University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

School connectedness and teacher reflective practices

(USC Thesis Other)

School connectedness and teacher reflective practices

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

School Connectedness and Teacher Reflective Practices
by
Patricia Flynn Elliot

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

December, 2020

© Copyright by Patricia Flynn Elliot 2020
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Patricia Flynn Elliot certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Eugenia Mora-Flores
Toni Brown
Kimberly Hirabayashi, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2020

iv

Abstract
School connectedness is associated with positive academic, social, and personal outcomes in
adolescents, and teacher support is one of the strongest predictors of adolescents’ school
connectedness. The purpose of this project was to explore how teachers in one Southwestern
U.S. middle school (Grades 6-8) perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their
abilities to provide voluntary supports that promoted school connectedness in students
transitioning into sixth grade. The study school’s district leader reported a significant
achievement gap between White students and students of other ethnicities. One-to-one, semi-
structured interviews were conducted with 10 teachers of transitioning students. The findings
indicated that teachers perceived their self-reflective practices as positively influencing their
students’ school connectedness when the practices focused on meeting students’ social and
emotional needs. Teachers reflected on strategies to remove barriers to students’ school
connectedness and on strategies to welcome and care for students as people with social and
emotional needs rather than as learners only. The findings and recommendations in this study
have indicated how teachers can leverage self-reflection as a link between observing student
needs and meeting those needs. Transitioning students will then feel embraced and nurtured as
valued members of their school communities. Future research is needed to explore how teacher
self-reflection, specifically regarding internal biases, can be combined with the practices
explored in this study to enhance transitioning students’ school connectedness further.
Keywords: School connectedness, teacher reflection, middle school education,
transitioning to middle school.

v

Dedication
To my patient, kind, wise husband who has been my constant companion, cheerleader, and
supporter throughout this process and in all my personal, professional, and academic endeavors.
Gene Elliot sacrificed as much as I did, and probably more, to support me in reaching this long-
awaited goal.
To my mother, Jane A. Flynn, and to the memory of my father, Vincent J. Flynn, to whom I
attribute my motivation and ability to work hard, learn, experience, and achieve. My parents
taught me I could do anything. For the first 21 years of my life, my father modeled tenacity,
persistence, and the joy of new learning and new challenges both personally and professionally.
His memory continues to inspire me and fill me with the desire to be a good person and do good
things.
To my Aunt Rita, to whom I attribute my enthusiasm and confidence to pursue my doctoral
degree at this later stage in my life. She continues to demonstrate the essence of lifelong learning
and passionate commitment in the field of education.

vi

Acknowledgements
I thank and acknowledge my dissertation committee: Dr. Kimberly Hirabayashi (Chair);
Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores; and my colleague and friend, Dr. Toni Brown.
I am grateful to the faculty and staff of the USC Rossier School of Education, and to my
classmates and friends in the USC Organizational Change and Leadership Cohort Twelve.
Special thanks to my editor, Mr. Alex Woodall, whose support, guidance, camaraderie, and
encouragement made all the difference for me in my dissertation journey.
My appreciation also extends to the Larkspur-Corte Madera (LCMSD) Leadership Team
and Board of Trustees. Along with Dr. Rick Bagley, my friend and colleague of over 20 years,
LCMSD Superintendent, Dr. Brett Geithman, encouraged me to embark on this journey. The
entire LCMSD Leadership team supported me and encouraged me throughout the process.

vii

Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix
Chapter One: Introduction to the Study .......................................................................................... 1
Context and Background of the Problem ............................................................................ 3
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions .................................................................. 4
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 4
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 5
Definitions ........................................................................................................................... 6
Organization of the Dissertation ......................................................................................... 7
Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 8
School Connectedness ........................................................................................................ 9
Transitioning Students ...................................................................................................... 15
Barriers to Fostering Students’ School Connectedness .................................................... 30
Self-Reflection for Teachers ............................................................................................. 33
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 35
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 40
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 42
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 42
Overview of Design .......................................................................................................... 42
Research Setting ................................................................................................................ 44

viii

The Researcher .................................................................................................................. 45
Data Sources ..................................................................................................................... 46
Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................................... 52
Ethics ................................................................................................................................. 54
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 56
Research Question 1: How Do Teachers Perceive Their Self-Reflective Practices as
Influencing Their Students’ School Connectedness? ....................................................... 57
Research Question 2: How Do Teachers Reflect on Strategies to Address School
Connectedness for Students Transitioning to Middle School? ......................................... 61
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 75
Chapter Five: Recommendations .................................................................................................. 78
Discussion of Findings ...................................................................................................... 78
Recommendations for Practice ......................................................................................... 84
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 91
Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................................ 92
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 93
References ..................................................................................................................................... 95
Appendix A: Protocols ................................................................................................................ 113

ix

List of Tables
Table 1. Participant Demographics ............................................................................................... 48
Table 2. Data Analysis Codes and Themes .................................................................................. 51

1

Chapter One: Introduction to the Study
Students transitioning from elementary to middle school experience a range of challenges
that can negatively affect academic performance and wellbeing if not successfully negotiated
(Lester & Cross, 2015). When entering middle school, students must learn to navigate a new
physical and social environment, new academic challenges, and the physical and emotional
changes associated with the onset of puberty (Lester & Cross, 2015). School connectedness is a
belief on the part of students that adults in their school care for them and their wellbeing, and it
can assist students in successfully negotiating the difficult academic, social, and physical
transitions associated with beginning middle school (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC], 2018). Sharp et al. (2018) underscored how school connectedness can effectively
increase protective factors among youth affected by adversity, including those who are identified
with high-risk behaviors. Chung-Do et al. (2015b) added school connectedness can help address
violent attitudes and behaviors among the youth, especially those with are transitioning from one
school to another. School connectedness is also an important protective factor that reduces
students’ engagement in high-risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, early
sexual initiation, and violence), and is associated with improved outcomes for students, including
increased attendance, higher grades and test scores, and remaining in school (CDC, 2018).
Teachers’ support in meeting students’ needs and maintaining a positive, safe learning
environment is one of the strongest predictors of school connectedness in adolescents (Allen et
al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis &
Goodman, 2017). Supportive behaviors of teachers that strengthen students’ school
connectedness include providing positive feedback and encouragement, active listening,
believing in students’ abilities, caring about students, and providing interactive teaching and
2

learning styles (Lester & Cross, 2015). However, teachers of middle school students may face
challenges in meeting students’ needs, including limitations in providing the needs of
transitioning students (Mathew et al., 2017).
Teacher behaviors and attitudes that strengthen students’ school connectedness are
voluntary. Teachers who employ self-reflective practices are more likely to facilitate better
teaching, learning, and understanding for transitioning students (Mattthew et al., 2017;
Moradkhani et al., 2017). Research has also shown that teachers who employ self-reflective
practices also practice systematic enquiry into themselves; as a result, teachers gain a deeper
knowledge and understanding into themselves, as well as about their practices and their students
(Mattthew et al., 2017). As such, teachers can develop their quality of teaching, learning, and
understanding through a process of self-reflection, described as a practice in which teachers
“uncover, identify, and examine internal biases that impact their understanding” of and
expectations for students of all identities (Oskineegish, 2019, p. 77). Researchers have identified
teachers’ self-reflective practices as an effective means of personally and professionally
developing themselves, which positively affect their ability to support and educate transitioning
students (Moradkhani et al., 2017; Oskineegish, 2019).
The problem of practice addressed in this study was that some U.S. middle school
teachers might not be engaging in appropriate self-reflective practices, and they may fail to foster
school connectedness in their students (Allen et al., 2018; Biag, 2016; Oskineegish, 2019). Few
studies indicated how teachers perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their ability
to provide supports to students to promote school connectedness. Of the three studies found that
include this topic, one was conducted in Australia (McDowall, 2017) and one in Canada
(Oskineegish, 2019). The relevant study conducted in the United States was delimited to teachers
3

of Native American students in Minnesota (McInnes, 2017). Thus, the literature included limited
insights into how U.S. teachers of diverse groups of students could effectively use and improve
their self-reflective practices to examine previously unconscious biases, thereby increasing
support for and school connectedness of students.
Context and Background of the Problem
The organizational context for this study was one middle school in the Southwestern
United States. As of the 2019-2020 academic year, the school enrolls approximately 500 students
in Grades 6 through 8. Approximately 78% of students identify as White, 12% as Latino, 8% as
Asian, 1% as African American, and 1% as mixed or other ethnicities. The school’s
administration has defined the organization’s mission as one of maintaining a safe and
supportive learning environment, valuing diversity, and meeting the unique emotional and
educational needs of every student. This mission aligns with the forms of teacher support
researchers have identified as strengthening students’ school connectedness (Lester & Cross,
2015).
The study school’s district had reported a significant achievement gap between its White
students and its students of other ethnicities, and the district had implemented well-resourced
initiatives to increase educational equity. The study school was unique in its district in having
received national recognition for, among other achievements, successfully promoting educational
and resource equity for all students. The study school’s success in addressing an acknowledged,
district-wide challenge, and its enrollment of a substantial proportion of students (22%) who
identified as non-White, indicated that teachers at this school might be able to provide valuable
insights into how they became aware of and overcame any unconscious biases to provide
equitable instruction and support for all students.
4

Purpose of the Project and Research Questions
The purpose of this project was to explore how teachers in one Southwestern U.S. middle
school (Grades 6-8) perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their ability to provide
voluntary supports that promote school connectedness in their students. The following two
research questions guided the project:
1. How do teachers perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing their students’
school connectedness?
2. How do teachers reflect on strategies to address school connectedness for students
transitioning to middle school?
Importance of the Study
The individual student’s personal characteristics, social supports, and environmental
contexts all contribute to school connectedness (Allen et al., 2018; Bolland et al., 2016;
Lucariello et al., 2016; Uslu & Gizir, 2017). However, teacher support is one of the strongest
predictors of school connectedness in adolescents (Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt
et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis & Goodman, 2017). Strategies for increasing
teacher support of adolescent students are therefore likely to result in improved academic,
behavioral, and emotional outcomes for students (Allen et al., 2018).
Teacher behaviors and attitudes that strengthen students’ school connectedness are often
voluntary, and teachers who have unconscious racial, linguistic, or cultural biases against some
students may be more likely to withhold them (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al.,
2016; Read et al., 2015). Effective self-reflective practices for teachers to minimize the effects of
their unconscious biases may therefore be an effective strategy for increasing teacher supports
(Biag, 2016). This exploration of teachers’ perceptions of their self-reflective practices to
5

promote students’ school connectedness addressed a gap in the literature. This study showed
provide insights for improving self-reflective practices for teachers at the study location.
Additionally, this study showed practices used by teachers in the study, not previously explored
in the literature, to serve teachers in other middle schools.
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
The conceptual framework for this study was social cognitive theory (SCT). SCT is a
learning theory in which cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors mutually influence one
another to create knowledge and determine behavior, and in which individuals learn in part by
observing the behaviors of other people and the outcomes of those behaviors (Bandura, 1989,
1999). A foundational premise of SCT is that people learn not only through their own
experiences, but also by observing the actions of others and the results of those actions. In SCT,
humans are active agents who shape and react to the world around them. The concept of human
agency is central to SCT, in which agency is the power to originate goal-directed actions
(Martin, 2004). Self-efficacy is another key concept and is the belief in one’s own ability to
deliberately influence outcomes in desired ways (Stacey et al., 2015). In SCT, self-efficacy
determines the goals people set for themselves and the outcomes people expect when they exert
themselves to achieve their goals (Stacey et al., 2015).
SCT focuses on the ways in which individuals acquire and maintain behaviors in a given
social environment. The model includes consideration of a person's past experiences, which
influence the expectations that determine whether a person will engage in a specific, goal-
directed behavior. SCT was a suitable conceptual framework for this project because it provided
a model that included consideration of past experiences (which would include the past
experiences that create unconscious biases), and because its suitability for framing discussions of
6

goal-directed behavior in specific social environments was an ideal lens through which to
examine teachers’ perceptions of practicing self-reflection (i.e., the behavior) to promote
students’ school connectedness (i.e., the goal) in a specific school (i.e., the social environment).
SCT’s definitions of agency and self-efficacy also provided a vocabulary for discussing and
drawing conclusions from teachers’ perceptions of how and why they engaged or failed to
engage in effective self-reflection.
This study utilized a qualitative methodology through open-ended explorations of study
participants’ perceptions and experiences, allowing improved sense-making of a participant’s
experience (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). As this study provided open-ended exploration of how
teachers in the selected middle school perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their
ability to support school connectedness, the open-ended exploration (in which participants
describe their perceptions instead of choosing from a set of prewritten responses) best served the
data collection effort (see Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Data collection was conducted through one-
to-one, semi-structured interviews with participants via Zoom, Google Hangout or telephone.
Definitions
For the reader’s reference, this section includes brief definitions for key terms related to
the study.
School Connectedness
School connectedness is a belief on the part of students that the adults in their school care
for them and their wellbeing (CDC, 2018). Research has shown that school connectedness can
effectively increase protective factors among youth affected by adversity (Sharp et al., 2018). In
order to strengthen students’ school connectedness, teachers’ support is essential, building and
maintaining a positive, safe learning environment for students (Allen et al., 2018).
7

Self-Reflection
For this study, self-reflection is a practice in which teachers “uncover, identify, and
examine internal biases that impact their understanding” of and expectations for students of all
identities (Oskineegish, 2019, p. 77).
Organization of the Dissertation
Chapter One provided an introduction and overview of the study. Chapter Two includes a
review of the seminal and recent theoretical and empirical literature related to the topics
surrounding school connectedness, teachers’ unconscious biases as barriers to fostering students’
school connectedness, and self-reflection as an effective practice that teachers can use to
overcome unconscious biases. Chapter Three provides detailed description and justification of
the study design, which is a qualitative descriptive approach involving data collection through
audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews via Zoom, Google Hangout or telephone with 12 to
15 teachers in the selected Southwestern middle school. Chapter Four presents the results of the
data collection and data analysis procedures described in Chapter Three. Chapter Five contains
discussion, interpretation, and implications of the results presented in Chapter Four.

