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Adolescent Health
Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth
School Connectedness
Efforts to improve child and adolescent health have typically addressed specific health
risk behaviors, such as tobacco use or violence. However, results from a growing number
of studies suggest that greater health impact might be achieved by also enhancing protective
factors that help children and adolescents avoid multiple behaviors that place them at risk
for adverse health and educational outcomes.
School connectedness—the belief by students that adults and peers in the school care about their learning as
well as about them as individuals—is an important protective factor. Research has shown that young
people who feel connected to their school are less likely to engage in many risk behaviors1, including
Connected students are also more likely to have better
academic
achievement, including higher grades and test scores,
have better school attendance, and stay in school longer.2-5
School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth
[pdf 1.7M]
This publication identifies six strategies
that teachers, administrators, other school staff, and parents can implement to increase
the extent to which students feel connected to school.
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See School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors
Among Youth under the
Adolescent Health
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Six Strategies to Increase School Connectedness
- Create decision-making processes that facilitate student, family, and community
engagement; academic achievement; and staff empowerment.
- Provide education and opportunities to enable families to be actively involved in
their children’s academic and school life.
- Provide students with the academic, emotional, and social skills necessary to
be actively engaged in school.
- Use effective classroom management and teaching methods to foster a positive
learning environment.
- Provide professional development and support for teachers and other school
staff to enable them to meet the diverse cognitive, emotional, and social needs of
children and adolescents.
- Create trusting and caring relationships that promote open communication among
administrators, teachers, staff, students, families, and communities.
References
-
Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, et al. Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the
National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA 1997;278(10):823-832.
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Klem AM, Connell JP. Relationships matter: linking teacher support to student engagement
and achievement. Journal of School Health 2004;74(7):262-273.
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Rosenfeld LB, Richman JM, Bowen GL. Low social support among at-risk adolescents.
Social Work in Education 1998;20:245-260.
-
Battin-Pearson S, Newcomb MD, Abbot RD, Hill KG, Catalano RF, Hawkins JD. Predictors of
early high school dropout: a test of five theories. Journal of Educational Psychology
2000;92(3):568-582.
-
Barber BK, Olsen JA. Socialization in context: connection, regulation, and autonomy in
the family, school and neighborhood, and with peers. Journal of Adolescent Research
1997;12(2):287-315.
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