Promoting School Connectedness: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

TLDR

Adolescents who feel cared for and part of their school are less likely to use substances, engage in violence, or start sexual activity early, yet specific strategies to boost school connectedness remain understudied. The study examined how school environment factors relate to students’ connectedness to identify ways to increase it. Using data from 75,515 students across 127 schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and hierarchical linear models, the authors estimated associations between school characteristics and average connectedness. Positive classroom management climates, extracurricular participation, tolerant disciplinary policies, and smaller school size were linked to higher levels of school connectedness.

Abstract

Increasing evidence shows that when adolescents feel cared for by people at their school and feel like a part of their school, they are less likely to use substances, engage in violence, or initiate sexual activity at an early age. However, specific strategies to increase students' connectedness to school have not been studied. This study examined the association between school connectedness and the school environment to identify ways to increase students' connectedness to school. Data from the in-school and school administrator surveys of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (75,515 students in 127 schools) and hierarchical linear models were used to estimate the association between school characteristics and the average level of school connectedness in each school. Positive classroom management climates, participation in extracurricular activities, tolerant disciplinary policies, and small school size were associated positively with higher school connectedness.