Check & Connect
Florida's State Personnel Development Grant
Florida's State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG), Graduation for All (2017-2022), provides technical assistance and professional development to targeted school districts across Florida. Participating Middle and High Schools receive information, materials and coaching necessary to implement Check & Connect and/or the Strategic Instructional Model (SIM™).
Graduation for All represents the second SPDG in FL providing support for Check & Connect and/or SIM™ to improve outcomes for secondary students with disabilities. The prior grant titled, Successful Graduates (2012-2017), supported participating schools for a period of two years and demonstrated a positive impact on improving graduation and dropout rates. Specifically, 73% of implementation sites reported a positive trend with federal uniform graduation rate and 50% demonstrated a decline in federal dropout rate during the previous grant.
Building on these successes, the current award aims to amplify capacity building at the district level to facilitate sustainability of implementation for both initiatives.
In addition to providing support to districts participating in the grant, the program serves as a statewide resource for information on Check & Connect, overseeing a large cadre of local Check & Connect trainers and connecting districts to local and national resources for implementation.
Funding: Florida's SPDG is a five-year project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP, #H323A170031), United States Department of Education.
Partners:
- Florida Gulf Coast University
- University of South Florida–St. Petersburg
- Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System (FDLRS) Administration/HRD Project
- Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota
What is Check & Connect?
Check & Connect is a comprehensive student engagement and dropout prevention program for students at risk of dropping out of school. Florida’s State Personnel Development Grant provides technical assistance and professional development to participating districts implementing Check & Connect.
Check & Connect was developed through a partnership between the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration and Minneapolis Public Schools. Since its inception in 1990, Check & Connect has been studied and implemented with K–12 students with and without disabilities, in suburban and urban settings. Check & Connect is currently being implemented by schools and community organizations across the U.S. as well as abroad.
Critical Components of Check & Connect
- Mentor: who works with students and families for a minimum of two years
- Check: systematic monitoring of data schools already collect on students’ behavior, attendance and course performance
- Connect: timely interventions driven by data, to reestablish and maintain students’ connection to school and learning and to enhance students’ social and academic competencies
- Family Engagement: mentors engage with parents and other caretakers to foster their active participation in their child’s education
How does Check & Connect work?
First and foremost, Check & Connect is about relationship building. Each student participating in Check & Connect is paired with a mentor. Check & Connect mentors seek to build long‐term, sustained relationships with participating students that will promote connections to school and academic progress.
The mentor plays a key role in the Check & Connect model. The mentor develops a dependable, persistent relationship with the student, built on mutual trust, which focuses on problem-solving, fostering coping skills and encouraging the student to maximize personal growth and learning. Mentors are often existing school staff, although dedicated mentors hired solely for this role as well as volunteers from the community are also utilized.
The Check & Connect coordinator functions as an organizer who could potentially take on the responsibility to identify students in need of Check & Connect services; recruit mentors; schedule trainings and technical assistance, and monitor program development with attention to fidelity. Check & Connect’s Project Director and Project Facilitators provide training and technical assistance at every stage of implementation.
Check & Connect: A Video on Comprehensive Student Engagement Intervention
Check & Connect Training
The State Personnel Development Grant coordinates and provides Check & Connect trainings across Florida including:
- Preparation and Implementation Training: a 6-hour training that is targeted for school and district leadership. This training guides the team through an 11-step planning process to prepare for implementation at a specific local site.
- Mentor Training: a 12-hour training that prepares individual mentors to implement the Check & Connect model.
- Coordinator Orientation: a 3-hour training that prepares individuals coordinating Check & Connect at a specific site.
- Leadership Summit: a 9-hour professional development opportunity designed for District and School leadership, coordinators, and district trainers and coaches to help them foster additional skill building, reflection on implementation success and challenges and action planning for improved implementation.
- Fidelity of Implementation Workshops: this annual workshop provides sites who have implemented at least one
year a structured opportunity to reflect on implementation, review site
specific data from the previous year and plan for increasing fidelity of
implementation.
- Train-the-Trainer and Train-the-Coach Workshops (conducted by Check & Connect National): approximately 80 local Check & Connect Trainers and Coaches have been certified through support from SPDG. SPDG coordinates initial and ongoing trainings required for certified trainers with the national office.
Trainings are scheduled based on participating district needs and may be open to other FL districts. For information about upcoming sessions and training opportunities, you may contact Sheila Ward (sheilaward@usf.edu), Check & Connect Co-Director.
The Florida Check & Connect project solicited nominations for the second annual FL Check & Connect Mentor and Coordinator of the Year Awards. These awards were established to recognize individuals for their exceptional dedication to their mentee and/ or the Check & Connect program. The project advisory committee reviewed nominations, voted and announced the winners at the FL Mentor Summit and FL Coordinator Summit in June 2022. Congratulations to all winners for this honor, we sincerely appreciate your efforts!
