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Promoting Student Engagement with School using the Check & Connect Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Sandra L. Christenson ,
Mary F. Sinclair ,
Martha L. Thurlow  and
David Evelo
Sandra L. Christenson
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Mary F. Sinclair
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Martha L. Thurlow
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Abstract

Enhancing coping skills of students at high risk of school dropout is critical, particularly when school demands increase. The data-based Check & Connect school engagement model, originally designed to reduce the risk for dropping out among secondary/middle school youth with learning and emotional/behavioural disabilities, is described. Also described in this article are the students' patterns of school engagement over time, for whom national US statistics indicate only 42 per cent to 61 per cent typically complete high school. Results indicate that the levels of school engagement vary and change over time, among these high risk adolescents, supporting the importance of focusing on alterable indicators of risk, rather than status predictor variables. Furthermore, students' risk for disengagement from school was significantly lower for the youth who received sustained intervention throughout grade nine, compared to similar youth who received intervention support throughout grade eight.

Type
Interventions
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 9 , Issue S1: Health, Well-being and Coping in Young People , August 1999 , pp. 169 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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