8

Chapter Two: Literature Review
The specific problem addressed in the current qualitative study has a multifaceted context
for children transitioning from an elementary school into a junior high or middle school. The
transition between these environments has been proven as a formidable experience in an
adolescent’s life as such problems arise inclusive to delinquency, poor academic achievement,
and even mental health issues (Allen et al., 2018; Bolland et al, 2016; Lucariello et al, 2016;
Uslu & Gizir, 2017). The current study explored this phenomenon based on how teacher’s
unconscious bias related to the association of a student’s successful transition from elementary to
middle school and if this biasedness hindered a student’s connectedness to their new school
environment. Furthermore, the current study examined teacher’s self-reflective practice to
determine if there were any influencing factors upon the student’s perception of school
connectedness. This practical examination also focused on the indicating factors of how teachers
perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their ability to provide supports to students
to promote school connectedness.
The purpose of this project was to explore how teachers in one Southwestern U.S. middle
school (Grades 6 to 8) perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their ability to
provide voluntary supports that promoted school connectedness in their students. This chapter
includes a review of the seminal and current theoretical and empirical literature related to the
topics of the importance of school connectedness, teachers’ unconscious biases as barriers to
fostering students’ school connectedness, and self-reflection as an effective practice that teachers
can use to overcome unconscious biases.
A review of the existing literature follows, with particular themes relating to the research
problem. First, the literature review examines the importance of school connectedness to explore
9

the concept, history, and main constituents with subsections relaying the association of such to
academic success and mental and physical wellbeing. Next, literature on the importance of
school connectedness inclusive to student success in transitioning and their feelings of belonging
is presented. A section on teacher support with transitioning follows, before a review of literature
on teacher’s unconscious bias which presents barriers to fostering student’s feelings of school
connectedness. Additionally, the review discusses self-efficacy and self-reflections from
educators as an effective practice to overcome unconscious bias.
School Connectedness
The current study’s focus was on the importance of school connectedness for new middle
school students who had just transitioned from an elementary school environment into a middle
school. To understand the importance place on such a transition and need for connectedness, the
current literature review must relate the defining points of school connectedness based on the
expert’s opinions found in such scholarly work. According to Blum (2005), school
connectedness can be defined as “an academic environment in which students believe that adults
in the school care about their learning and about them as individuals” (p. 16). Marraccini and
Brier (2017) noted the importance of school connectedness given that schools are ideally
positioned to develop and implemented youth interventions. In their study, school connectedness
is also referred to as connections at school, including at least one of the factors of social
affiliation, school belonging, attitude about importance of school, or supportive learning
environment (Marraccini & Brier, 2017). Various other studies have supported the importance of
school connectedness, which has been found to reduce self-report of adolescents having a
suicidal thought or behavioral problems (Marraccini & Brier, 2017; Sharp et al., 2018). Sharp et
al. (2018) noted its impact on children affected by HIV/AIDS, as school connectedness acts a
10

psychological resilience factor. That is, school connectedness can effectively increase protective
factors among youth affected by adversity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC],
2009; Sharp et al., 2018). These findings provide empirical information regarding the context
and overview of school connectedness, specifically among adolescent students. With the
significant impact of school connectedness, there is a vital need to further understand the various
constructs related to school connectedness. Additionally, in defining school connectedness, many
experts agreed that acclimation to a new school environment can be an important element with a
student’s academic and social success (Hill & Mobley, 2016; Klem & Connell, 2004; Prumbu &
Necosi, 2013; Stracuzzi & Mills, 2010). Phrases, such as student engagement, school climate,
teacher support, and even school bonding, are used by experts to explain the school
connectedness, yet the overt and understood definition claimed, “[s]school connectedness refers
to an academic environment in which students believe that adults in the school care about their
learning and about them as individuals. [School connectiveness] provides a frightening statistic
in this regard. By high school, as many as 40 to 60 percent of all students—urban, suburban, and
rural—are chronically disengaged from school” (Klem & Connell, 2004, p. 262). These
assertions further underscore the vital role of school connectedness in helping students acclimate
to a new school environment.
Other scholars noted that the main constructs of school connectedness include belonging
to a school/class community, positive relationships with other students, positive relationships
with teacher, self-confidence in changing school, and social adeptness in old environment
(Baudoin & Garland, 2017; Klem & Connell, 2004). These constructs are based on the
experiences of children who successfully transition into their new middle school environment
(Allen et al., 2017; Baudoin & Garland, 2017). As such, this pool of findings provides further
11

empirical knowledge regarding the various definitions of school connectedness, as well as its
relevance among students who are exposed to a new school environment. With the significant
importance of school connectedness, there is a vital need to develop strategies that aim to foster
school connectedness among adolescent students.
Strategies to Foster School Connectedness
There are various available strategies that of which aim to foster school connectedness.
With the positive and significant impact of school connectedness among the youth, for example,
the CDC (2009) has purported certain recommendation for inclusion of strategies to assist in this
transition period for such students and to feel the needed connectedness to their new
environment, their new school. These recommendations include, helping students create and
understand, the decision-making processes that facilitate student, family and community
engagement, academic achievement and staff empowerment, provide education and
opportunities to enable families to be actively involved in their children’s academic and school
life, provide students with the academic, emotional and social skills necessary to be actively
engaged in school (CDC, 2009). Cumming et al. (2017) added to these recommendations and
outlined ways to increase school connectedness for students. The authors outlined the following
recommendations: improving school climate, fostering student bonding, increasing student
engagement, and involving parents as partners in engaging students (Cumming et al., 2017).
Darling-Hammond et al. (2019) concurred and acknowledged the significance of building
developmentally supportive relationships within schools, including home and school connections
by involving parents in the school connectedness paradigm.
The CDC (2009) also recommended teachers use active classroom organization and
instructional methods for the adoption of a positive learning environment. Other suggestions are
12

directed at the school’s administrative and leadership team, offering such professional
development and support in terms of how teachers can meet the needs of these new students with
their transition, which has also been stated by other scholars in the field (CDC, 2009;
Goodeneow, 1993; Lamborn et al., 1992). Additionally, there are other strategies for school
connectedness, which have been examined in past literature. For students in transition, self-
efficacy is one of the factors to build and develop. Given an environment of prevailing changes,
there were many evidentiary studies proving transitioning may be a vital component in student
self-efficacy leading to successful academic achievement (Baudoin & Galand, 2017; Coelho et
al., 2017; Evans et al., 2018). Experts in such fields as education, psychology, and the social
sciences recommend connectedness has validity and should be used as a prevention strategy to
establish a student’s self-efficacy in terms of belonging or feeling that they do belong (Foster et
al., 2017). Studies in the past were established to determine such elevation in risk based on
victimization or bullying situations (Allen et al., 2017; Foster et al., 2017). Foster et al. (2017)
examined this propensity with levels of depression, suicidal ideation, and conduct problems for
students in high school. The authors found family and school connectedness were a way that
curbed such problems (Foster et al., 2017). Allen et al. (2017) agreed with Foster et al.’s (2017)
outcomes, assessing the relationship between social and emotional competencies with
connectedness or belonging to their prevailing school. The meta-analysis presented findings
suggesting that the stronger the relationship a student may have with their school and educator,
the stronger their self-efficacy was and in turn they were more likely to have strong academic
achievement, social balance, and emotional stability (Allen et al., 2017; Foster et al., 2017). This
underscores the need to further increase students’ self-efficacy levels through school
connectedness, which could be used as a strategy to help students in transition.
13

In relation to the various definitions of connectedness, there are two principal facets to
connectedness include student-teacher connectedness and school-student connectedness (Beenet,
2019). In line with these two facets of connectedness, according to Beenet (2019), both student-
teacher connectedness and school-student connectedness utilize strategic methods to prompt an
understanding of elements to promote connectedness, the former arranges a regular time each
day or week to share thoughts and concerns. In the upper grades, schools often call these
advisory groups or sessions. These discussions can be completely informal or more structured--
for example, covering various self-care, health-promotion, or risk-prevention topics. Elicit and
act on students' recommendations for activities and lessons. Set a goal to highlight positive
student contributions daily so that young people know you appreciate and value them as
individuals. (Beenet, 2019, p. 32)
The latter, or school-student connectedness has suggestions of promotions of teacher
involvement to encourage and help engagement for students to be connected to their new school
environment (Beenet, 2019). As such, it is vital to understand school connectedness as it applies
to the transitional state of a child moving from an elementary school to a middle school. Several
authors noted the need to underscore and determine main strategies to promote school
connectedness (Lei et al., 2017; Lester & Cross, 2015; Marsh et al., 2019; Straacuzzi & Mills,
2010). This finding provides further knowledge regarding the impact and constructs of school
connectedness, which could further aid in helping middle school students in transition. These
assertions also underscore the need for further develop strategies that foster school
connectedness, especially for students who are facing new environments.
It is in middle school where student lives, and daily routines may change (Marraccini &
Brier, 2018). Students will have more than one teacher, moving from classroom to classroom and
14

not spending the whole day or most of the day in the same classroom with the same teacher
(Marraccini & Brier, 2018). Students also face emotional changes as they are now approaching
the early stages of puberty and find more pressures to be mature (Niehaus et al., 2016). Dating,
sex, drugs, alcohol, and other such pressures are also evident (Niehaus et al., 2016). With this
new environment, several experts questioned whether student connectedness with their new
school provides stability and protective measures from delinquency futures (Marraccini & Brier,
2018; Niehaus et al., 2016). Others believe that schools have a responsibility to provide students
with a safe environment in which to develop academically, emotionally and behaviorally, while
at the same time developing relationships with others (Bradshaw et al., 2014; Lester & Cross,
2015; Rovis & Jonkman, 2015). In order for students to success, students need supportive
environments that nurture their social, emotional, physical, moral, civic, and cognitive
development. As such, the whole community bears the responsibility for creating this
environment for child development (Blum, 2005; Bradshaw et al., 2014; Lester & Cross, 2015;
Rovis & Jonkman, 2015). This underscores the importance of educating the whole community in
helping child development and success through school connectedness constructs. Furthermore,
this further justifies the need to explore this topic more, especially in the context of middle
school students who are exposed to a new school environment. This finding can aid in the
development of effective strategies and programs for fostering school connectedness.
There is a need to identify strategies for school connectedness to better support all
students within the school environment. Marsh et al. (2019) found that defining school
connectedness was difficult, as most studies focused on only connectedness when a student
moves from high school to college or even from middle school to high school. The authors
justified this in their study by determining the levels of school connectedness of students with
15

emotional and behavioral disorders and comparing them with their peers (Marsh et al., 2019).
The authors found that transitioning students are not the only ones in need of school
connectedness, but also students of emotional and behavioral disorders (Marsh et al., 2019).
Using qualitative methods, Biag (2016) also justified this in his study, obtaining school
personnel views regarding dimensions of school connectedness in selected urban, low-income
middle school. Biag (2016) contended that school connectedness only succeeds with new middle
school students when all the adults involved in the child’s life will also promote this type of pro-
social values and behaviors. Biag (2016) also found that students who receive little to no parental
support are in need of school connectedness. Therefore, the sense of school connectedness is
suggested as a vital part in promoting the adjustment of social-emotional well-being (Stracuzzi &
Mills, 2010). While students are struggling to learn their place in a school environment
hierarchy, educators must learn and develop the means for to assist their students in becoming
successful both academically and socially. This finding suggests the need for educators and
teachers to develop a greater understanding of school connectedness in order to foster this
effectively within the school environment.
Transitioning Students
Transitioning students face various challenges, which requires additional support from
the community. The transition from one school to the next has also been explored by experts
which such focus on the entering of college from high school, moving from junior high or
middle school into high school, and young children who enter public school from pre-school
(Borman et al., 2019 Gray et al., 2017). Many elementary students finding themselves in their
new surroundings of a middle school environment face physical, social, emotional, intellectual
and even moral changes (Allen et al., 2017; Borman et al., 2019; Gyansah et al., 2015). Those
16

students who may have been developmentally behind scholastically may fall behind even more
as course work increases and lessons become more difficult (Gyansah et al., 2015). These
students often experience higher levels of stress and can even fall into semi-depressive states of
being (Gyansah et al., 2015). They may have a feeling of not belonging which often will lead to
certain delinquent behaviors (Allen et al., 2017; Borman et al., 2019; Darling-Hammond et al.,
2019; Evans et al., 2018; Koca, 2016). This feeling of not belonging results to social, academic,
and personal challenges faced by this population group of transitioning students. As such, this
underscores the need to further understand this topic, examining how to enhance school
connectedness. Fostering this connectedness could lead to better student outcomes.
Consideration of the transition to middle school raises issues concerning procedural
changes as well. Studies have shown during this period of transition, there are more likely
incidents to occur with delinquencies, such as drug use, skipping classes, and even increases in
bullying (Craig, 2015; Durlak, 2015; Perkins et al., 2016). Experts found that psychological,
behavioral, and mental characteristics are linked to delinquency, yet believe that the stressors
with transitioning into a new school surrounded by risk factors that promote such delinquent
behaviors (Bonny et al., 2000; Rovis et al., 2015; Sabatine et al., 2017). For example, Onetti et
al. (2019) investigated the idea and implications of self-conceptualization in middle school
children assessing the relationship between physical and social characteristics and the changes
based on such transition. The authors used a cross-sectional, quantitative methodology to
examine changes in 10- to 14-year-old elementary and middle school students attending grades
five through eight (Onetti et al., 2019). Participants (N = 712) were selected randomly from
student populations in the south of Spain middle schools and were given an ad hoc questionnaire
relative to demographic information and self-conceptual dimensions. The collected data was
17

analyzed through SPSS version 21 providing descriptive analysis with the dependent variables,
of sex and grade. A t-test and ANOVA test were conducted wherein the findings showed that
there are significant differences between self-concept dimensions based on both variables. Other
factors, however, arose such as family support and school connectedness (Onetti et al., 2019).
Several authors added, belonging and acceptance for adolescents at this juncture in their lives is
more than important, it actually is considered the crossroad to deciding future behaviors and self-
perceptions (Akos et al., 2015; Parrilla et al., 2016). These findings underscore the need to
support the phase of self-conceptualization in middle school children, especially during their
transition period.
As a young child graduates from their elementary education and moves into the junior
high or middle school, changes are abundant. A child is suddenly entering several new physical
and mental phases of their lives (Ekstrand, 2015; Garcia-Moya et al., 2017). Many will find body
changes as puberty begins, others will be required from adults to handle more responsibility, and
even other are faced with more tasking course work in their new school environment (Hodges et
al., 2018). With these changes, often students find themselves facing bullying, pressures for drug
use, sexual activity, or other delinquent acts which are often presented to newly attending middle
school students (Ekstrand, 2015; Garcia-Moya et al., 2017). Findings showed, however, those
middle school students who feel a connectiveness to their new school are less likely to walk
down a path of delinquency (Hodges et al., 2018). Other experts considered it was not the
connectedness to the school itself, but to the teacher that was most important for new middle
school students (Ekstrand, 2015; Garcia-Moya et al., 2017; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015).
Garcia-Moya et al. (2017) contended that relationships between a middle school student and their
teachers provide a sense of security. When a middle school student finds themselves frightened
18