2022 Florida Check & Connect Coordinator of the Year:
Lisa Bratton (Charlotte High School, School Social Worker) Highlights from nomination:
“Lisa is an asset to Charlotte High School and the district initiative to continue Check & Connect as she serves as a cheerleader for the program, mentors and students as well as takes an active role in helping district staff see the best ways to keep the program strong and continue to grow it. She is most deserving of a nomination for Coordinator of the Year."
2022 Florida Check & Connect Mentors of the Year:
Nicole Hurst, (Osceola Middle School, Instructional Coach)
Highlights from nomination:
“As a Check & Connect Mentor, Nicole has kept in very close contact with the student's mother; engaging her as an essential partner in the education and personal development of her daughter. Due to her excellent work, the student is on track to progress to the next level/grade, where otherwise this may very well have not occurred due to significant behavioral challenges presented by the student. Nicole's fidelity to the student and the process has been very strong, and she serves as an example to other mentors at our school!”
Gerrard Minnis, (Deltona Middle School, Instructor/Mentor)
Highlights from nomination:
“I would always make time for him, no matter what, and help him come to a conclusion as to handle a situation in the best way possible. Since then, my mentee has increased his grades, improved his behavior, reduced referrals/suspensions rate, and is being promoted to 9th grade. My mentee was not ever allowed to attend shool events because of his history of negative behavior. I am happy to see that this school year, my mentee has been able to attend Gradventure, and any school function. He also received an award for Most Improved Student! I am so proud of the young man that he is now becoming and will continue to check up on him for years to come.”
Grounded in Research
Check & Connect is a nationally recognized program with proven success. Of the dropout prevention interventions reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse, Check & Connect is the only program found to have strong evidence of positive effects on staying in school. Download the Check & Connect Intervention report here.
Studies show that Check & Connect improves enrollment, attendance and the likelihood of graduation for students who are disengaged and at risk of dropping out of school. In addition, Check & Connect has also demonstrated effectiveness in supporting students with emotional/behavioral disabilities to improve school attendance and increase student participation in their transition individual educational plan (IEP) meetings (Sinclair et al., 1998; Sinclair & Kaibel, 2002; Sinclair et al., 2005)
Online Resources
National Check and Connect Website
The Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota, is home to Check & Connect. The website has excellent introductory information for administrators, videos, online resources, information on communities of practice and research about Check & Connect.
National Mentoring Partnership
The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) is the
unifying champion for expanding quality youth mentoring relationships in
the United States. MENTOR
provides resources and essential tools to mentoring programs nationwide
and are free and available to the public on their website.
FL Check & Connect Coordinator Toolbox: Coordinators in participating districts may access resources, videos, document files as well as communicate with fellow coordinators across the state on Basecamp. If you are a coordinator and are unable to access this toolbox please contact one of our program's Co-Directors (see contact information below).
FL Check & Connect Mentor Toolbox: Mentors in participating districts may access resources,
videos, document files as well as communicate with fellow mentors across the
state on Basecamp. If you are a mentor and are unable to access this toolbox
please contact one of our program's Co-Directors (see contact information below).
FL Check & Connect Trainer/Coaches/Training Facilitator Toolbox: Local trainers may access resources, videos, document files, certification information, as well as communicate with fellow Trainers across the state on Basecamp. If you are a trainer, coach, or training facilitator and unable to access this toolbox please contact one of our program's Co-Directors (see contact information below).
FL SPDG Data Portal: Staff at participating districts may access the SPDG data portal to update or view current action plan, complete surveys, and view school, district and state SPDG data and graphs in real-time. If you are a part of a participating district and unable to access this data portal please contact one of our program's Co-Directors (see contact information below).
Florida’s State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG): Successful Graduates (2012-2017) Flyer
Florida’s SPDG is a five-year project funded by the USDOE, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The grant planning was designed to respond to concerns about the graduation, proficiency and dropout rates of students with disabilities.
Check Check & Connect Online Mentoring
This resource provides mentors with strategies for fostering online relationships, planning conversations around school, and facilitating online interventions. It was developed by the University of Minnesota in collaboration with the FL State Personnel Development Grant.
Florida Check & Connect: Key Project Information
Florida's SPDG: Measuring Student Engagement Poster
References
Sinclair, M. F., Christenson, S. L., Evelo, D. L., & Hurley, C. M. (1998). Dropout prevention for youth with disabilities: Efficacy of a sustained school engagement procedure. Exceptional Children, 65(1), 7–21.
Sinclair, M. F., Christenson, S. L., & Thurlow, M. L. (2005). Promoting school completion of urban secondary youth with emotional or behavioral disabilities. Exceptional Children, 71(4), 465–482.
Sinclair, M. F., & Kaibel, C. (2002). Dakota County: Secondary Check & Connect programs: School Success Check & Connect program evaluation final summary report. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration.
Contact Information
Sonya Eorio, Co-Director
Email: sonyae@usf.edu
(727) 300-6736
Sheila Ward, Co-Director
Email: sheilaward@usf.edu
(941) 777-3132
Roxann Vistocci, Conference & Events Planner
Email: roxannv@usf.edu
(727) 873-4662