The Check & Connect program is not to be confused with the best practice Check In / Check Out intervention, summarized here.
Demonstrated outcomes include: increased attendance, persistence in school, accrual of credits and school completion rates.
- Mentor- The mentor is an adult who works with the assigned student and his/her family for a minimum of 2 years.
- “Checks” - Checks mean systematic monitoring of student performance and engagement related to attendance, grades and behavioral referrals using available school data.
- “Connect”- The mentor connects with the student in a timely and personalized way while implementing data-based interventions that fit the student’s unique needs (“Check” data). The mentor also works to strengthen the connection between home and school and connects the student to school and community supports.
- Parent Engagement- Mentors work with students and families for a minimum of 2 years and foster constructive family-school relationships.
- Relationships:
- Focused on the “check” data that can be altered through intervention
- Data based personalized interventions
- Long term commitment which means mentors can follow students from school to school and program to program within the district
- Mentors help students access school-related activities and events
2. Problem Solving & Capacity Building:
- Teach students how to resolve conflict constructively
- Emphasis on problem solving instead of blaming
- Encourage use of appropriate coping skills
- Decrease dependency on the mentor
3. Persistence-Plus- (persistence, continuity and consistency).
- The mentor is a persistent source of academic motivation
- The mentor becomes familiar with the student and family
- The mentor conveys the message that education is important to the student’s future
(Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008)
- Academic
- Time on task
- Credit accrual
- Homework completion
- Engaging in class activities
- Behavioral
- Participating in school activities
- Attendance
- Suspensions
- Being on time
- Cognitive
- Perceived relevance of schoolwork
- Personal goals/autonomy
- Value of learning/success in school
- Affective
- School connectedness
- Identification with school
- Sense of belonging
Attendance:
- Students who are absent 10% or more of school days
- Students with two or more mild or more serious behavior infractions
- Students who are unable to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade
- A failure in English or math in 6th through 9th grades
- A GPA of less than 2.0
- Two or more failures in 9th grade
- Failure to earn on-time promotion to 10th grade
- Is willing
- Is non-judgemental towards others
- Is strengths based
- Believes students have strengths, can learn new skills (academic, social-emotional and behavioral), and can make progress
- Caseloads of 1-5 students each
- Staff may be released from other assigned duties (e.g., lunch duty, bus duty, one class period) and/or paid a small stipend
Pros:
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Cons:
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- Caseloads vary by mentor availability
- Volunteers are typically assigned to students in one school
Pros:
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Cons:
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- Builds relationships with the student and family
- Encourages student participation in school
- Helps student set short and long term goals
- Helps student track progress
- Provides personalized interventions to address the student’s unique needs
- Helps the student problem solve
- Helps the student persevere in the face of challenges
- Collaborates with teachers, families and other adults in order to support the student
- Refers the student and family to additional supports as needed
The mentor meets with the student at least weekly, but more often if the student is showing increased signs of disengagement. The mentor uses the Check & Connect Monitoring Form as a communication tool with the student, family, and teachers. The form can also be used to show student progress and to monitor fidelity of implementation.
Who: All referred students
When: 1x week
What: The mentor and mentee have a structured conversation about the “Check” data. The mentor provides feedback regarding the data, and helps the student problem solve regarding alterable risk factors such as; attending class regularly and on-time, putting forth effort in class, completing assignments with accuracy and getting passing grades. The mentor and mentee discuss the importance of education and staying in school.
The mentor helps the student by:
- Facilitating opportunities for success in schoolwork
- Connecting education to future endeavors
- Creating a caring and supportive niche within the school environment
- Helping students by listening to personal issues impacting progress
Intensive Intervention
Who: Targeted Students (students exhibiting high risk on one or more indicators)
When: Multiple meetings per week
What: Intensive intervention is supplemental to the basic intervention. It is provided in a personalized way to promote academic, behavioral, cognitive and affective engagement. The student and environment are both intervention targets.
2. Identify students at risk of disengagement or dropout
3. Select or hire mentors
4. Organize existing resources for intervention
5. Get to know students, teachers, and parents
6. Use “check” procedures and the monitoring form
7. Implement “connect” interventions
8. Strengthen the family-school relationship
9. Monitor the person-environment fit
10. Provide mentor support and supervision
11. Evaluate program implementation
Poor attendance
Behavior problems
Course failure
Grade retention
Working
Family Risk Factors:
Low educational expectations
Mobility
Lack of supervision or monitoring
Few educational resources and support at home
School Risk Factors:
Weak adult authority
Large school size (>1,000 students)
High student-teacher ratios
Few caring relationships between staff and students
Poor or uninteresting curricula
Low expectations and high rates of truancy
Limited parent outreach
Completes homework
Prepared for class
Shows self-control
Exhibits high self-esteem
Expectations for school completion
Families:
Academic support for learning (e.g., helps with homework)
Motivation support for learning (e.g., high expectations, talks to child about school)
Availability of educational resources
Parental monitoring
Schools:
Orderly school environments
Committed, caring teachers
Fair discipline policies
Relationship with one caring adult
Opportunities for participation
Compiled from Byrk & Thum, 1989; Ekstrom, Goertz, Pollack, & Rock, 1986; Hess & D’Amato, 1996; Reschly & Christenson, 2006; Rumberger, 1995.
Guideline for engaging parents
http://checkandconnect.umn.edu/docs/C&C_ParentEngagementExcerpt.pdf
Check & Connect Monitoring Sheet:
http://checkandconnect.umn.edu/docs/Form_MonitoringSheet_HighSchool.pdf
Attend, Engage, Invest:
http://checkandconnect.umn.edu/docs/Handout_AttendEngageInvest.pdf