or unsure as they enter into their new school environment, teachers should play the role of
guidance, yet many fails to recognize their importance in a pre-teen or adolescents’ psyche.
Teachers spend countless hours with students and as such have an impact on these student’s
mental health and wellbeing (Ekstrand, 2015; Garcia-Moya et al., 2017; McGrath & Van Bergen,
2015). This merits the need to further explore this topic, examining how teachers can better
support transitioning students in middle school.
Several experts have acknowledged the importance for school connectedness in schools.
For example, in 2009, the American Psychological Association (APA) published a series of
articles based on expert studies, addressing the importance of school connectedness. The
consensus of the authors from these study collaborations validated the importance of
connectedness (APA, 2009). Furthermore, the APA (2009) recommended that schools pay better
attention to children making a transition between elementary and middle school who are most
likely to engage in risk behaviors, especially when they fail to feel a connectedness to their
school. In relation to this topic, the APA (2009) along with a correlative study by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2009, 2019) found six basic strategies to clarify how to
increase student connectedness: Create decision-making processes that facilitate student, family
and community engagement, academic achievement and staff empowerment. Provide education
and opportunities to enable families to be actively involved in their children’s academic and
school life. Provide students with the academic, emotional, and social skills necessary to be
actively engaged in school. Use effective classroom management and teaching methods to foster
a positive learning environment. Provide professional development and support for teachers and
other school staff to enable them to meet the diverse cognitive, emotional, and social needs of
children and adolescents. Create trusting and caring relationships that promote open
19

communication among administrators, teachers, staff, students, families, and communities (APA,
2009, 2019; CDC, 2009, 2019). Justification from both well-known entities as well as a given
plethora of expert related studies suggested that connectedness was a vital to student success as
academic endeavors (APA, 2009; CDC, 2009). This was found to be vital, especially among
students who are in transition period.
Importance of Transitioning with School Connectedness
Fundamentally, when a child crosses the threshold from elementary school student to one
of middle school age, there are several elements that will impact the child’s acceptance into this
environment. This transition technically comes when a child reaches true adolescence as in
starting in a junior high school (i.e., ages 13 and up; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015). However,
experts are now studying this same transitional effect and impact when children reach the age of
ten to 11 years of age, as many will move from an elementary school environment to one of
expected maturity in a middle school (Ekstrand, 2015; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015). Such a
transition may affect a student’s academic, social, and behavioral outcome and often are not
positive. Some experts believe that the reasons for negative scholastic, social, and behavioral
outcomes can be attributed to the failure of connectedness between the student and the factors
making up their school environment (Garcia-Moya et al., 2019; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015).
McGrath and Van Vergen (2015) examined this in their study, exploring the characteristics that
place students at such risk, the periods throughout schooling when students are most at risk, the
influence of previous attachment relationships. The authors of the study found that, indeed, the
lack of school connectedness results to at-risk students, yielding negative effects on student
behavior, adjustment and achievement in schools (McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015). This pool of
knowledge provides empirical justification regarding the importance of transitioning with school
20

connectedness especially among adolescent students. Placing more focus on school
connectedness could result to lesser risks for behavioral problems and academic issues among
students in transition.
Other scholars suggested that connectedness must be related to transition from
elementary to junior high and predetermines that such school connectedness associates with
improved outcomes for students, including increased attendance, higher grades and test scores,
and remaining in school (Foster et al., 2017; Lester & Cross, 2015). The authors Foster et al.
(2017) justified this in their study by examining and evaluating connectedness among 224 youth
(ages 12–15). These participants were recruited from an urban medical emergency department
wherein all of the youth were at elevated risk due to bullying perpetration or victimization, and
low social connectedness (Foster et al., 2017). The results of the study showed that those with
higher levels of school connectedness reported lower levels of depressive symptoms, suicidal
ideation, social anxiety, and sexual activity, higher levels of self-esteem, and more adaptive use
of free time (Foster et al., 2017). These findings underscore the positive impact of school
connectedness on adolescent students, and the ways in which this connectedness impacts their
lives.
Similar to Foster et al. (2017), other authors such as Dary et al. (2017) contended that
school connectedness reduces students’ engagement in high-risk behaviors alcohol, tobacco, and
other drug use, early sexual initiation, and violence. The authors conducted a review of empirical
studies linked to school connectedness and found that fostering stronger school connectedness
among students result to increased student engagement and improved student behavioral
outcomes (Dary et al., 2017). There are varying conclusions regarding the impact of school
21

connectedness among the youth within the school environment, which merits the need for further
study regarding this topic.
School connectedness is an element suggested as a pertinent need for children
transitioning to a new school environment. Some experts noted that the act of transitioning is a
necessary focus associated with a child’s personal development and growth (Chung-Do et al.,
2015b; Niesen, 2018). Chung-Do et al. (2015b) noted this in their study’s findings, aiming to
develop a comprehensive school connectedness scale for program evaluation. The authors
conducted a confirmatory factor analyses to examine this topic further an ethnically diverse
sample of 717 high school students. The findings showed school involvement, academic
motivation, school attachment, teacher support, and peer relations are all vital factors in the
development of a student, especially within a new school environment (Chung-Do et al., 2015b).
This is especially because transitioning from school to school presents a provision of new
environmental challenges (Niesen, 2018). During transition period, student concerns most
apparent upon the entry of a middle school have included, getting to class on time, keeping up
with class homework and materials, finding lockers, getting on the right bus to get home,
remembering their schedule, getting through crowded hallways, finding lunchrooms and
restrooms (Niesen, 2018). Additionally, moving out of an elementary school environment is a
critical period in a young child, which is the most difficult dimension in the developmental
growth of a child from ages one to 18 (Hill & Mobley, 2016). The transition can cause
psychological distress along with confusion of self-perceptions (Bailey, 2015; Cohlhepp, 2018).
Cohlhepp (2018) justified this in her study, examining student perceptions regarding the
transition from elementary to middle school. The findings of the study showed that there are
various factors linked to successful middle school transitions, including opportunities for
22

cooperative learning and school connectedness (Cohlhepp, 2018). This body of knowledge
provides more empirical information regarding the challenges faced by students in transition
period, which merits the need for more understanding of how school connectedness could
support these students in transition.
Additionally, during transition period, a child may find themselves thrown into situations
in which they are not prepared to handle and may follow a negative path into drugs, alcohol, and
other delinquent actions and behaviors. There have been continuing studies on the factors that
influence successful middle school transitions. Such factors studied and examined those
provision for success include gender influence (Cohlhepp, 2018), the merging of multiple student
diverse groups (Bailey, 2015), encouragement of parental involvement, and the education for
teachers to understand how to recognize and cope with student problems associated with
transitioning into middle school (Onetti et al., 2019). Onetti et al. (2019) underscored this in their
descriptive cross-sectional observational study wherein their findings showed that students need
to be supported through teachers and educators, using constructs of school connectiveness. As
such, these findings underscore the need to examine the topic of school connectiveness further,
exploring and determining how school connectiveness can provide protective factors and
resilience factors, aiding transitioning students in the middle school environment.
Student connectiveness to their school environment is a significant factor to explore in
assessing student outcomes. The way in which student connectiveness to their school
environment was perceived as having a significant impact on the student’s academic outcomes
(Perkins et al., 2016; Renshaw, 2015a; Renshaw et al., 2015b; Symonds & Hargreaves, 2016;
Uslu & Gizir, 2017). These findings were revealed when researchers explored the various
student perceptions of belonging exist in contemporary schools; as such, authors concluded that
23

school connectedness were found associated with student success as well as student self-efficacy
(Uslu & Gizir, 2017; Veiga et al., 2015). Researchers suggested that self-efficacy measurements
of students moving into high school were higher for those who felt a connectiveness to their
school, their teachers, and their fellow students (Allen et al., 2017; Chung et al., 2015; Conway
et al., 2018). In essence, those students who were highly participatory in extracurricular activities
had a higher percentage for success in transitioning into the high school environment.
Building school connectiveness among the youth through effective programs and
practices has several positive outcomes. Chung-Do et al. (2015b) examined such changes
focusing on how new environmental factors prompting school connectiveness can provide
protective factors against youth violence. With focus on the transition, authors surveyed middle
school students (N = 598) from Asian and Pacific Islander schools questioning such participants
on their feelings of school connectedness (Chung-Do et al., 2015b). This data then was compared
to violent attitudes and behaviors. The results showed school connectedness has a direct
influence on how the child reacts to violent actions taken against them (Chung-Do et al., 2015b).
While the results were not conclusive, the authors did recommend further research was needed to
determine, contextualize, and clarify the correlation between middle school connectedness with
violent behaviors and attitudes (Chung-Do et al., 2015b). Hill and Mobley (2016) observed a
transitional program for elementary students who were moving into a middle school
environment. The authors first discussed the issues a group of children from a middle Georgia
school district and how they faced during their transition from school to school (Hill & Mobley,
2016). The elements measured for distress with inclusive to the environmental adjustments, the
psychological distress, and developmental changes. The comprehensive transitional program,
established by local leaders, incorporated multiple components to assist in the children’s
24

transition into the new middle school environment. The authors used the Criterion-Referenced
Competency Test (CRCT) to examine two comparable middle school six grader’s propensity for
academic and disciplinary outcomes. The results showed those students who were provided the
transitional program inclusive to mandatory counseling aid were alleviated of their fears,
anxieties and apprehension in entering the new school environment. The authors found from the
testing results, such transitional programs provided an easier move for these children as they left
their childhood education and entered into the arena of their adolescent years (Hill & Mobley,
2016). These findings could be used as initial information regarding the impact of transitional
programs for children to help children transition to a middle school environment. Teachers need
to be further educated regarding effective teacher practices that could also aid children
successfully transition to a middle school environment.
There are vital and imperative needs within the transitional periods for children moving
from elementary to middle school. Most experts agree that this type of transition can be perilous
for new adolescents (Bailey, 2015; Cohlhepp, 2018). Further, this type of transition has great
potential for initializing and forming the behavioral patterns of this adolescent as they move into
adulthood (Hill & Mobley, 2016; Onetti et al., 2019). Experts contend that transitioning between
schools has significant ramifications, both positive and negative for children just entering the
early teen years (Bailey, 2015; Cohlhepp, 2018; Onetti et al., 2019). Middle school students
coming from an environment in which they are cared for overtly by their teacher, find
themselves in a less nurturing, more competitive, more departmentalized and more demanding
environment, making the transition and acclimation an important aspect in the adolescent’s
psychological livelihood.
25

Teacher Support
The idea of teacher’s supportiveness in connectiveness for middle school students,
however, may prevent student connectiveness. This, in turn, also prevents student academic
success (Allen et al., 2018; Owusu-Ansah et al., 2018). Some experts believe that even though
teacher support was one of the strongest predictors of school connectedness in adolescents; there
was not much concern for the changes from elementary to middle school (Allen et al., 2018;
Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis & Goodman, 2017).
However, many believe teacher behaviors and attitudes that strengthen students’ school
connectedness are voluntary, and teachers who have unconscious racial, linguistic, or cultural
biases against some students are more likely to withhold discretionary supports from those
students than teachers without such biases (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al.,
2016; Read et al., 2015). What has been determined; however, was that an increasing teacher
support of adolescent students most likely results in improved academic, behavioral, and
emotional outcomes for students (Allen et al., 2018). Even so, the focus continues to be more on
the older student, ones who are entering high school rather than the transition for those moving
from elementary to middle school.
Teachers’ support in meeting students’ needs and maintaining a positive, safe learning
environment is vital to address and explore further in terms of development, education, and
implementation. According to various scholars, teachers’ support is one of the strongest
predictors of school connectedness in adolescents (Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt
et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis & Goodman, 2017). Supportive behaviors of
teachers that strengthen students’ school connectedness include providing positive feedback and
encouragement, active listening, believing in students’ abilities, caring about students, and
26

providing interactive teaching and learning styles (Lester & Cross, 2015). However, teachers of
middle school students may face challenges in meeting students’ needs, including some teachers’
unconscious cultural, racial, and linguistic biases (Biag, 2016). As such, teachers also need to be
support while providing support to children in schools. It is vital to explore how teachers could
be provided necessary support, through examination of their perceptions, in order to strengthen
students’ school connectedness.
Teacher behaviors and attitudes that strengthen students’ school connectedness are
voluntary. It has been found that teachers who have unconscious racial, linguistic, or cultural
biases against some students are more likely to withhold discretionary supports from those
students than teachers without such biases (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al.,
2016; Read et al., 2015). If teachers’ unconscious biases weaken their ability to meet students’
needs, this is likely to have a negative effect on students’ school connectedness (Biag, 2016).
Teachers can overcome their unconscious cultural, linguistic, and racial biases through a process
of self-reflection, which is described as a practice in which teachers “uncover, identify, and
examine internal biases that impact their understanding” of and expectations for students of all
identities (Oskineegish, 2019, p. 77). This presents as a barrier to fostering and strengthening
students’ school connectedness.
Children often experience various challenges in their transitional journey, calling out the
need for educator support. Experts explained that when children are not supported in their
academic journey, especially in specific content academic areas (Dulabaum, 2016; Heafner,
2017; Randall et al., 2015; Schiffrin & Liss, 2017). When students become disengaged, often
resulting to negative academic outcomes (Randall et al., 2015). However, it has been found that
there is a significant lack of research that delves into the necessity of positional and positive
27

transitioning from elementary to middle school (Schiffrin & Liss, 2017). While a student’s
academic performance has been explored and explained as a vital part of a child’s growth, their
social acceptance and/or transition between the two-school environment has a significant gap for
scholarly work (Dulabaum, 2016; Heafner, 2017). That is, existing studies generally focused on
a student’s overall academic achievement, or in the specific area of literacy. This is vital to
discuss given that socialization skills were continually considered as important for a child’s
psyche growth (Heafner, 2017; Wanzek et al., 2018). Further, there is conflicting literature that
exists regarding the perceptions of students regarding the relationship between their life and their
academics in school (Randall et al., 2015; Schiffrin & Liss, 2017; Williams, 2013). This
literature further underscores the need for more studies, exploring how students can be
supported, as experience various challenges in their transitional journey.
Much of the literature pertaining to teacher support with transitioning has been concerned
with defining the construct of school connectedness. Many experts in an attempt to explain
teacher support with student transitioning find that a valid definition must be inclusive of teacher
leader model standards (Coelho et al., 2017; Hall & DiPerna, 2017). Other experts examined this
phenomenon using such theoretical and empirical basis of teacher support, showing that this
concept extends beyond classroom roles (Joyce, 2019; Koca, 2016; Matthews et al., 2015). There
is are mixed and inconsistent definitions regarding the definition of means for teacher support for
student who are transitioning from elementary to middle school. However, experts do suggest
that exploration on student perceptions of transitioning into secondary education has a higher
relevance as children’s change into adolescence from childhood has more profound effects than
that of the transition from elementary into middle school (Evans et al., 2018; Forrest et al.,
2013). Despite the mixed findings regarding the construct of school connectedness, teacher
28

