Promoting School Connectedness Among Urban Youth of Color: Reducing Risk Factors While Promoting Protective Factors

Abstract

His research program focuses on prevention and resiliency in urban youth, and school-based mental health services. Of primary interest is designing and evaluating culturally relevant and evidence-based psychosocial interventions in youth.

School‐Based Health Centers and School Connectedness

“…School connectedness is linked to improved academic outcomes, and better psychosocial and health status. Adolescents of lower SES, in other studies, have been found to have lower levels of school connectedness, in addition to other social belonging factors that are protective of behavioral and emotional health for adolescents, including community support and parent connectedness . The analyses here indicate the same: there was a strong inverse dose‐response relationship between SES and all 3 dimensions of school connectedness.…”

Exploring Underlying Dimensions of Social Connectedness in the Experiences of Suspended Young People from Ethnically Diverse Populations in the USA

“…Young people rely on community spaces to rest their bodies and engage in points of recovery; dimensions of social connectedness reveal the ways in which this recovery manifests in their lives. Social connectedness is an indicator of well‐being and continues to function as a protective factor for young people (Daly and others, ; World Health Organization, ). Boomerang must continue to be a champion and identify ways to reach beyond the borders of their programme and into schools and families in order to strengthen their capacity to reduce hostility and create more opportunities for young people to develop and grow.…”

“…Schools sever the connections young people have with adults and peers in school through suspension and, without accessible and supportive spaces, young people will encounter challenges in promoting recovery and personal and academic growth (Daly and others, ; Losen and Martinez, ; Theriot and Dupper, ). Nelson and Prilleltensky () suggested that recovery occurs when individuals have opportunities to achieve personal goals, experience hope and connect with others during points of disruption in their lives.…”

“…Limited access to positive alternatives to out‐of‐school suspension further agitates young people's sense of social connectedness and remains a catalyst for engagement in risk‐taking behaviour such as further truancy (Fenning and Rose, ; National Center for Education Statistics, ; Skiba and others, ). While a burgeoning body of literature documents the adverse effects of school suspension (Daly and others, ; Decker and others, ; Losen and Martinez, ; Theriot and Dupper, ), a limited body of research neither examines the experiences of short‐term suspended young people nor provides insight into the spaces they occupy.…”

Enhancing School Connectedness: Teachers' Perceived Confidence in Positively Connecting Students to School

“…92 R. A. VIDOUREK AND K. A. KING Interestingly, a large body of research has been devoted to school connectedness in urban schools and with students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (Battistich & Hom, 1997;Battistich et al, 1995;Becker & Luthar, 2002;Daly, Buchanan, Dasch, Eichen, & Lenhart, 2010). Research indicates that urban students who feel they do not belong at school tend to disengage from school, do not adopt the norms and values of the school, and ultimately, drop out (Walton & Cohen, 2007).…”