September 8, 2004

Wingspread Group

Citing a vast body of empirical evidence, leaders in education and public health policy today called on the nation’s schools to strengthen their connections with students, outlining a multi-pronged strategy aimed at boosting academic performance while reducing drug and alcohol use, suicide, violence, smoking, and sex among teens.

To that end, schools should make greater efforts to set and implement high academic standards, apply fair and consistent disciplinary policies, and ensure that every student feels close to at least one supportive adult at school, according to the group, whose statement was published in the September 2004 special issue of the Journal of School Health.

News release

 Journal of School Health--September 2004, Vol. 74, No. 7

Why We Harass Nerds and Freaks:
A Formal Theory of Student Culture and Norms
John H. Bishop, Matthew Bishop, Michael Bishop, Lara Gelbwasser,
Shanna Green, Erica Peterson, Anna Rubinsztaj, Andrew Zuckerman

The Importance of Bonding to School for Healthy Development: Findings from the Social Development Research Group
Richard F. Catalano, Kevin P. Haggerty, Sabrina Oesterle, Charles B. Fleming, J. David Hawkins

Relationships Matter: Linking Teacher Support to Student Engagement and Achievement
Adena M. Klem, James P. Connell

Measuring Student Relationships to School: Attachment, Bonding, Connectedness, and Engagement
Heather P. Libbey

School Connectedness and the Transition Into and Out of Health-Risk Behavior Among Adolescents: A Comparison of Social Belonging and Teacher Support
Clea McNeely, Christina Falci

The Interface of School Climate and School Connectedness and Relationships with Aggression and Victimization
Dorian Wilson