Full Description
School Connectedness for Students with Disabilities: From Theory to Evidence-based Practice focuses on the importance of school connectedness for students with disabilities, and presents ways in which this sense of connectedness can be fostered. Written from a holistic perspective, it embraces a variety of approaches, strategies and interventions rooted in evidence-based theory and practice, and examines them not only in regard to the student with a disability, but also school leaders, teachers, families and community members.
The book describes and defines the concept of school connectedness, provides the reader with a theoretical framework from which to examine connectedness and explores connectedness from the lens of each of its components. It discusses the importance of assessing school connectedness in order to make data-based intervention decisions, as well as unpacking the components of student engagement, school climate, bonding and attachment. Several school-wide and leadership approaches that foster school connectedness are presented, as are ways to involve families. All of these are discussed through the lens of disability, in order to acknowledge the characteristics of disability that affect student levels of school connectedness.
School connectedness has become a priority for many schools and educators internationally. Research demonstrates the importance of connectedness as a protective factor, and its impact on the health behaviour, social, emotional and academic outcomes of young people. Grounded in theory and relevant to practice, this is essential reading for anyone interested in improving the school connectedness of students with different disabilities across the lifespan.
Contents
Dedication
List of Illustrations
About the Authors
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The School Connectedness Paradigm: A Theoretical Perspective
3. School Climate and its Effects on School Connectedness
4. Assessing Student School Connectedness
5. Characteristics of Students with Disabilities that Impact School Connectedness
6. Student Bonding and Attachment
7. Student Engagement
8. Enlisting Parents as Partners in the School Connectedness Paradigm
9. Strategies to Promote School Connectedness
10. Conclusion
References
