Keeping Kids in Class Check & Connect Demonstrably Lowers Dropout Rate
EACH YEAR ROUGHLY 1.23 MILLION STUDENTS in the United States do not graduate from high school with their peers—an issue that has both societal and individual implications. Students who drop out are more likely to become unemployed, incarcerated, and/or dependent on social programs than those with a high school diploma.
In response, educational psychology professor Sandra Christenson, in partnership with the Institute for Community Integration (ICI), researched and developed Check & Connect. This comprehensive, targeted intervention is designed to enhance student engagement at school and with learning through relationship building and problem solving.
“Dropout statistics are particularly alarming because jobs that pay living wages have virtually disappeared for youth without a high school diploma,” says Christenson.
Disparities in high school completion are also alarming. Students living in low-income families were approximately four times more likely to drop out of high school than were students living in high-income families, according to National Center for Education Statistics data from 2006. Latino students dropped out at a rate 2.4 times that of white students and 1.8 times as frequently as African-American students.
Check & Connect is the only program out of 22 dropout prevention interventions rated by the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse that has strong evidence of positive effects on student persistence. In one study, 91 percent of Check & Connect students remained in school at the end of ninth grade vs. 70 percent of the control group, and 68 percent of the research subjects were on track to complete high school within five years vs. 29 percent of the control group.
Now, ICI has begun expanding the Check & Connect model into postsecondary education for use with students from 18 to 30 years of age who are at risk of dropping out of community college.
The new project, Making the Connection: Engaging and Retaining Young Adults in Postsecondary Education, is funded by a two-year, $727,237 grant from the Institute for Education Sciences and will involve partnerships with Minneapolis Community and Technical College and Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, Kentucky, to modify the intervention for postsecondary students at risk of disengaging from school.
“President Obama has publicly stated that dropout prevention is a key component in improving America’s education system,” says Christenson. “Check & Connect has a long track record of proven success in this area, and we are excited to be expanding and improving upon the program.”
Check & Connect researchers believe solving the dropout problem requires a multifaceted effort of home, school, community, and youth. As a result, schools must be designed to reach out to families in partnership with the community, and students must be empowered to take control of their own behavior. The model comprises four essential components:
- A mentor who provides persistent support and keeps education salient for students
- Systematic monitoring of disciplinary action, grades, and credits accrued
- Timely and individualized intervention based on the monitoring information
- Enhanced home-school communication and home support for learning.
Christenson points to a number of lessons she and her team have learned in the 18 years since they designed Check & Connect. “We have learned the power, value, and importance of individualized interventions—those that create a person-environment fit,” she says. “We’ve also found that relationships are essential for students’ behavior change, commitment to learning, and academic progress. And we’ve learned the necessity to engage students on multiple levels: academically, behaviorally, cognitively, and affectively. ”
In December, Check & Connect launched a new implementation manual and training course for school districts, community organizations, and others to replicate the program in their communities. Information is available at the Institute on Community Integration Website.