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School Connectedness Helps Students Thrive (CDC.gov)

The CDC shares why connectedness is important and the benefits of promoting connectedness in our schools. The website includes specific actions schools can take to build connectedness, the effects of school connectedness, and additional resources to decrease risky behaviors through connectedness, including from the CDC’s What Works in Schools. See also the March 2009 CDC report, School connectedness: Strategies for increasing protective factors among youth, which includes detailed examples of six strategies to promote school connectedness:

Core Practice Continuum: Supporting Student Agency (Turnaround for Children)

Turnaround’s Core Practice Continuum for Student Agency is a tool designed to prompt reflection and empower growth across roles in a school by providing rich descriptions of quality and categorically different images of practice across levels that lead to student agency. The Core Practice Continuum for Student Agency is intended for use by individual educators who engage with students in various ways in a school community, including teachers, student support staff, instructional support staff, school leaders and administrators. The continuum is intentionally framed to show a developmental progression of practice and pathways to improvement.

The Four Core Components of Student Success Systems

High-quality student success systems combine four essential elements so that secondary schools are empowered, in an inclusive way, to graduate all students on a pathway to adult success through higher education and job training. Read the four briefs below to learn more about each of the components.

Rural College Equity Toolkit

Despite similar graduation rates, rural students attend college at a much lower rate than their urban and suburban counterparts (AASA Rural Equity Report, 2017; Flora & Flora, 2013). In some states, this gap in postsecondary enrollment reaches as high as 20% (Pierson & Hanson, 2015). This issue appears to have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the number of rural students filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) decreased by a whopping 18% from 2019 to 2020 (FSA, 2019-2020). These patterns are especially prevalent in highly competitive postsecondary programs (Byun, Irvin, and Meece 2015; Koricich et…

Cal-HOSA’s Blueprint to Student Mental Wellness and Career Pipeline

In the school environment, mental health problems adversely affect students’ attention span in the classroom, aptitude for learning or study, and engagement in intramural and extramural activities; a situation intensified among students from vulnerable populations. Early detection combined with appropriate services and resources can change a child’s trajectory from a path of severe mental health issues to one of wellness and full participation in school and community life. This comprehensive guide for educators draws on the importance of connectedness and student-centered standards of practice, both core component of high-quality student success systems. It offers lesson plans and worksheets to…

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