support has been identified as a significant factor in influencing outcomes among students who
are in transition.
There is a prevalent thinking within the school of thought on preparation of student
transition. This prevalent thinking suggest that the teacher to student relationship is vital to
establishment of the student’s ability to successfully transition into middle school (King, 2016;
Koehler et al., 2016; Lester & Cross, 2015). In order to meet students’ needs, as well as maintain
a positive, safe learning environment, experts also suggested that teacher to student relationship
is one of the strongest predictors of school connectedness (Koehler et al., 2016; Lester & Cross,
2015). This was found to be especially true among transitioning students (Allen et al., 2018;
Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis & Goodman, 2017).
Allen et al. (2016) claimed that students perceive that their teachers have a minimal role in their
social success and that role is viewed negatively. As a result, there is an increasing need for more
research to understand how acclimation to a student’s new environment affects a student’s
perceptions on the school and their academic success. However, Allen et al. (2018) later
examined and identified specific themes associated with school transitioning through the use of a
meta-analysis and social level factors consistent with belonging and the influence thereof. The
authors first identified such thematic elements such as emotional stability, parental support,
involvement in extracurricular activities, personal characteristics, teacher support, and academic
motivational factors. These were compared based on student gender, race, and ethnicity (Allen et
al., 2018). Of the 51 selected studies (from a sampling of more than 67,000), positive personal
characteristics of the student and teacher support were highest as a predictor with school
belonging. However, the authors also found that such predictors were stronger in rural locations
versus urban (Allen et al., 2018). Similar to Allen et al. (2018), Lei et al. (2017) conducted a
29

study regarding teacher support and school connectedness. Lei et al. (2017) used a meta-analysis
to examine the correlation between teacher support and academic emotions in 65 primary studies
from a sampling of over 58,000 students. The authors found a high correlation between teacher
support and positive academic emotions in such locations as Western Europe and North America
while there was a lower correlation of positive academic emotions found in areas such as Asia
(Lei et al., 2017). Further investigation showed the association between teacher support and
positive academic emotions conducive to the acclimation of middle school for those new
students just coming over from elementary school (Lei et al., 2017). However, when the authors
examined areas which were highest in negative academic emotions, they found this link the
highest between middle school students and teacher support (Lei et al., 2017). These results
suggested the issues continually arose within the middle school environment having to do with
delinquency and poor academic outcomes, were associated with teacher’s attitudes towards their
students (Allen et al., 2018; Lei et al., 2017). These findings underscore the need to further
explore the role of teachers in providing teacher support, which could enhance overall levels of
student connectedness.
Most explorations regarding this topic are focused on support from teachers with students
moving into secondary education. There is a need to focus on support from teachers with
students moving from elementary to middle schools (Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015;
Fifolt et al., 2018). Additionally, the focus on past studies and research on transitioning students
has been on a child’s academic health rather than their social health (Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017;
Volungis & Goodman, 2017). This is vital to explore further given that connectivity and
acceptance of student’s new environment when a child moves from elementary school to a
30

middle school is important (Finley, 2018). The failure academically for many students is
precipitated from a lack of enthusiasm for their new school environment.
Barriers to Fostering Students’ School Connectedness
Barriers to fostering students’ school connectedness mainly involve discrimination.
Several authors noted that students who have disabilities, are from a racial minority group, or are
obese, reported less extents of school connectedness (Cumming et al., 2017; Golaszewski et al.,
2018; Fernandez et al., 2019; McWhirter et al., 2018). Fernandez et al. (2019) noted this in their
study, exploring adolescent adjustment problems, and the association between racial
discrimination and school connectedness. The authors conducted their study among 192 Hispanic
middle school students. The findings of the study showed the depressive symptoms were
negatively associated with school connectedness for girls while behavioral issues were
negatively associated with school connectedness for boys (Fernandez et al., 2019). These
associations were found to be linked with perceived racial discrimination reported by Hispanic
middle school students in the study (Fernandez et al., 2019). Cumming et al. (2017) also noted
the weight of discrimination among students from minorities. This population group often feel
neglected and thus disconnected from their school community (Cumming et al., 2017).
McWhirter et al. (2018) underscored similar conclusions, conducting their study among Latina/o
high school students. The authors of the study conducted a moderated mediator analyses wherein
the findings showed that Latina/o students who reported greater frequency of discrimination
experiences reported lower levels of school connectedness (McWhirter et al., 2018).
Furthermore, the findings showed that discrimination experiences and low levels of school
connectedness contributed to student intentions of dropping out (McWhirter et al., 2018). This
further underscores the need to address school connectedness, especially among middle school
31

students who experience discrimination. Leaving school connectedness unaddressed among this
population could result to school dropouts.
Weight discrimination also plays a vital role in decreasing levels of school
connectedness. Golaszewski et al. (2018) examined weight discrimination and students' feelings
of belonging to their school among 639 middle school students. The authors found that, as
hypothesized, weight discrimination was associated with lower levels of school connectedness.
This underscores the need to address the association between weight discrimination and low
levels of school connectedness, especially given that students' needs include having positive
feelings of being connected to school (Golaszewski et al., 2018). Cumming et al. (2017) and
Khawaja et al. (2018) noted that students who are culturally and linguistically diverse in schools
are at risk for low levels of school connectedness, especially those who are also obese. These
findings further reveal and justify the need to address barriers of school connectedness, which
also often related to discrimination in weight and in race/ethnicity.
There was a noticeable achievement gap found in current literature regarding school
connectedness; that is, regarding the achievement gap between its white students and its students
of other ethnicities. Claiming causation was based on a teachers’ unconscious bias has, in fact,
been thoroughly explored (King, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Potter & Morris, 2017; Read et
al., 2015). Experts have suggested that the prevalence of racism is rampant in public education
(King, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016); however, very few researchers have examined how such
biasedness based on race and felt by middle school students keeps students from achieving a
connectedness with their new school (Potter & Morris, 2017; Read et al., 2015). Students in
educational environments in the United States often find systemic and subtle racial
microaggressions disrupting the ability to complete their college degree (Chung et al., 2015).
32

Most experts agree that exposure to this racism within a middle school classroom impedes
learning outcomes and has been found to be problematic and in furthering research considered a
main attribute to certain delinquent acts by middle school children (Chung et al., 2015;
Mahatmya et al., 2016; Simatele, 2018). Considering the issue of teacher biasness within this
population, racism was recognized as being ingrained into certain influential persons such as
teachers in the middle school environments.
Researchers view biasedness through two lenses, the individual and the system. The
individual, some experts claim is pursuant upon such racist beliefs as a manifestation through
negative behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes with respect to an ethnic or racial minority group or
individual (Mahatmya et al., 2016; Simatele, 2018). Negative beliefs and attitudes are considered
to be a type of discrimination and categorized within the general category of prejudice
(Mahatmya et al., 2016). At the level of the system, racism is manifested as negative institutional
and cultural behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes which are based on social power and which
ultimately lead to disadvantageous results for racial or ethnic minorities (Tao et al., 2017). For
biasedness in the classroom to be influential, experts consider that each group must have a belief
regarding its dominance or superiority (Hunn et al., 2015). Other experts feel that when such a
person believes in their own superiority, they must have the power to be capable of facilitating a
behavior that is racist (Forrest et al., 2013). When this occurs, the middle school teacher must
have an impact on their audience (i.e., the students in their classes). With such inequities that
place racial and ethnic minorities in a disadvantageous position, the failure to find connectedness
is certain to occur causing, among other things, a failure to succeed academically (Garcia-Moya
et al., 2015). Biasedness from a teacher decreases any development of connectiveness that a
student may feel. The student perceives a sense of not belonging that has potential to make the
33

child feel inadequate, calling out the need to explore strategies to aid both student and teacher
development in terms of school connectedness.
Self-Reflection for Teachers
Self-reflective practices have been known as an effective method for teacher
development. Several authors noted how self-reflective practices need to be promoted for the
development of teachers and their students consequently (Mathew et al., 2017; Moradkhani et
al., 2017). Matthew et al. (2017) defined self-reflective practices as processes that facilitate
“teaching, learning and understanding” (p. 126). According to the authors, self-reflective
practices have a vital role to play in teachers' professional development. Moradkhani et al. (2017)
concurred, noting how teachers' reflective practices are effective means to enhance teaching.
When teachers perform and practice systematic enquiry into themselves, teachers are able to
understand themselves deeper, including their practices and their students (Mattthew et al., 2017;
Moradkhani et al., 2017). In fact, through self-reflective practices, teachers are able to increase
their self-efficacy and their quality of teaching. Moradkhani et al. (2017) found this in their
study, exploring the relationship of self-reflective practices and teacher self-efficacy. Through
surveys and follow-up interviews, the authors gathered data from teachers regarding self-reports
of reflective practices and self-efficacy. The findings showed that consistent self-reflective
practices result to higher self-efficacy levels and higher quality of teaching (Moradkhani et al.,
2017). This body of knowledge underscores the importance of self- reflective practices and how
it impacts teachers, personally and professionally. Focusing on promoting self-reflective
practices could result to better student outcomes through higher quality of teaching.
Experts have considered the ways in which teachers of middle school (grades 6-8)
perceive their self-reflective practices. Several authors noted that teachers of middle school
34

(grades 6-8) perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing factors that enhance their
ability to provide voluntary supports that of which promote school connectedness in their
students (Oskineegish, 2019; Read et al., 2015). Other authors reported that teachers view self-
reflective practices as effective means of becoming aware of, evaluating, and compensating for
or mindfully suspending unconscious biases that would otherwise negatively affect their ability
to support and educate all students (Berkowitz et al., 2016; McDowall, 2017; McInnes, 2017).
Self-reflection as an effective practice for educators to overcome unconscious bias has been
heavily examined in businesses, in healthcare, and in politics. Researchers have identified
teachers’ self-reflective practices as an effective means of becoming aware of, evaluating, and
compensating for or mindfully suspending unconscious biases that would otherwise negatively
affect their ability to support and educate all students (McDowall, 2017; McInnes, 2017;
Oskineegish, 2019; Read et al., 2015). However, there is a limited number of scholarly or
evidence-based studies that explore the issue of biasedness and its correlation with a student
connectiveness during their transition to middle school. Even so, some of the expert studies that
explain or prove effective methods to combatting implicit bias within the healthcare realm may
provide examples for teachers to apply as well. Marcelin et al. (2019) claimed that unconscious
bias plays a significant role in the healthcare service industry. Particularly emphatic are such
biases as overt racism, transphobia, misogyny, and homophobia (Marcelin et al., 2019). Most
experts recognized how stereotypes presents opportunity for racism and bigoty, but the
prevalence of such impacted healthcare delivery with many minorities not receiving the medical
care they deserved or even needed (Lee, 2017; Marcelin et al., 2019). These studies’ findings
could be extended further, exploring the topic of biasedness and its correlation with a student
connectiveness during their transition to middle school.
35

Conceptual Framework
Bandura’s (1971) social cognitive theory (SCT) has also been used in social science, in
health, communication, education and business, and in understanding the relationship between
personal norms and societal norms and how it shapes one’s own actions (Deaton, 2015; Kreps &
Monin, 2011; Sampaio et al., 2012). According to Deaton (2015), there is an increasing number
of scholars who are familiar with social cognitive theory, finding it a robust framework to
explain how various factors might be utilized to stimulate attention, memory, and motivation,
relating to the acquisition of knowledge for students. Deaton (2015) argued that applying the
concepts of Bandura's (1977) theory served as a fruitful resource toward enhancement of student
engagement and learning. Thornberg et al. (2017) added to this theoretical construct, stating that
researchers should consider using social cognitive theories along with social-ecological
perspectives in examining behaviors and characteristics at the individual level (i.e., engagement,
self-efficacy) and one's quality of relationships with respect to environments.
SCT has been widely used in exploring why people behave as they do (Bandura, 1971).
One of the principles of Bandura’s (1971) view is that one’s behavior is mostly determined by
both the environment and one’s personal characteristics. The author of the theory posits that
personal characteristics are further shaped by behavior; hence, one’s behavior and personality
consequently influence one’s environment (Bandura, 1971). Another principle of Bandura’s
(1971) social cognitive theory is that motivations and actions are situationally bound or
constrained. As a result, acting individuals have subconscious perceptions regarding the moral
consequences of their actions in view of familiarity or proximity. Kreps and Monin (2011) and
Sampaio et al. (2012) further delved into the theory of social cognitive and noted that social
cognitive theory is a philosophical view. Social cognitive theory also argues that people select
36

from a wide range of actions based on their preferences, personal motivations, and competencies,
focused on the situational, environmental, and cultural influences that shape them.
The current study explored the associations between SCT and its application with middle
school educators, their understanding of self-reflection, and how self-reflective practices impact
school connectiveness and as such, perpetuating failure in a student’s academic achievements.
SCT is a learning theory in which cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors are regarded
as mutually influencing one another to create knowledge and determine behavior, and in which
individuals are regarded as learning in part by observing the behaviors of other people and the
outcomes of those behaviors (Bandura, 1989, 1999). A foundational premise of SCT is that
people learn not only through their own experiences, but also by observing the actions of others
and the results of those actions. In SCT, humans are considered active agents who shape and are
shaped by the world around them. The concept of human agency is central to SCT, in which
agency is defined as the power to originate goal-directed actions (Martin, 2004). Self-efficacy is
another key concept and is defined as belief in one’s own ability to deliberately influence
outcomes in desired ways (Stacey et al., 2015). This literature provides more substantial
information regarding the primary premises of SCT, and sets the foundation of its use in the
current study.
The foundations of SCT came from Holt and Brown (1931), who claimed people are only
found to learn based on imitation and therefore were prone to following and imitating the
educator overseeing the learning environment. Miller and Dollard (1941) expanded Holt and
Brown’s (1931) ideas but pursued factors that contributed to learning, claiming cues, responses,
drives, and rewards were factors of a learner’s social motivation. The basis of Miller and
Dollard’s (1941) theory suggested that students would learn only if they were provided a
37

motivation to learn and only then would they imitate the educator. This provides more
knowledge regarding the development of SCT from previous scholars.
The most well-known theorist to promote and explain SCT, however, was Albert
Bandura. Bandura further expanded Miller and Dollard’s (1941) research providing proof that
there is a direct association with behavioral change of learning and the persons’ perceived self-
efficacy. Bandura (1982, 1989, 1999) believed that self-efficacy affects motivation but can do so
both in a positive and a negative manner. According to Bandura (1989, 1999), self-efficacy has
four main sources: mastery experiences, verbal persuasion, vicarious experiences, and emotional
and physiological states. The premise of SCT aligns the learning theory of cognitive, behavioral,
and environmental factors and regards them as mutually influencing the learner to create
knowledge and determine behavior, and in which individuals are regarded as learning in part by
observing the behaviors of other people and the outcomes of those behaviors (Bandura, 1989,
1999). A foundational premise of SCT is that people learn not only through their own
experiences, but also by observing the actions of others and the results of those actions.
Development of self-efficacy begins in early childhood and continues to form based on
environmental factors such as interactions with people around them (Akhtar, 2008). A child may
develop different levels of self-efficacy as they learn how to function in different situations based
on how others in their environment exhibit behaviors (Akhtar, 2008; Bandura, 1989). Bandura
(1989) suggested that the importance of observational learning or imitation and modeling
consisted of three triadic modeling factors which contribute equally to behavior. The foundation
of SCT, Bandura (1989, 1999) claimed, was the ability for one to have self-confidence in their
aptitude to behave in such a way they believed was appropriate.
38

