The Weekly Connect 5/22/23

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

Schools can use social media best practices to promote social connections.

Illinois becomes the first state to pass a law requiring public schools to integrate Asian American history into the curriculum

A grant program in Pennsylvania supports curriculum that boosts disability awareness

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading “The Weekly Connect 5/22/23”

Shakamak Schools awarded $1.8 million federal grant to expand City Connects

A $1.8 million federal grant is helping City Connects expand in Indiana’s Shakamak Schools to support students who are finding their way through the aftermath of the pandemic. 

“This is the first time that City Connects will take its evidence-based model to a rural community, and we are eager to partner with and learn from Shakamak,” Mary Walsh, City Connects’ Executive Director, says.

City Connects is presently in schools from multiple districts in five states, many of which are in high-poverty urban communities. “We are receiving more inquiries from different types of communities,” explained Walsh. “We are hearing from more rural and suburban ring communities, in addition to urban districts. This is an important opportunity to continue to adapt City Connects to be effective in different contexts and in different places.”

In Indiana, the $1.8 million, five-year grant was awarded to the Shakamak Schools and to Marian University, home to the City Connects Midwest Technical Assistance Center. The funding comes from the Full-Service Community Schools program

Continue reading “Shakamak Schools awarded $1.8 million federal grant to expand City Connects”

The Weekly Connect 5/15/23

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

Severe weather disrupts special education services.

Pandemic experiment of universal free school meals gains traction in states.

Child care shortages for children with disabilities.

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading “The Weekly Connect 5/15/23”

Offering English Learners an “adventure”

Adventure can’t often be found in a spreadsheet, but Carla Ann Femino did just that. By analyzing data, she found a way to turn a concern into an exciting learning experience.

Femino, the new City Connects Coordinator at Beverly High School, in Beverly, Mass., was conducting a whole class review when she noticed a concern that cut across grades. 

“The students in our English Learner program had really high needs and didn’t have enough supports to address that,” Femino says. “I like data, and I know data helps people understand what students need, so I did an informal extension of my whole class review.”

Femino began talking to English Learner program teachers who taught students who speak Albanian, Arabic, Italian, Nepali, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. 

About 67 percent of these students faced mild, moderate, or severe risks in addition to their strengths.

As she conducted her review, Femino also found isolation. Some students weren’t connected to the larger social life of their school, and many weren’t well connected to their larger communities. And they were still building the skills to cope with the stresses of attending a school where most people speak fluent English.

Another factor, Femino says, is that “a lot of English Learner students have adult roles. They have jobs. They have to take care of younger siblings. They might come to school tired, but they still work hard at school, and they find the courage it takes to be resilient.” 

Continue reading “Offering English Learners an “adventure””

The Weekly Connect 5/8/23

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

History and civics scores on the NAEP — the nation’s report card — fell to 1990s levels. 

Four-day school weeks gain popularity. 

The Nelsonville, Ohio, school district focuses on students’ mental health

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading “The Weekly Connect 5/8/23”

The Weekly Connect 5/1/23

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

A study finds that school discipline occurs at predictable times, a finding that shows how important it is to monitor discipline practices to avoid inequitable treatment of students. 

Some states want to give students more time to eat lunch to ensure that they get the nutrition they need. 

U.S. Surgeon General calls kids’ declining mental health the “crisis of our time.”

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading “The Weekly Connect 5/1/23”

Two briefs share City Connects’ positive impact

City Connects

Boston College’s Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, home to City Connects, has released two new briefs on the impact City Connects is having on students and in schools. 

The first brief – The Impact of City Connects on Select Student Sub-Groups – looks at a series of studies that “have explored the impacts of City Connects on important student sub-groups who are especially vulnerable to lower academic and life outcomes.”

These groups include first-generation, immigrant, and English language learner students as well as African-American and Latino boys and students who receive special education services. 

The studies point to a number of benefits, among them improved student achievement for first-generation immigrant children and reduced dropout rates for African-American and Latino boys. 

These findings are crucial to ensuring that City Connects achieves its goal of addressing the needs of all students.

Continue reading “Two briefs share City Connects’ positive impact”

The Weekly Connect 4/24/23

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

Replacing older school buses improves attendance. 

President Biden signs an executive order to make child care cheaper.

A City Connects school in Dublin, Ireland, uses compelling activities to address absenteeism

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading “The Weekly Connect 4/24/23”
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