building – promote the acquisition of skills to resolve conflicts constructively and to look for solutions - avoid the tendency to place blame and diminish potential to create dependency

Protective and Risk Factors: Check & Connect Model Protective and Risk Factors: Students Protective Risk Complete homework Poor attendance Arrives to class prepared Behavior problems High locus of control Poor academic Good self-concept performance Expectations for school Grade retention completion Work ability

Protective and Risk Factors: Check & Connect Model Protective and Risk Factors: Families Protective Risk Academic support Low educational Family involvement expectations Motivational support Mobility Permissive parenting styles

Protective and Risk Factors: Check & Connect Model Protective and Risk Factors: Schools Protective Risk Committed, caring staff Weak adult authority Orderly school environment Lost in large environment Fair discipline policies Low expectations High truancy Few caring relationships

Check & Connect Model Role of the Monitor: Neutral person responsible for helping a student stay connected to school. Cross between a mentor, advocate and ‘case manager’. Primary goal is to keep education a salient issue for the students, their family members, and their teachers.

Resiliency and Mentoring Approach Check & Connect Model Resiliency and Mentoring Approach Important outcomes of mentoring (Schargel, 2003) Make youth feel unique, special, good about themselves Mentors model positive attitudes, behaviors Help youth discover solutions to their problems, promote self-reliance Help youth look beyond today

Check & Connect Model Mentoring Research Mentoring helps improve school connectedness. Mentoring helps reduce rate of absenteeism. Mentoring helps improve relationships with parents/guardians.

Check & Connect Model Research indicates that the length, frequency, and quality of the mentoring relationship are important components of program success. Additionally, studies and evaluations of best practices indicate that mentoring programs that address both individual and environmental characteristics tend to be the most effective. OJJDP FY 2010 Strategic Enhancement to Mentoring Programs

Check & Connect Model Research indicates that youth who participated in mentoring relationships that lasted a year or longer demonstrated improvements in academic, psychosocial, and behavioral measures, while those youth in mentoring relationships that lasted between 3 months and 1 year had fewer indications of positive effects. OJJDP FY 2010 Strategic Enhancement to Mentoring Programs

Impact of Check & Connect Reduced absences Reduced tardiness to school/class Increased credit accrual Increased graduation rates Decreased dropout rates Reduced behavior referrals Perceived increase in parent participation

Educational Equity Check & Connect Diverse learners have diverse needs. Diversity takes differences into account and places value on those differences. Equity ensures everybody has what they need to succeed and not treated differently because of their characteristics.