SCT is focused on the ways in which individuals acquire and maintain behaviors in a
given social environment. The model includes consideration of a person's past experiences,
which influence the expectations that determine whether a person will engage in a specific, goal-
directed behavior (Bandura, 1989, 1999). SCT was a suitable conceptual framework for this
project because it provided a model that included consideration of past experiences (which
would include the past experiences that create unconscious biases), and because its suitability for
framing discussions of goal-directed behavior in specific social environments was an ideal lens
through which to examine teachers’ perceptions of practicing self-reflection (i.e., the behavior)
to promote students’ school connectedness (i.e., the goal) in a specific school (i.e., the social
environment; Bandura, 1989, 1999). SCT’s definitions of agency and self-efficacy provided a
vocabulary for discussing and drawing conclusions from teachers’ perceptions of how and why
they engaged or failed to engage in effective self-reflection.
The use of SCT to suggest its contribution to school connectedness was based on the
foundational premise that students in middle school learned through observation. With middle
school age learners, it is at this age in their development that a teacher can define or refine a
student’s self-efficacy and prompt school connectiveness (Biag, 2016). At this age, goal-directed
actions can prove to be the supportive element for students with their ideas associated with how
they feel about school and how motivated they are to succeed academically and socially (Bowers
et al., 2015; Read et al., 2015; Stacey et al., 2015). Students are more likely to engage in
socialization practices when they feel a connectedness to their school. This socialization often
prompts success in academic achievement particularly when fostered by those who are
supportive and positive (Allen et al., 2017; Fifolt et al., 2018). Therefore, with increased levels
39

of school connectedness, students are more likely to be motivated, and succeed academically and
socially.
The current study purported that SCT propagated goal-directed behaviors associated with
teachers’ perceptions of practicing behavior at which promotes students’ school connectedness in
their social environment. SCT’s definitions of agency and self-efficacy provided a vocabulary
for discussing and drawing conclusions from teachers’ perceptions of how and why they engaged
or failed to engage in effective self-reflection. Using SCT as the lens for selection and
interpretation of the literature found in this chapter allowed the researcher to analyze past studies
and expert opinions on cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors were found as mutually
influential and had created knowledge and behaviors from observation of others (Mortiz et al.,
2017; Symonds & Hargreaves, 2016). The use of SCT as the framework of the study formed a
foundation for understanding in how questioning the perception of teachers in one Southwest
U.S. middle school (Grades 6-8) showed supports that promoted school connectedness in their
students.
The SCT framework served as the foundation to the current literature review while
building relevant researches or tools that explored the connection that existed between middle
school students, the connectedness they had with their school environment after the transition
from elementary school to middle school, the obvious need for teacher support, and the
biasedness from teachers that prevented such connectedness. The SCT framework provided
additional empirical evidence on how teachers reflected on their unconscious biases in relation to
their perceptions of their students, as well as self-reflective practices as influencing their
students’ school connectedness (Allen et al., 2018; Biag, 2016; Oskineegish, 2019). This
framework aided in the development of effective appropriate self-reflective practices to
40

minimize the effects of their unconscious biases, which aimed to foster school connectedness in
their students.
Furthermore, understanding how teachers perceived self-reflective practices as factors of
connectedness influenced outcomes for their child’s success was also important for the
comprehension of the significance of the current study (see Marcenaro-Gutierrez & Lopez-
Agudo, 2017; Randall et al., 2015; Schiffrin & Liss, 2017). Thus, exploring teachers’ perceptions
of self-reflective practices as influential factors that impacted their students’ school
connectedness was vital in the objective of educational institutions and teachers to support
children’s educational process and provide ready access to resources that would assist a child’s
growth.
Summary
Despite the literature available relating to the importance of connectedness, there were
several constraints in terms of available and reliable literature for the use of this study. Limited
studies were found indicating how teachers perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing
their ability to provide supports to students to promote school connectedness. As such, there was
a gap in the literature regarding the perceptions of students and teaching related to the
acclimation during the transition between elementary and middle school. The practices for
acclimation necessitate a connectedness between the newly arrived student and the school
environment and climate. However, a general idea suggested by experts in education and school
connectedness related the association of an educator’s attitudes was preemptive causation for the
success or failure of a child’s successful transition. Studies did show that teachers can overcome
their unconscious cultural, linguistic, and racial biases through a process of self-reflection, which
was described as a practice in which teachers recognized and observed internal biases that
41

impacted their understanding of and expectations for students of all identities (Alismail, 2016;
Mathew et al., 2017; Moradkhani et al., 2017; Oskineegish, 2019).
The perceptions of teachers regarding their self-reflective practices as influencing their
ability to provide supports to students to promote school had rarely been undertaken and
examined through existing literature. This lack of literature resulted to an incomplete and
unaddressed outline of support types employed in school environments to ease the transition and
find school connectedness. Also, there was little research outlining how U.S. teachers of diverse
groups of students could effectively use and improve their self-reflective practices to examine
previously unconscious biases. This lack in empirical knowledge resulted to limited support for
and school connectedness of students. This was vital to address and tackle further by future
researchers, wherein educational organizations and teachers could refer to in order to provide
needed support of students who are transitioning from elementary school to that of a middle
school environment. Perceptions of students regarding social standing as well as academics in
school were found to be one of the least explored of the constructs in the literature in terms of
those students of this age group.
Moreover, there was a limited amount of empirical studies—either quantitative or
qualitative—that had examined and provided a set of effective self-reflective practices that
teachers could utilize in order to promote students’ school connectedness, especially for students
who are transitioning to middle school. This was important since there was a lack of exploration
of self-reflective practices used by teachers in successfully guiding transitioning students.
Therefore, the current study held a prevalent need to support the students in their transitional
journey into the middle school setting, which could serve teachers in other middle schools
42

Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers in one Southwestern U.S. middle
school (Grades 6-8) perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their ability to provide
voluntary supports that promoted school connectedness in their students. The problem of practice
was that U.S. middle school teachers who did not engage in appropriate self-reflective practices
might fail to foster school connectedness in their students. This chapter includes a restatement of
the two research questions that are used to guide this study, followed by an overview of the
generic qualitative inquiry study design. Next, this chapter includes descriptions of the research
setting, the researcher, and the data source, consisting of one-to-one, semi-structured interviews
via Zoom, Google Hangout or telephone with teachers selected from one middle school. This
chapter then proceeds with discussion of the ethical safeguards that are used in this study and of
the limitations and delimitations of the study’s scope.
Research Questions
The following two research questions guided the project:
RQ1. How do teachers perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing their
students’ school connectedness?
RQ2. How do teachers reflect on strategies to address school connectedness for students
transitioning to middle school?
Overview of Design
A generic qualitative inquiry design was used in this study. Qualitative data collection
allowed teachers to express in their own words, in the contexts of their own lives and cultures,
the definition of school connectedness, the perceived role of teachers and administrators in
promoting school connectedness, descriptions of self-reflective practices as a teacher, and the
43

effects of those practices on students’ school connectedness and school transition. A qualitative
approach also enabled the teacher participants to describe any systems, procedures, activities, or
strategies in their current school that of which were related to school connectedness for students
transitioning to middle school, as well as the impacts of such systems, procedures, activities, or
strategies in addressing school connectedness for students transitioning to middle school. A
qualitative approach was, therefore, selected.
Generic qualitative inquiry is not one of the five traditional qualitative designs, which
include phenomenology, case study, ethnography, grounded theory, and narrative inquiry
(Creswell, 2012; Percy et al., 2015). A generic qualitative design involves describing
participants’ perceptions, opinions, and experiences of a real-world condition or process (Percy
et al., 2015). A phenomenological design was deemed inappropriate for this study because its
focus was on the internal structure of subjective experiences (see Creswell, 2012), and the
research questions in this study required consideration of participants’ opinions and perceptions
of external conditions in the study school, including their students’ perceived school
connectedness. A case study design, which required collection of data from multiple sources to
converge on a description of how a real-world process occurred within a bounded context, was
found to be inappropriate because teachers’ reflective practices and school connectedness were
internal and individual, making them inaccessible to data sources other than self-report.
An ethnographic design was considered inappropriate because the research questions in
this study were answered by descriptions of school connectedness and perceived role of teachers
and administrators in promoting school connectedness, rather than by descriptions of a definable
culture (see Creswell, 2012). A grounded theory design was found to be inappropriate because
theory development was not an objective in this study. Narrative inquiry was not an appropriate
44

design for this study because the study purpose and research questions indicated that the relevant
context of the phenomenon of interest was the study school rather than participants’ individual
lives and stories.
A generic qualitative inquiry design was therefore selected, because it facilitated a
balanced focus on individual, internal processes of self-reflection, their personal definition of
school connectedness, and on perceptions of how connected the students feel in the context of
the study school (see Percy et al., 2015). Data collection was conducted through one-to-one,
semi-structured interviews via Zoom, Google Hangout, or telephone with teachers.
Research Setting
The setting of this study was one middle school in the Southwestern United States. As of
the 2019-2020 academic year, the school enrolled approximately 500 students in Grades 6
through 8. Approximately 78% of the students identified as White, 12% as Latino, 8% as Asian,
1% as African American, and 1% as mixed or other ethnicities. The school’s administration had
defined the organization’s mission as one of maintaining a safe and supportive learning
environment, valuing diversity, and meeting the unique emotional and educational needs of
every student. This mission aligned with the forms of teacher support researchers had identified
as strengthening students’ school connectedness (Lester & Cross, 2015).
In 2018-2019 data from the study district overall, 79% of students met or exceeded
English-Language Arts (ELA) achievement benchmarks, and 74% of students met or exceeded
mathematics achievement benchmarks. However, district-level data from 2018-2019 indicated
that Hispanic and Latino students, who were the largest non-White student population at the
study school (i.e., 12% of students), met or exceeded ELA and mathematics achievement
benchmarks at rates of 55% and 39%, respectively, indicating district-level achievement gaps of
45

24% and 25%. The achievement gap was larger for students classified as English-learners, with
30% meeting or exceeding benchmarks in ELA and 16% meeting or exceeding benchmarks in
math. Students classified as economically disadvantaged met or exceeded math and ELA
benchmarks at rates of 34% and 49%, respectively, again indicating a significant achievement
gap in comparison to overall district rates. The study district had prioritized achievement gaps as
targets for focused remediation efforts, and had implemented well-resourced initiatives to
address them, including a multi-tiered system of support for students and extensive professional
development in math and ELA instruction for teachers (including training days and off-site PD at
the nearest campus of the state university system).
The study school was unique in its district in having received national recognition for,
among other achievements, successfully promoting educational and resource equity for all
students. The study school’s success in addressing an acknowledged, district-wide challenge, and
its enrollment of a substantial proportion of students (22%) who identified as non-White,
indicated that teachers at this school could provide valuable insights into how they became aware
of and overcame any unconscious biases to provide equitable instruction and support for all
students.
The Researcher
The researcher is a white female with 32 years of experience as a K-12 educator. Her
roles included that of an elementary- and middle-school classroom teacher and a principal at the
elementary-, middle-, and high-school levels. The researcher was also a K-12 curriculum and
instruction expert. Currently, the researcher served as principal of an elementary school in the
same district as the study middle school. The researcher was familiar with the study middle
46

school and the employees, and maintained a clear division of roles, conducting data collection
and analysis as a doctoral candidate rather than a representative of the study district.
The researcher addressed any discomfort participants felt in discussing potentially
sensitive topics with an administrator from a different school in their district in two ways. First,
the researcher mindfully maintained a clear division of roles, conducting data collection and
analysis as a doctoral candidate rather than a representative of the study district. Second,
participants were informed of the ethical safeguards discussed in the ethics section of this
chapter.
The researcher in her professional role had no direct, hierarchical relationship with
potential participants, but she could have pre-existing personal and professional relationships
with participants as fellow educators in the same district. This condition was an advantage,
because it gave the researcher insight into the contexts of participants’ experiences, and it
contributed to establishing rapport between the researcher and the interviewees to facilitate rich,
detailed, and candid responses. To prevent pre-existing relationships from weakening the
trustworthiness of the data and findings in this study, the researcher made self-reflective,
handwritten notes during data collection and analysis to assist her in remaining mindful and
minimizing the influence of any biases and preconceptions she had in relation to the study topic
or participants.
Data Sources
The data source used in this study were one-to-one, semi-structured interviews via Zoom,
Google Hangout, or telephone with teachers at the study school. The following sub-sections
include the rationale for this procedure. Also included in the following sub-sections are detailed
descriptions of the planned data collection procedure.
47

