Fostering School 

Connectedness

Information for School Districts

and School Administrators

Improving Student Health and Academic Achievement

 S chool connectedness is the belief held by students that the adults and 

peers in their school care about their learning as well as about them 

as individuals. Students who feel connected to school are more likely 

to have a number of positive health and academic outcomes. This fact sheet 

answers questions about school connectedness and identifies strategies school 

districts and administrators can use to foster it among their students.

Why is it important for students to feel connected 

to school?

School connectedness is an important factor in both health and learning. 

Students who feel connected to school are

• More likely to attend school regularly, stay in school longer, and have 

higher grades and test scores.

• Less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or have sexual intercourse.

• Less likely to carry weapons, become involved in violence, or be injured 

from dangerous activities such as drinking and driving or not wearing 

seat belts.

• Less likely to have emotional problems, suffer from eating disorders, or 

experience suicidal thoughts or attempts.

Implementation of evidence-based health promotion programs, coupled with 

strategies to promote school connectedness, can help schools have the greatest 

impact on the health and education outcomes of their students.

What factors can increase school connectedness?

Four factors can help strengthen school connectedness for students: adult 

support, belonging to a positive peer group, commitment to education, and 

a positive school environment. School staff members are important adults in 

students’ lives; the time, interest, attention, and emotional support they give 

students can engage them in school and learning.
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What steps can school 

administrators take to increase 

school connectedness?

School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing 

Protective Factors Among Youth (Division of 

Adolescent and School Health, CDC, 2009) 

describes six science-based strategies for fostering 

school connectedness. The chart below outlines 

the six strategies and describes specific actions 

school districts and administrators can take to 

influence their implementation in schools.

Strategies and Actions School Administrators Can Take to 

Increase School Connectedness

Strategy

1

Create processes that engage students, families, and communities and that facilitate 

academic achievement and staff empowerment.

• Lead students, faculty, staff, and parents to develop shared standards of learning and behavior.

• Team with teachers and staff to improve the school climate and students’ sense of connectedness to school.

• Engage teams of students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members to plan school policies and activities.

• Give teachers and principals the appropriate decision-making authority to use school resources to enhance their 

school’s physical and psychosocial environment.

• Empower students to communicate openly with school staff and parents, such as through parent-teacher-student 

conferences and teacher evaluations.

• Engage community partners to provide health and social services at school that students and their families need, 

such as dental services, vaccinations, and child care.

Strategy

2

Provide education and opportunities to enable families to be actively involved in their 

children’s academic and school life.

• Offer workshops and trainings for parents to increase their ability to be actively involved in their children’s 

school life and to help their children develop academic and life skills.

• Create opportunities to involve and accommodate parents with varied schedules, resources, and skills, to help 

them participate in meaningful school and classroom activities as well as share their culture and expectations.

• Translate materials into languages spoken in students’ homes and provide interpreters at events when needed.

• Communicate the school’s behavioral and academic expectations to families via school newsletters, 

conferences, and Web sites and encourage families to reinforce those expectations at home.

• Assign school staff members to work with specific students and their families to help connect the family to the 

school and classroom. 

Strategy

3

Provide students with the academic, emotional, and social skills they need to engage 

in school.

• Provide opportunities for students to improve their academic, social, and interpersonal skills through personal 

tutoring programs or summer and vacation learning camps.

• Support academic interscholastic competitions, debates, and other projects within and among schools.

• Use school sporting events and physical education classes to promote teamwork, sportsmanship, and 

nonviolence.

ACTIONS
3

ACTIONS

Strategy

4

Promote the use of effective classroom management and teaching methods to foster a positive 

learning environment.

• Reduce class sizes to ensure more time for individualized assistance.

• Provide opportunities—such as service learning, creative projects, and extracurricular activities—that promote 

meaningful student involvement, learning, and recognition.

Strategy

5

Provide professional development and support for teachers and other school staff to enable 

them to meet the diverse cognitive, emotional, and social needs of their students.

