Student support efforts often focus on the ABC’s – Attendance, Behavior/Well-Being, and Coursework – as they are key drivers of student success and progress in school. At the same time, research and experience also point to the critical role that students’ senses of agency, belonging, and school connectedness play in both wellness and success in school. If students have a sense of agency, belonging, and school connectedness, they are much more likely to attend school on a regular basis, have better mental health and do well academically. This makes them the foundational abc’s.
Browse the resources here to learn more about agency, belonging, and school connectedness, including actions your school can take to ensure students have all the foundational abc’s needed to succeed in school.
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Students are more motivated to learn when they are able to take on an active role in their learning, and exercise both choice and voice. The below resources explain in more depth what student agency means, and how schools can cultivate student agency to increase student engagement and success.
Now is the Moment to Lean into Student Agency (The Christensen Institute)
The Christensen Institute shares how supporting student agency emerged during the pandemic as a key strategy for nurture students’ abilities in the face of uncertainty.
Core Practice Continuum: Supporting Student Agency (Turnaround for Children)
Turnaround’s Core Practice Continuum for Student Agency is a tool designed to prompt reflection and empower growth across roles in a school by providing rich
Get Schooled: Student Stories from Across KY
Get Schooled is a youth-led podcast series that amplifies and elevates the stories and voices of students so that they can have agency in our
Student Agency for 2030 (OECD)
In 2015, the OECD launched the Future of Education and Skills 2030 project, which aims help education systems determine the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
The Importance of Student Choice Across All Grade Levels (Edutopia)
Research about the benefits of offering students choices in their own learning, including its power to motivate and engage students; and eight concrete ideas for
Youth Voice and Choice (XQ Institute)
Youth Voice and Choice is one of the XQ Institute’s six core design principles for creating a school where exciting and rigorous teaching and learning happens.
Students with a strong sense of belonging are more likely to attend school regularly, be engaged in school and to perform well academically. The below resources explore the dimensions of a student’s sense of belonging, and offer strategies for improving belonging.
The Importance of Student Sense of Belonging (IES)
Two-page infographic from IES’s Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest shares five promising strategies for teachers interested in nurturing relationships to support students’ sense of belonging.
Structures for Belonging: A Synthesis of Research on Belonging-Supportive Learning Environments (SERN)
Student Experience Research Network reviews research on structural factors related to belonging in access to learning environments; relationships with educators, peers, and families; instructional resources
The Belonging Barometer (Over Zero and the Center for Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council)
This robust 2023 report reviews the concept of belonging, centering its importance for key stakeholders, leaders, and philanthropists in the US today who care about
Brené Brown on Empathy (video)
Building trusted relationships within any group, including among those in co-deigning sessions, is critical. This animated short from RSA is narrated by Brené Brown, and
Stories from the Field: Building Strong Relationships (Transforming Education)
Why do teacher-student relationships matter? How can we foster a sense of belonging that allows students to feel like they truly belong in the classroom?
Building a Belonging Classroom (Edutopia) (video)
To learn, students need to feel safe, cared for, and emotionally connected to their teachers and each other. This Edutopia video, which is part of
Students who feel connected to school are more likely to have positive attendance, educational, behavioral, and health outcomes in adolescence and into adulthood. The below resources describe aspects of student connectedness, and how to foster connectedness in schools.
Why is School Connectedness So Important?
This short post from 2018 summarizes what the authors found in their systematic research review on school connectedness, which aimed to define school connectedness and
School Connectedness Helps Students Thrive (CDC.gov)
The CDC shares why connectedness is important and the benefits of promoting connectedness in our schools. The website includes specific actions schools can take to
Stories from the Field: Building Strong Relationships (Transforming Education)
Why do teacher-student relationships matter? How can we foster a sense of belonging that allows students to feel like they truly belong in the classroom?
A Call to Connection: Rediscovering the Transformative Power of Relationships (The Einhorn Collaborative)
A Call to Connection is a primer intended to spark conversation and inspire action in the many different settings and roles we inhabit. It does
Centering School Connectedness
As featured in NASBE’s The State Education Standard – Fostering school connectedness is an effective, universal prevention measure that affects many important student outcomes. Students
What Works: School Connectedness
California Safe and Supportive Schools brief summarizes evidence on the importance of school connectedness, with practical tips for what teachers and adults can do right