Browsing by Subject "School Connectedness"
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Item Cultivating Student-Staff Connections in Middle School: An Integrative Theory of Creating Space as a Holistic Approach to Promoting Adolescent Health and Wellbeing(2019-01) Fredkove, WindyConnection with a caring adult in the school setting contributes to healthy youth development, yet little is known about the nuanced patterns and processes leading to student-staff connectedness (SSC). The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to explore the process through which school staff members connect with students in middle school settings and identify the factors influencing that process. Data was collected and analyzed over a nearly two-year period using semi-structured interviews and observations with 24 staff members in varying roles from two middle schools situated within a large, metropolitan school district in the Midwest. Line-by-line, focused and theoretically-sensitive axial coding, constant comparison, theoretical sampling, extensive memoing and reflexive journaling were used to analyze data. The integrative theory of Creating Space is the core, overarching process within which the SSC process takes place. Creating Space and the SSC process describe what staff members do. The how is characterized by (a) the higher-level awareness process of seeing within, beyond and between; (b) two translational processes described as embracing our shared humanness, and equilibrating with empathy; and (c) a praxis-level process of demonstrating relational artistry. The multi-dimensional space that is created by school staff members offers numerous potential connection-catalysts that may spark a students-staff connection. Nurses, teachers and other allied staff working with adolescents in schools have an opportunity to encourage healthy youth development, promote human thriving, and contribute to equity and social justice by Creating Space within which meaningful connections can flourish.Item The Role of School Connectedness in the Adolescent Transition to Middle School(2020-08) Karl, Stacy R.The transition to middle school presents many educational changes for students during the time of adolescent development, with potential long-term effects if not navigated successfully. The first objective of this study was to examine the association of school connectedness with academic achievement (measured by grade point average), gender, ethnic congruency, family support, and other individual and school-level characteristics. This study focused on differences in school connectedness and academic achievement of students in grade 6 from different school settings (i.e., primary or middle school). The second objective of this study was to compare results for three different categorizations of primary and middle schools. Data from two survey administration years (2007 and 2010) of the Minnesota Student Survey was used to evaluate the school connectedness of students in grade 6 (N = 72,277) from 396 schools. Hierarchical linear modeling results highlight the impact of protective factors on school connectedness (i.e., family support) and academic achievement (i.e., family support and school connectedness) as well as significant differences in school connectedness for students who transitioned to middle school. Results were also robust to school-type categorization differences, resulting in fairly similar results across models and school-type definition.