• Hire teachers who have expertise in child development, who apply student-centered pedagogy, and who use diverse 

classroom management techniques and teaching methods to meet the needs of different learning styles.

• Offer professional development to teachers on organizing the classroom to promote a positive environment, applying 

developmentally appropriate discipline strategies, and assisting students in developing self-control.

• Educate school staff on strategies for communicating with parents and involving them in their children’s school life.

• Provide trainings on all school curricula to be used and on effective teaching methods.

• Ensure that teachers have the materials, time, resources, and support to use skills learned in training.

• Build learning teams that can observe experienced teachers who effectively manage classrooms and facilitate 

group work.

• Develop a teacher-coaching program that promotes problem solving and sharing in a supportive work environment.

Strategy

6

Create trusting and caring relationships that promote open communication among 

administrators, teachers, staff, students, families, and communities.

• Consider structuring the school to allow teachers to stay with the same students for consecutive years.

• Allow students and parents to use the school facility outside of school hours for recreation or health promotion 

programs.

• Apply and fairly enforce reasonable and consistent disciplinary policies that are jointly agreed upon by students 

and staff.

• Hold school-wide, experience-broadening activities that enable students to learn about different cultures, people with 

disabilities, and other topics.

• Support student clubs and activities that promote a positive school climate, such as gay-straight alliances and 

multicultural clubs.

• Provide opportunities for students of all levels to interact, develop friendships, and engage in teamwork.

• Create opportunities for students to communicate, work, and partner with adults, such as service learning activities 

and internships.

• Involve students in parent-teacher conferences, curriculum selection committees, and school health teams.

• Have principals, teachers, and other school staff commit to and model respectful behavior toward each other.

• Challenge all school staff to greet each student by name.

• Encourage staff to build stronger relationships with students who are experiencing academic challenges or social 

problems, such as bullying or harassment.

• Ensure that school staff members have access to a school counselor, psychologist, or other expert for consultations or 

student/family referrals when needed.

• Communicate expectations, values, and norms that support positive health and academic behaviors to the entire 

school community. 
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School Connectedness Is Especially 

Important for At-Risk Youth

School connectedness is particularly important for young 

people who are at increased risk for feeling alienated 

or isolated from others. Any student who is “different” 

from the social norm may have difficulty connecting with 

other students and adults in the school, and may be 

more likely to feel unsafe. Those at greater risk for feeling 

disconnected include students with disabilities, students 

who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or question 

their sexual orientation, students who are homeless, or 

any student who is chronically truant due to a variety of 

circumstances. Strong family involvement and supportive 

school personnel, inclusive school environments, and 

curricula that reflect the realities of a diverse student 

body can help students become more connected to 

their school. 

What should school administrators 

consider when planning for action to 

improve school connectedness? 

Advancing students’ health and academic outcomes by 

improving school connectedness is a team effort. It involves 

the school community as well as individuals, groups, and 

organizations outside the school grounds. Making changes 

of this kind requires 1) convincing these stakeholders of the 

importance of school connectedness in helping students 

learn and stay healthy, 2) involving them in the development, 

implementation, and evaluation of these actions, and 

3) securing their buy-in to ensure the changes happen.

Some of the strategies and actions described in the previous 

pages require small changes in school processes that can be 

done in the short term with relative ease, whereas others might 

be broader and longer-term and might require administrative 

or budgetary changes. Schools and school districts should 

determine which actions are most feasible and appropriate, 

according to the needs of the school and available resources.

Resources

School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors 

Among Youth

www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/AdolescentHealth/connectedness.htm

Student Health and Academic Achievement

www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/health_and_academics/index.htm

FindYouthInfo.gov

www.findyouthinfo.gov

Enhancing Student Connectedness to Schools

http://csmh.umaryland.edu/resources.html/caring%20

connectedness%20brief.pdf

School Connectedness: Improving Students’ Lives

http://cecp.air.org/download/MCMonographFINAL.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Division of Adolescent and School Health

www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth

July 2009