Check & Connect implementation in DeKalb County School District (DCSD) started in 2015. Check & Connect is an intervention used with K-12 students who show warning signs of disengagement with school and who are at risk of dropping out. At the core of Check & Connect is a trusting relationship between the student and a caring, trained Student Engagement Coach (SEC) who both advocates for and challenges the student to keep education salient. Students are referred to Check & Connect when they show warning signs of disengaging from school, such as poor attendance, behavioral issues, and/or low grades.
In Check & Connect, the “Check” component refers to the process where mentors systematically monitor student performance variables (e.g., absences, tardies, behavioral referrals, grades), while the “Connect” component refers to mentors providing personalized, timely interventions to help students solve problems, build skills, and enhance competence. Student Engagement Coaches work with caseloads of students and families for at least two years, functioning as liaisons between home and school and striving to build constructive family-school relationships.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/documents/dese/Check-Connect-Overview-2021-3.pdf” title=”How is Check & Connect different?”]
[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/documents/dese/Check-Connect-Overview-2021-6.pdf” title=”Check & Connect Findings”]
[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/documents/dese/Check-Connect-Overview-2021-7.pdf” title=”Check & Connect Recognition”]
The Title IV, Part A Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) programs are federally funded programs designed to improve students’ academic achievement by increasing DCSD’s capacity to:
Provide all students with access to a well-rounded education;
Improve school conditions for student learning; and
Improve the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.
This includes ensuring the implementation of district-wide prevention efforts that promote a drug and violence free environment as well as assisting with the integration of whole child-centered support programs and trauma-informed care efforts and services in support of the district’s strategic plan for school improvement.