Interviews were semi-structured. Although face-to-face interviews would provide a more
personal interview session, social distancing was mandated due to the current worldwide
pandemic of COVID-19. Therefore, data collection was conducted one-to-one via Zoom, Google
Hangout, or telephone. All interviews were audio-recorded.
Participants
Participants were a purposeful sample of teachers at the study school. Purposeful
sampling was appropriate for focusing recruitment efforts on potential participants who were
likely to have the relevant knowledge and experiences in order to facilitate collection of the
needed data using limited resources (Palinkas et al., 2015). Purposeful sampling in this study was
conducted by obtaining site permission from the study district’s superintendent and the study
school’s principal. When site permission was obtained, the researcher sent a recruitment email to
all classroom teachers in the study school at their publicly available school email addresses. The
email included a description of the nature of the study, followed by a request that interested,
potential participants contact the researcher by phone or return email.
The size of the sample was determined when data saturation was reached. However, to
ensure an adequate sample size according to recommendations for qualitative research, 10
participants were interviewed (see Creswell, 2012). Data saturation was reached when additional
data collection yielded no new themes or insights (Fusch & Ness, 2015). In this study, the
researcher determined that data saturation had been achieved when analysis of two consecutive
interviews results in the creation of no new codes or themes, as discussed in the data analysis
sub-section. All 10 participants in the purposeful sample were teachers at the study school. As
discussed in Chapter Three, the interviews were conducted by video chat to comply with self-
48

quarantine and social-distancing guidelines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Table 1
indicates the relevant, individual demographic characteristics of the study participants.
Table 1
Participant Demographics
Participant Gender Age Highest level
of education
Years of
teaching
experience
Years at
study school
Joe Male 33 Master’s 10 2
John Male 46 Master’s 13 2
Paul Male 49 Bachelor’s 22 2
Carrie Female 57 Master’s 25 13
Susan Female 62 Master’s 23 13
Kelly Female 35 Master’s 9 3
Michelle Female 61 Master’s 26 11
Mary Female 25 Master’s 3 2
Larry Male 44 Master’s 13 4
Christine Female 36 Master’s 15 2

Six participants were female, and four were male. Nine out of 10 participants held a
master’s degree as their highest level of education, and one participant held a bachelor’s with a
teaching certification. Participants’ ages ranged from 25 years to 62 years, with an average of 45
years. In the number of years that they had been teaching, participants ranged from three years to
26 years, with an average of 16 years. Participants’ years of experience teaching in the study
school ranged from two years to 13 years, with an average of five years.
49

Data Collection Procedures
IRB approval was sought and obtained before any data were collected. Interviews were
conducted via Zoom, Google Hangout, or telephone. Interviews were conducted one-on-one, as
this facilitated confidentiality with the participant. Voluntary participants from the targeted
population contacted the researcher using the researcher's personal USC email account to
schedule interviews. The date and time of the interview were scheduled at the participant’s
convenience to ensure the participant had adequate time to answer all questions fully.
At the time of the interview, the researcher greeted the participant on the designated
schedule via Zoom, Google Hangout, or telephone. The researcher spoke with the participant
one-on-one and briefly reviewed the nature of the study, including its purpose, its intended
benefits in addressing a social problem, and its data collection procedure. Next, the researcher
reviewed the information sheet with the participant. An electronic copy of information sheet was
sent and provided to the participant at this time via e-mail. The information sheet was reviewed
in full, and participants’ questions and concerns were fully addressed before any data are
collected. Participants were reminded of their right to withdraw from the study or refuse to
answer any interview question at any time, with or without stating a reason, without any negative
consequences. The participants were invited to ask questions and express concerns. When all
questions and concerns had been addressed to the participant’s satisfaction, the researcher
requested the participant’s permission to turn on the audio-recorder and begin the interview.
The interview questions were asked in the order in which they appeared on the protocol.
If additional details or clarification of a participant’s response were needed, the researcher
formulated and asked appropriate, probing, follow-up questions. Follow-up questions were open-
ended whenever possible, and the researcher avoided phrasing the questions in a manner that
50

might bias the response by supplying the participant with the researcher’s own language and
understanding. To achieve this, the researcher used the participant’s words whenever possible in
questions such as, “What did you mean by…” or, “Can you tell me more about…?” When the all
interview questions had been asked, the researcher asked if the participant had anything to add.
The researcher then thanked the participant and turn off the recorder, concluding the interview.
Data Analysis
Within one week of each interview, the researcher transcribed the audio-recording
verbatim and verified the transcription by rereading it while listening to the recording. The
researcher then emailed the transcript to the participant with a request for verification within five
days. If the participant did not verify the transcript or request more time within five days, the
researcher followed up with a second request. If the participant still did not respond, the
researcher analyzed the transcript, but the lack of participant verification of the transcript was
noted as a limitation in the presentation of results. Transcripts were analyzed while data
collection was ongoing, so the occurrence of data saturation was used to determine that a
sufficient number of participants had been interviewed.
Data were analyzed in NVivo 12 software using the inductive, thematic procedure
described by Braun and Clarke (2006). An inductive, thematic procedure was appropriate for
allowing unanticipated themes that incorporated the experiences of all or most participants
identified as bases for a robust description of the phenomenon of interest (Braun & Clarke,
2006). The six steps of the thematic analysis procedure were as follows:
1. Reading and rereading the data to gain familiarity
51

2. Grouping data chunks (i.e., phrases or groups of consecutive phrases) that expressed
similar themes and ideas into codes. During this step, a total of 88 data chunks were
grouped into 16 codes.
3. Grouping similar codes into themes: In this step, nine codes containing 61 transcript
excerpts relevant to answering the first research question were grouped into two
themes. A total of seven codes containing 27 transcript excerpts relevant to answering
the second research question were grouped into two themes.
4. Reviewing and refining the themes to ensure all codes and data chunks were
appropriately categorized.
5. Naming and defining the themes to indicate their relevance to answering a research
question
6. Creating a presentation of results, as provided in Chapter Four.
Table 2 indicates the codes identified during step two of the analysis and the themes into
which they were grouped. The themes were verified in step four through comparison to the
original data. The theme names indicated in Table 2 were developed during step five.
Table 2
Data Analysis Codes and Themes
Theme
Code grouped to form theme
n of
participants
contributing
(N=10)
n of transcript
excerpts
included
Theme 1. Authentic care 10 31
A sense of community among students, teachers,
and school
10 14
Concern and connecting to student as person 2 5
52

Feeling confident about student connectedness 7 12
Theme 2. Intentional interactions 10 30
Always looking for ways to improve 7 9
Awareness of student needs 2 2
Keeping a notebook of practices 1 2
Reflecting on data 2 3
Reflecting through planning 2 3
Regular reflection on student connectedness 9 11
Theme 3. Purposeful observations 10 18
Creating space for student input and development 4 8
Promoting awareness of support 3 3
Getting students oriented during transition 5 7
Theme 4. Learning about students as individuals 8 9
Asking students what worked 1 2
Openness and refraining from prejudgment 1 1
Recognition of students as worthy 5 5
Seeking connections with student groups 1 1

Validity and Reliability
The validity and reliability of qualitative data and findings were strengthened through the
implementation of procedures designed to enhance the four elements of trustworthiness
identified by Lincoln and Guba (1985). The elements of trustworthiness include credibility,
53

dependability, transferability, and confirmability. Credibility is the qualitative analogue of the
quantitative construct of internal validity, and it is present when the findings accurately describe
the reality they are intended to describe. Credibility in this study was strengthened using
procedures recommended by Leavy (2017), Merriam (2009), and Shenton (2004). First, to ensure
that data were accurately recorded, the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.
To encourage participants to be honest in their responses, they were assured that their identities
will be confidential. Transcripts were verified by the researcher and, when possible, by the
participant. Participants’ verification of their transcript allowed them a second opportunity to
reflect on and verify the accuracy of their responses.
Dependability is analogous to quantitative reliability, and it refers to the replicability of
the study findings in the same research context at a different time (Lincoln & Guba, 1985;
Shenton, 2004). To enhance dependability in the present study, detailed descriptions of the study
procedures were provided to allow future researchers to replicate the study design if needed, as
recommended by Shenton (2004). Additionally, participants’ verification of their interview
transcript contributed to dependability by allowing participants to confirm that their responses
indicated perceptions that were stable over time (Shenton, 2004).
Transferability is analogous to external validity in quantitative research, and it indicates
the extent to which the findings will hold true of other samples and populations (Lincoln &
Guba, 1985). Transferability in this study was likely limited, as discussed in the delimitations
section of this chapter. However, rich descriptions of the sample, the study setting, and the
participants were provided to the greatest extent that is compatible with confidentiality. This
information should assist future researchers in assessing transferability, as recommended by
Shenton (2004) and Leavy (2017).
54

Confirmability is analogous to objectivity, and it refers to the extent to which findings
indicate the perceptions and opinions of study participants rather than biases of the researcher
(Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Confirmability in this study was strengthened through the researcher’s
practice of bracketing, as recommended by Tufford and Newman (2012). The researcher made
reflective notes during data collection and analysis to assist her in remaining mindful and
minimizing the influence of any biases or preconceptions she might have.
Ethics
Protection of the rights of human subjects in this study were ensured by obtaining IRB
approval for the research before any potential participants were contacted. Recruitment emails
for the study included an information sheet, with emphasis on the nature of the study and entirely
voluntary nature of participation, including the right to withdraw at any time without negative
consequences. The original recruitment email was sent to the study school administrators from
the researcher’s personal USC email account. The contact information in the recruitment email
was the researcher’s personal USC account. The school site administrators did not coerce any of
the teachers into participating in the study. The study school administrators sent recruitment
emails for the study to teachers at the study school, emphasizing the voluntary nature of
participation and the right to withdraw at any time without negative consequences. Potential
study participants were informed that the risks of participation were not expected to exceed those
associated with their normal, day-to-day activities, and that the only benefit of participation in
the study was the chance to contribute to insights that might assist other teachers in increasing
the school connectedness of students through improved self-reflection.
Confidentiality was ensured during interviews by conducting them only behind a closed
door in an otherwise unused classroom. The identities of participants were kept confidential
55

through the replacement of participants’ real names with pseudonyms (i.e., Joe, John, etc.) in
interview transcripts and all subsequent work products related to the study. During the
transcription process, potentially identifying details were redacted. The study district and school
were not named in the reporting of results, and the school’s location was not indicated by
descriptors more specific than “the U.S. Southwest.”
Participants were provided with an electronic copy of the information sheet at the time of
their interview. The information sheet was reviewed in full, participants’ questions and concerns
were fully addressed, and participants’ signatures were obtained before any data were collected.
Participants were reminded of their right to withdraw from the study or refuse to answer any
interview question at any time, with or without stating a reason, without any negative
consequences. Although the audio-recording of the interview was described on the information
sheet, the audio-recorder was not activated without participants’ explicit verbal consent.
Participants were offered a $25 Amazon gift card as a token of gratitude and appreciation for
their time and participation in the study.
To maintain the confidentiality of participants’ identities, audio-recordings of the
interviews were deleted from the recording device and stored only on a password-protected flash
drive accessible only to the researcher. Information sheets and a handwritten key indicating
which alphanumeric code was assigned to each participant were stored in a locked filing cabinet
in a locked office to which only the researcher has access. The flash drive, information sheets,
and handwritten key will be destroyed at the end of the required retention period.

56

Chapter Four: Findings
The purpose of this generic qualitative inquiry was to explore how teachers in one
Southwestern U.S. middle school (grades 6-8) perceive their self-reflective practices as
influencing their ability to provide voluntary supports that promote school connectedness in their
students. School connectedness was defined as a belief on the part of students that the adults in
their school care for them and their wellbeing (CDC, 2018). Self-reflection was defined as a
practice in which teachers identify and examine internal biases that affect their perceptions of
and expectations for students of all identities (Oskineegish, 2019). The problem of practice was
that U.S. middle school teachers who do not engage in appropriate self-reflective practices may
fail to foster school connectedness in their students. The following two research questions were
developed to guide the study:
RQ1. How do teachers perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing their
students’ school connectedness?
RQ2. How do teachers reflect on strategies to address school connectedness for students
transitioning to middle school?
The purpose of this chapter is to present the findings from the study. The presentation of
the findings is organized by research question. The following major sections of this chapter are
presentations of the findings that answer the research questions. The presentation of findings in
each section includes a table of the themes that emerged during data analysis to answer the
research question. Each theme is then discussed in a separate sub-section. The discussion of each
theme includes a table indicating the codes grouped to form the theme in the third step of
thematic analysis procedure described by Braun and Clarke (2006). Teachers did not report
metacognitive self-reflection on the potential for personal biases to result in disparities in how
57

they observed and met the support needs of different students, but instead appeared to take for
granted that their general strategies were equitably applied. The omission of metacognitive
reflections from participants’ self-reports is discussed further in Chapter 5. In this chapter,
evidence for the findings that appeared in the data is provided in the form of direct quotations
from the data to assist the reader in assessing confirmability independently.
Research Question 1: How Do Teachers Perceive Their Self-Reflective Practices as
Influencing Their Students’ School Connectedness?
The theme identified to answer the first research question was: (1) authentic care. This
theme is discussed in detail, with evidence, in the following sub-section.
The theme that emerged for this research question was Authentic Caring. All 10
participants described their reflections as informing their general beliefs and conceptualizations
of school connectedness, which they promoted by providing authentic care for their students (see
Valenzuela & Rubio, 2018). Participants conceptualized school connectedness as students’ belief
that their educators cared about them. Susan, for example, defined school connectedness as
occurring, “When the students feel the teachers care for them and want them to be successful, not
just academically, but personally.” Larry described how his behaviors in relation to students’
school connectedness contributed to a feedback cycle, in which students’ indications of
awareness that he cared about them informed him that his caring behaviors were accomplishing
their purpose:
When I think about how [students are] connected to me again, it's all about, ‘Do I feel
like I've done enough to make them know that I care about them?’ That's the biggest
thing, if I can make them understand that I care about them as people. Then I feel like I'm
doing my job in that room.
58

