Relationships Matter: Building Strong Student-School Connections
April 14, 2024
As schools contend with higher chronic absenteeism and more student misbehavior, a surprisingly straightforward intervention could help: ensuring students feel connected.
Strong relationships with peers and teachers give students a reason to attend school, engage in class, and participate in extracurricular activities. For adults, they offer a tool to detect when students are struggling and need extra support.
Research has linked strong student connections to school and their teachers with improved mental health, better attendance and grades, less disruptive behavior, and lower dropout rates.
This special report explores how schools are harnessing strong student relationships to cultivate a positive climate, boost attendance, sharpen classroom management, use less exclusionary discipline, and improve achievement for students with disabilities.
Strong relationships with peers and teachers give students a reason to attend school, engage in class, and participate in extracurricular activities. For adults, they offer a tool to detect when students are struggling and need extra support.
Research has linked strong student connections to school and their teachers with improved mental health, better attendance and grades, less disruptive behavior, and lower dropout rates.
This special report explores how schools are harnessing strong student relationships to cultivate a positive climate, boost attendance, sharpen classroom management, use less exclusionary discipline, and improve achievement for students with disabilities.
School Climate & Safety 'A Universal Prevention Measure' That Boosts Attendance and Improves BehaviorWhen students feel connected to school, attendance, behavior, and academic performance are better.
School Climate & Safety 4 Case Studies: Schools Use Connections to Give Every Student a Reason to AttendSchools turn to the principles of connectedness to guide their work on attendance and engagement.
Teaching A Classroom Management Training Helps New Teachers Send Fewer Kids to the OfficeAnti-bias training has mixed success in cutting racial discipline gaps. Helping teachers interpret student behavior may be more effective.
Student Well-Being What This School Used as the Main Ingredient for a Positive ClimateWhen systemic and fully integrated, the practice has the power to reduce bad behavior and boost teacher morale, experts say.
Special Education Inside a School That Doesn’t Single Out Students With Special NeedsStudents with disabilities at this school near Seattle rarely have to leave mainstream rooms to receive the services they need.
Special Education 5 Tips to Help Students With Disabilities Feel Like They BelongAn expert on fostering a sense of belonging in schools for students with disabilities offers advice on getting started.
Special Education Download DOWNLOADABLE: Does Your School Use These 10 Dimensions of Student Belonging?These principles are designed to help schools move from inclusion of students with disabilities in classrooms to true belonging.
School Climate & Safety Video VIDEO: How Schools Can Harness the Power of RelationshipsA look at the benefits of building strong student relationships, and some ways to create those bonds.
Coverage of whole-child approaches to learning is supported in part by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, at www.chanzuckerberg.com. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.