Check and Connect is a structured mentoring intervention to promote student success through relationship building and systemic use of data. It is a comprehensive tier II and III intervention designed to improve student engagement for marginalized, disengaged students in grades K-12. Check and Connect mentors develop skills in relationship building, problem solving, persistence, and capacity building. This two-day workshop will provide information and activities to support implementation of this evidence-based structured mentoring program. Check & Connect is a model of sustained intervention for promoting students’ engagement at school and with learning. Demonstrated outcomes of Check & Connect include: increased attendance, persistence in school, accrual of credits, and school completion rates; AND decreased truancy, tardies, behavioral referrals, and dropout rates. Check & Connect is data-driven and grounded in research on resiliency and home-school collaboration. Student referral criteria include early warning signs of school withdrawal- primarily attendance indicators (absences, tardies, skipping class) – in the context of academic performance and emotional or behavioral problems. Check & Connect is implemented by a person referred to as a mentor – a cross between a mentor, an advocate, and a service coordinator whose primary goal is to keep education a salient issue for disengaged students and their teachers and families. The Check & Connect model originated from a partnership of researchers, practitioners, parents, and students led by the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. For more information, visit Check & Connect online at http://checkandconnect.umn.edu.

$29 for 12 clock hours payable online to ESD 113 after training.