As with other participants’ responses, Larry’s descriptions of his self-reflections referred
to his thinking about his behaviors toward students and how his behaviors affected students’
school connectedness. Larry’s description of how his self-reflective practices contributed to
students’ school connectedness, by helping him ensure his students knew he cared about them,
was consistent with his definition of school connectedness, in which he stated: “When I think
[school connectedness,] I think about our other adults who care about [the students], and do [the
students] feel [they are cared about]? Can they identify adults who care about them?” Joe
described attention to the child’s family context and its effects on students’ school connectedness
as a cyclical process, focusing on the action of “bringing the families in”:
I really think that the school connectedness starts with the families. If you can bring the
families in, then you already are there because then they're involved. The kids know that
the parents care about the schools. Well, and if the parents know that their kids care about
the school, then they're going to be more involved.
Mary discussed the positive effect of her attention to the child’s social and emotional
wellbeing on students’ school connectedness, referring, like other participants, to reflection on
the behavioral goal of making sure “they know you’re there for them”:
Middle school is such an emotional, social roller coaster that it's really important that
[students] feel like someone's there . . . So, I think it's really important to make sure they
know you're there for them, because you don't know how much that could mean to a kid.
And you can't forget about that. That could really be a huge difference in their day to day.
Mary referred to addressing the needs of the child in terms of the teaching philosophy she
developed through self-reflection, stating: “They are a person outside of this classroom. And I
think that's something really important, just to establish a common respect, and that you're
59

listening to a student. Once you've established that, it does wonders.” Mary reported that her
self-reflection referred to the specific behavior of listening, and to the goal of establishing a
common respect, rather than to ways in which her biases might impact her listening behaviors.
John described his reaching out to individual students during the COVID-19 school closure,
stating that he did so to ensure that a sense of connectedness was maintained: “It's a riddle to try
and figure out connectedness with students when we're doing [long-distance learning] and I've
got 160 of them . . . I'm doing a lot of one-on-ones with the students I know are at risk.” John
said of the influence of reaching out to individual students by asking them about their
experiences and needs: “If students know that their needs are what you have in mind, . . . and
that's what you're portraying, and those are the questions you're asking, then the rest of [school
connectedness] falls into place.” In this response, John referred to his own state of mind, but he
appeared to take for granted that he and other teachers had students’ needs in mind and to be
concerned with “portraying” that concern.
Kelly spoke of herself as reflecting on the difficulties that children encountered during
middle school through the lens of her own experiences, which she summarized in stating, “I felt
really out of place and just isolated at that age.” Kelly stated that as a result of her sensitivity to
middle-school students’ need for school connectedness, “I often think about [students’ school
connectedness] . . . I think I'm just very aware of their age and the time they are in their life right
now, and how vital that connectedness is, even to one person.” In the responses just quoted,
Kelly’s concern was with students’ experiences and her identification with them, rather than on
her own thought processes. Kelly stated of the effects of her self-reflective practices that they
influenced her to engage in the behavior of “a reaching-toward” students, in which she took the
initiative to reach out to students to ensure they felt welcomed and cared for in the school
60

community. Of the effects of “reaching toward” students, Kelly stated that they included
students’ experiencing, “A sense of belonging, like they should be there [in the school]. They're
wanted there . . . I think my [students] feel pretty connected to the school.” Paul described the
behaviors associated with giving students a voice as a focus of his reflections: “For me, school
connectedness is where all the stakeholders, parents, teachers, and students, interact in a way
where they feel validated. Everybody has a voice, but everybody also listens.”
Michelle reported that the school’s administration had collected data evidencing that
students were experiencing an important part of school connectedness as a result of teachers’
efforts to reach out to, accept, and address the social and emotional needs of students: “There's
surveys about how many [students] feel there's a trusted adult on campus [they] could talk to. In
the sixth graders, there's something like 98%. The kids feel like they're wanted, like they can
always talk to somebody.” Carrie expressed observations that agreed with Michelle’s account of
the survey, reporting ways in which she saw students’ increasing level of school connectedness
manifested: “[School connectedness is] feeling like you have a place. You're excited about
school assemblies. You are participating in them, having fun, trying new things . . . within the
past five years, that has gotten a lot better.”
All 10 participants conceptualized school connectedness as students’ belief that their
educators cared about them. To promote their students’ school connectedness, participants
reflected on how they could modify their behaviors toward and interactions with students to help
students feel cared for authentically. The themes discussed under the second research question
indicated the strategies participants reflected upon and used to convey their authentic care to
students.

61

Research Question 2: How Do Teachers Reflect on Strategies to Address School
Connectedness for Students Transitioning to Middle School?
The three themes that emerged to answer this research question were: (2) intentional
interactions, (3) purposeful observations, and (4) learning about students as individuals These
three themes are discussed in detail, with evidence, in the following sub-sections.
Theme 2: Intentional Interactions
All 10 participants indicated that their self-reflective practices were focused on how their
behaviors and strategies aligned with their conceptualizations of school connectedness. No
participants provided discrepant data. Participants emphasized that when they self-reflected in
relation to their students’ school-connectedness, they considered it essential to think in terms of
social and emotional needs. Susan, for example, spoke in terms of thinking of students
holistically: “When I think of school connectedness, it's a little bit less concerned about the
lesson and more concerned about the student as a person.” Joe provided a response that
demonstrated concern with students’ personal needs. Joe stated that he often thought about
individual students’ needs in relation to school connectedness: “I would probably say that I have
some sort of worry about a student every night of the week.” When Joe explained what he meant
by “worry” when he thought about his students in the evenings, he described himself as
questioning his own interactions with students, as well as signs of need manifested in peer
interactions in which he was not directly involved:
Maybe [what I worry about is,] “What did I say? Who did I converse with? Did I say
something that would have made someone feel bad or feel sad?” [Or,] “I noticed so and
so was not hanging out with their usual friends today. I noticed that so and so is really
quiet, and normally they're talkative.”
62

Michelle said of her reflections in relation to her students’ school connectedness, “I think
about it all the time . . . I think about whether [my students are] feeling [a sense of] belonging
and able to grow and thrive in the environment that I attempt to create for them.” In elaborating
on the scope of her considerations when she reflected on how she could improve her practices to
better meet students’ needs, Michelle emphasized her attention to students’ social and emotional
needs: “I'm thinking about whether they're engaged with different peers or with me. I think about
their home life and try to piece together what I can do to provide them with whatever atmosphere
of safety they need to grow.” Paul described how his practices of self-reflection had motivated
him to plan cooperative activities for students that contributed to meeting their social needs by
connecting them to one another:
I think I spend a lot of time anticipating how to make students feel connected. And in
anticipating that, I spent a long time building teamwork activities for the students where
they had to be interdependent, so they can start to learn more from each other as a group.
So I think there's a lot in the lesson planning in how to get students to work one on one,
as a pair, and also in groups . . . lessons that have the kids depend on each other for pieces
of the lesson so that they feel connected to the task at hand and to each other.
John reported that he self-reflected on ways to improve his teaching practices according
to students’ feedback to increase his students’ school connectedness: “I reflect on the things I'm
doing in class. Having student voices and being able to listen to what kids have to say and make
changes, it's something that I take very seriously.” Mary agreed, stating that self-reflection in
relation to students’ school connectedness involved frequently re-evaluating how her position
and influence in the school could be used to improve students’ connectedness: “An important
63

part of school connectedness and making sure the student feels connected to the school [is that], I
think, you have to reflect on your personal position in this school.”
Like other participants, Susan said, “I think about [my students’ school connectedness]
very often.” Susan reported her concern with how she could appropriately address student needs:
“I would always be like, ‘What can I do to make this [school connectedness] stronger?’ and
wondering, ‘What's going on at home?’ Like if they seem down, ‘What can I do without
prying?’” Carrie spoke in general terms of the importance she placed on self-reflecting about
how she could better define and model relevant values to enhance her students’ school
connectedness:
The adults have to figure out and define what the community is. It's not just the rules, but
what do we stand for? What are our values? Then how do we show that? How do we
show that each kid belongs? How do we make kids feel like they all belong?
Kelly reported that she placed enough importance on self-reflection that she scheduled
time for the practice and made notes about her thoughts: “For my own practice individually, my
reflection is at the end of a lesson. Between classes, I write in my teacher textbook a note to
myself.” For Larry, self-reflection on teaching practices led to an interest in supporting students’
mental wellness through guided meditation:
I started doing meditation in my classroom . . . [I formally studied] the impact of
meditation on anxiety in middle-school students, so that's a huge thing for me: ‘How am I
contributing to rather than hurting kids’ mental health and mental wellbeing?’
The school faculty also conducted an orientation program for transitioning students called
Where Everyone Belongs (WEB). The program began with an orientation day before the start of
the academic year. Transitioning students were invited to run through what Susan described as,
64

“This gauntlet of staff and teachers,” during an assembly in the gym, in which, “music's blaring
and it's very loud.” Michelle’s reflections on this initiation ceremony had brought her to the
conclusion that although transitioning students appeared frightened at first, they were pleased
afterwards that they had overcome their apprehensiveness and been formally welcomed:
We make a big bridge of our hands, all of the adults, the secretaries, the janitors, anybody
on campus. And then [transitioning students] all have to go through it, and they just have
these horrible, terrified faces. But we're all clapping and yelling for them and they feel
like, “Oh my God, I made it.” (Michelle)
After this initial assembly, the transitioning students were divided into groups of
approximately 10, each of which was assigned to an eighth-grade leader. The eighth-grade
leaders led the transitioning students on a tour of the campus to introduce them to its resources
and routines. Joe said of the eighth-grade leaders, “It's their role to help the student adjust,
understand what is cool to do and what's not cool to do . . . Where the different student areas are.
How do you use different things? Where to get help.” Paul made a similar statement about the
WEB leaders in saying, “The WEB leaders take their little cohorts and they give them a
bootcamp on what [the school] is about and the different systems that we have for library or
going to the nurse's office.” Notable in Michelle’s, Joe’s, and Paul’s responses was the emphasis
on the WEB program’s creating a feeling of belonging, rather than focusing narrowly on
academics.
After the orientation day, the WEB program continued through the school year with
monthly meetings between sixth graders and their eighth-grade leaders to address emerging
questions and needs. Paul described the benefits of these regularly recurring meetings for
transitioning students in broad terms that were indicative of the comprehensive nature of the
65

support, saying of sixth-grade participants: “They feel like they know what's occurring to them,
rather than having to react. They can proactively be able to use the systems that are in place
already.”
Eight-grade leaders were trained by faculty WEB leaders. Mary was one of the faculty
members who served in this capacity. Her role in preparing eighth-grade leaders to assist in
holistically addressing the needs of transitioning students caused her to self-reflect about ways in
which she could refine the WEB program to better meet the needs of each whole, transitioning
child, as she indicated in this example:
I'm a WEB Leader. So, it's the welcome group for the incoming sixth graders. And we are
right now trying to figure out like, how are we going to make that an experience for them
if we aren't able to host such a large event in the gym [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]
and all of that, because I still think that's an important aspect of middle school and that
orientation and just getting kind of situated. (Mary)
In relation to the purpose and research problem addressed in this study, it should be noted
that no participants described themselves as reflecting on their own biases about individual
students or groups of students in order to interrogate and suspend those biases. Participants
described their self-reflective practices only in terms of assessing and seeking ways to improve
their behaviors, rather than in terms of examining their attitudes or biases. Only two out of 10
participants in this study referred to students from marginalized populations, and the references
were unrelated to the participants’ own self-reflective practices. Joe, for example, stated that he
worked to enhance students’ school connectedness in part by making himself available to them
while they waited for their buses in the afternoons. Joe stated that buses were predominantly
66

utilized by students of color, who tended to be more economically disadvantaged than their white
peers:
I'm hanging out with students [at the bus pickup site], and those are predominantly
students of color or ELL students who are taking the bus, compared to lots of other,
wealthier white students. So even if I don't teach those students, I have a relationship with
them already, and I find that to be important.
Carrie perceived students of color in the study school as tending to experience lower
levels of school connectedness than their white peers. However, she was speaking of a need for
the school’s staff and faculty to focus practices and behaviors more intensively on addressing
this disparity, rather than on her own self-reflection in relation to her biases: “I think kids of
color have a harder time feeling like they belong . . . That really bothers me . . . It's something
that I feel like we really need to figure out how to work on.” It should be noted that no criticism
of Joe’s or Carrie’s reported actions and concerns is intended, and that the purpose of quoting
these responses is only to define the scope of references to students from marginalized
populations in the dataset as a whole. The responses quoted from Joe and Carrie were the only
such references.
All 10 participants indicated that to promote students’ school connectedness, they
reflected on how they interacted with their students and planned ways to modify or introduce
interactions to convey care. Part of intentional interactions with students involved meeting
observed needs. Theme 3 addressed the ways in which participants watched for signs of specific
student needs.
Theme 3: Purposeful Observations
All 10 participants stated that their reflections on strategies to address school
67

connectedness for sixth graders included reflection on strategies to observe and meet specific
student needs. Observation strategies included observing students’ needs in the classroom,
watching for signs of distress among students by standing in the hall between classes, and
administering anonymous, online questionnaires to solicit student feedback. Strategies for
addressing students’ specific needs included approaching distressed students to offer support and
guidance, devoting instructional time to teaching the protocols and social skills sixth-graders
needed to thrive in middle school, and inviting sixth-graders to approach the participant at any
time, in relation to any need or question. Participants used these strategies deliberately to
develop students’ school connectedness, and they stated that the strategies were effective
because they remediated knowledge-deficits, anxiety, and feelings of isolation that would
otherwise constitute barriers to school connectedness for new sixth-graders. Participants felt
themselves, as teachers and representatives of the school who were in daily contact with
students, to be primarily responsible for establishing the school connectedness of transitioning
students. In a representative response, Paul expressed the responsibility that he and his
colleagues felt for ensuring that transitioning students experienced school connectedness: “The
teachers are the facilitators of connectedness. Without the teachers helping promote
connectedness in a school institution, the students will never feel connected.” Joe’s observations
of sixth-graders were informal, but his reflections on those observations prompted him to spend
significant instructional time teaching his sixth-grade students the general skills they would need
to thrive in middle school. Joe’s rationale for teaching sixth-graders social skills during the
transition to middle school was that students who had not mastered those skills would experience
the deficit as a significant barrier to school connectedness. In observing sixth-grade students, Joe
noticed: “Even if they already know their teachers, they feel just so nervous when they come in.”
68

To alleviate transitioning students’ observed anxiety, Joe used the strategy of limiting academic
intensity during the first month of instruction: “I try to start off the year a little bit lighter in just
tone and content so that students can feel more connected.” Of the instruction Joe delivered to
sixth-graders during the first month of the school year, Joe stated that it was based on a strategy
of removing social barriers: “I was focusing so much more on just teaching basic skills, and even
social skills, to the sixth-graders . . . I was focused on making sure they were getting along
better.” Joe’s response indicated introspective awareness, in that it described foci of his attention
and thought over time.
Carrie also described a strategy of focusing instruction for sixth-graders during the first
weeks of the school year on basic skills the students would need to thrive in middle school,
although the strategy she reported was directed toward demystifying new routines and
expectations that might otherwise be a barrier to students who were unfamiliar with them. Carrie
said of the rationale for this strategy: “There's a lot of procedures that [sixth-graders] have to
learn. It's really tough for them and confusing, because they have so many teachers and so many
classes, and they also now have this rotating schedule that's really confusing.” A pattern in her
observations of sixth-grade students made Carrie aware of their need for thorough orientation,
she stated: “The first week of school, you just see some kids wandering around like, where am I
supposed to go?” As a result of Carrie’s observations of confusion in sixth-graders, she
advocated for a strategy for orienting them that involved “a lot of teaching of procedures, and
how to use a binder reminder and all of that, that in the eighth grade, we don't do it at all.”
Susan focused her attention on meeting the acute needs of sixth graders. Susan used a
strategy of standing in the hallway during transitions between classes so she could observe the
students and assist any who seemed to have an immediate need. When she observed a student
69

who was struggling, she used a strategy of validating the student’s anxiety while also conveying
that many other students had similar experiences, in order to alleviate the barrier of isolation the
student might otherwise experience. Susan described the strategies of observing and validating as
based on sympathy achieved through self-reflection: “I'm so sympathetic with these kids, and
things to them are such a huge deal.” Susan described her observation that students tended to feel
isolated in facing the challenges of transitioning to middle school: “If they can't get their lock
opened and they're going to be late, they’re just panicking, and they don't know they’re not the
only kid this is happening to right now. They just feel like it's them.” To alleviate sixth-graders’
anxiety and sense of isolation, Susan used a strategy of validating their feelings and providing
reassurance: “I just try to give them a spot to feel [their anxiety], and then still try to be
reassuring, because no one wants to just be reassured without having their feelings validated
first.” As with other participants, Susan’s reflections indicate awareness of students’ experiences
and empathy for student distress. She described the focus of her reflections as her behavior,
however, (“I just try to give them a spot . . .”) rather than her thought processes and potential
biases.
Other participants also spoke in terms of actions and intentions behind actions, when they
reported that they used a strategy of standing in the hall between classes during the early weeks
of the school year to assist sixth-graders who appeared distressed, to remove the barriers of
isolation and anxiety. Larry, for example, stated: “Anytime I'm not teaching a class, I’m out in
the hallways to keep an eye out for kids who look like they're a little bit lost, or who look like
they are not connected.” When Larry observed students who appeared to be disconnected or
distressed, he used strategies of presenting himself as a resource and of introducing sixth graders
to one another to help them overcome their isolation. Michelle used a strategy similar to Larry’s
70

in watching for signs of distress in transitioning students in order to meet their needs and remove
barriers of isolation, anxiety, or knowledge deficits: “When you see [transitioning students] in
the hallway, walking from class to here and they get lost, you always try and help them figure
out where they need to go, and you say hello.”
Participants also spoke of the messages they wanted their behaviors to convey to
students, indicating that they reflected on their behaviors and the meanings their behaviors would
signify, but omitting any report of self-reflection on patterns in their thought processes. Christine
used a strategy of letting sixth graders know they could approach her about any need they might
have in order to reduce the barriers of isolation, anxiety, and knowledge deficits. She reported
that she tried to convey to sixth-graders that she was always available to help them: “Just on a
personal level, I just want to set up with them, ‘I'm here for you. If you don't have anywhere to
go, [my classroom] should be the first stop.’” Observations of the needs sixth-graders commonly
experienced allowed Christine to cite challenges that might become barriers to school
connectedness if left unaddressed, with the result that she was able to tell sixth-graders, “Please
come here if you're lost, if you don't know how to use your locker, even just basics of how to get
through the day, like the lunch break, the recess break.” Mary used a strategy of preserving and
returning students’ self-expressions to remove barriers of isolation and anxiety that might result
from believing their disclosures were being ignored and discarded:
[I ask sixth graders,] “What will you do to make the world a more beautiful place?” And I
have them write that on a note card. And then I keep those note cards all year and then I
give them back to them at the end of the year. And that's just kind of showing them that
I'm listening and I'm not throwing away their work. I think it's important for them to
know that it's not just getting thrown in the trash.
71

Participants also reported that concern with students’ school connectedness caused them
to solicit student feedback to improve their teaching practices. However, as with other self-
reflective processes participants reported, the focus of this strategy was on their teaching
behaviors rather than on discriminatory behaviors that might indicate bias. John described his use
of anonymous questionnaires to solicit student feedback as a way of identifying and removing
barriers related to knowledge deficits: “I have them take surveys once a trimester at minimum, a
Google Form survey, and then we spend an entire class talking about the survey.” After
assessing the survey results, John would emphasize to students that their feedback was welcome
and useful: “I try to share with them to use as a model of self-reflection, ‘Okay, awesome. You
guys are saying these slideshows are really confusing to you. Perfect. This is what I need.’”
When John acted on student feedback, he would emphasize to students that he was using their
suggestions to improve his practices: “Then when I go to the next slide show, it's like, ‘Hey,
check it out. I only have three slides. Remember, you guys all said it was really confusing?’” In
describing the rationale for assessing and meeting students’ needs by administering
questionnaires, John referenced school connectedness as a goal: “Not only does [the feedback]
help me, the relationship starts to build. They know that I care that they're giving input and that it
has value, so that connectedness is big.”
Participants purposefully observed students for signs of specific needs that caring
behaviors could then be used to address. Methods of observation such as watching students
transition between classes and conducting in-class surveys were devised through participants’
reflecting on ways to better observe and meet student needs. Conveying to students that teachers
cared about them in order to promote school connectedness required specific attention to
students’ individual needs, however. Theme 4 indicated how participants’ reflections contributed
72

to their practices for increasing students’ school connectedness by learning about students as
individuals.
Theme 4: Learning About Students as Individuals
Eight out of 10 participants indicated that their reflections on strategies to address school
connectedness for students transitioning to middle school included strategies to learn about
students as individuals. As with the reflections on behaviors to meet student needs described in
relation to Theme 3, reflections indicated under the present theme involved discretionary
behaviors in which biases might be manifested, such as through greater attention and
solicitousness toward some students than toward others. Strategies for learning about students as
individuals included questionnaires and verbal inquiries, either during class or one-to-one.
Learning about students as individuals allowed participants to welcome and care for them during
the transition to middle school. Michelle described seeing students as whole people and fostering
their holistic growth as “a teacher’s job”:
Teachers need to see students as people, as young human beings with dreams and hopes,
and fears, and insecurities, and struggles. They're looking both to belong at home and at
school. Especially in sixth grade. They're trying to figure out who they are and where
they fit in. And it's the teacher's job to see them and let them be who they need to be.
teachers need to see students as people. Not just as producers, but as young human beings with
dreams and hopes, and fears, and insecurities, and string struggles. They're looking both to
belong at home and at school. Especially in seventh grade. They're trying to figure out who they
are and where they fit in. And it's the teacher's job to see them and let them be who they need to
be. Susan expressed her conviction that getting to know students and helping them to feel
73

welcome could begin with a gesture as simple as greeting them individually as they entered the
classroom:
When [students] enter a classroom where the teacher genuinely greets them as they walk
in the room, as opposed to when a student walks into a room and the teacher's busy
answering emails or writing on the board, waits for that second bell to ring and just starts
the lesson without any personal recognition. I feel like the student going into that first
classroom where the teacher is interested in them and cares about them, they'll recognize
that the teachers take more time and effort and they will feel a stronger connection.
Joe reported that the administration encouraged teachers to learn about students as whole human
beings, and that he used a strategy of inviting students to explain their preferences:
We're encouraged to not just assess students' proficiency on certain concepts, but also
assess students, what are their needs? What are they into? What are they interested in? . .
. we could just teach To Kill a Mockingbird for six weeks and everyone would have to
read it, but instead we'll sit there and we'll figure out eight books that kids could possibly
like, and we'll never know which kids will choose which book. We're always surprised.
And then we talk with them, why they chose a book, what they're interested in about it. I
think we can get to know our students better.
Paul described the strategy of learning about sixth-graders as individuals as the most
effective way of increasing their school connectedness: “The most important part is learning the
students who you have right now. That connectedness is by learning their names, but also
learning personalities, learning about how they work, and what kind of skills they bring to the
table.” Like Paul, Carrie reported that she placed a high priority on getting to know her students
and celebrating their identities as strategies for increasing their school connectedness: “I feel it's
74

really, really important to get to know who my kids are and to start a unit where that's the basic,
most important thing. Like, ‘Who are you and what are you bringing?’ and to celebrate that.”
In providing a rationale for the strategy of taking the initiative in soliciting information
from students about their specific interests and concerns, Michelle stated that students needed to
feel they were seen holistically: “The most important thing in a child's education is not the
curriculum or the content, it's being seen and being recognized for who they are. Being treated as
worthy.” Larry stated, “I try to set up routines to make the class as comfortable as possible, as
familiar as possible. Everything I do is aimed at building a feeling of connection and
relationships and safety.” In giving examples of specific strategies he used to accomplish those
goals, Larry said:
I greet them every period at the door and shake their hands or fist bumps or high fives . . .
I try to be vulnerable and open about mistakes I've made in my past, or if I screw up in
class. I'll admit to it. I try to be explicit about how much I care about them as people. I
write personal letters to them that I give them at the end of every year.
As discussed in relation to Theme 2, Kelly felt a particularly strong identification with
students who appeared shy or isolated because of her own middle-school experiences. Kelly
made special efforts to get to know such students and to connect them with their classmates: “I
make a strong effort to connect with the shyer students and to get to know them, their hobbies,
their interests, and also, when appropriate, to showcase that part of them to the class.” As an
example of her use of this strategy, Kelly recounted: “For instance, I have a student who’s really
interested in horseback riding. So, we were doing a project about what percentage of your
waking hours you’re doing something fun, and I was like, ‘How often do you horseback ride?’”
Kelly asked this question of the shy student in the hearing of classmates to suggest to the other
75

students that the girl would have an interesting hobby to discuss if approached. Mary also
discussed students who did not readily assert themselves, referring to them as ‘introverts,’ and
stated that by observing which students were more inhibited about drawing attention to
themselves, she could care for them by encouraging them to open up in a setting where they and
their contributions were welcome. Mary stated that shyness about speaking in class was a more
salient characteristic of many transitioning students than it tended to be among older children:
“The division, to me, between the very introverted and the very extroverted in sixth grade, it
seemed much higher than it does an eighth grade. They're still really reserved, or really outgoing
and kind of hog [the time].” Mary differentiated her communications to the introverted and
extraverted students to ensure that all students were welcome and encouraged to contribute: “We
have to spend time with academic conversation rules about don't hog the entire time, but over
[with the introverts], ‘Make sure you say something,’ just trying to get them to communicate.”
Participants reported that they observed and reflected on how their students differed from
one another and on how those differences resulted in a variety of individual support needs among
students. To provide individualized care by meeting students’ individual needs, participants
focused their reflections in part on how to tailor their supports for students. The following
section is a summary of the results presented in this chapter.
Summary
Two research questions were used to guide this study. The first research question was:
How do teachers perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing their students’ school
connectedness? The theme that emerged during data analysis to answer this question was: (1)
Authentic care. Participants reported the perception that when they addressed students’ social
and emotional needs in accordance with intentions developed through self-reflection, their
76

students were aware that their teacher cared about them and felt more welcome and cared for in
the school.
The second research question was: How do teachers reflect on strategies to address
school connectedness for students transitioning to middle school? The three themes that emerged
during data analysis to answer this question were: (2) Intentional interaction; (3) Purposeful
observation; and (4) Learning about students as individuals. The most frequent foci of
participants’ self-reflections were ways in which they could improve their own interactions with
students to meet students’ social and emotional needs. Participants described their self-reflective
practices in terms of assessing and seeking ways to improve their behaviors, rather than in terms
of examining their attitudes or biases. Specific behavioral strategies on which participants
reflected included observing and meeting students’ needs. Observation strategies included
observing students’ needs in the classroom, watching for signs of distress among students by
standing in the hall between classes, and administering anonymous, online questionnaires to
solicit student feedback. Strategies for addressing students’ specific needs included approaching
distressed students to offer support and guidance, devoting instructional time to teaching the
protocols and social skills sixth-graders needed to thrive in middle school, and inviting sixth-
graders to approach the participant at any time, in relation to any need or question. Participants
used these strategies deliberately to develop students’ school connectedness, and they stated that
the strategies were effective because they addressed knowledge-deficits, anxiety, and feelings of
isolation that would otherwise constitute barriers to school connectedness for new sixth-graders.
In relation to the fourth theme, participants indicated that their reflections on strategies to
address school connectedness for students transitioning to middle school included strategies to
learn about students as individuals. Strategies for learning about students as individuals included
77

questionnaires and verbal inquiries, either during class or one-to-one. Learning about students as
individuals allowed participants to develop a conception of the child as a whole person rather
than just as an object of instruction, who they were then able to welcome and care for during the
transition to middle school. Attending to the child’s social and emotional needs was perceived as
increasing students’ school connectedness.
Reflections discussed under all four themes were focused discretionary behaviors, in
which biases might be manifested. For example, personal biases may potentially have influenced
implementation of the strategies by focusing more attention and solicitousness on some students’
support needs than on the needs of students from other backgrounds. However, participants did
not report metacognitive self-reflection on potential biases, but only reflection on strategies and
resulting behaviors for which equitable distribution appeared to be uncritically assumed. Chapter
Five includes discussion, interpretation, and implications of these findings.

78

Chapter Five: Recommendations
The purpose of this project was to explore how teachers in one Southwestern U.S. middle
school (grades 6-8) perceive their self-reflective practices as influencing their ability to provide
voluntary supports that promote school connectedness in students transitioning into sixth grade.
The organizational context for this study was one middle school in the Southwestern United
States. To achieve the purpose of this study, one-to-one, semi-structured interviews were
conducted with 10 teachers of transitioning students in the study school.
The purpose of this chapter is to present discussion and recommendations based on the
findings presented in Chapter Four. The next section of this chapter is a discussion of the findings,
in which the alignment of the findings in this study with the previous literature is evaluated. This
chapter then proceeds with recommendations for practice based on the findings and supported by
previous literature, followed by a description of the limitations and delimitations in this study.
Recommendations for future research are then presented, followed by a conclusion section.
Discussion of Findings
This section is a discussion of how the findings in this study align with the previous
literature and the conceptual framework, which was Bandura’s (1971) social cognitive theory
(SCT). SCT is focused on the ways in which individuals acquire and maintain behaviors in a
given social environment. The model includes consideration of a person's past experiences,
which influence the expectations (e.g., unconscious biases) that determine whether a person will
engage in a specific, goal-directed behavior such as voluntary support for students (Bandura,
1989, 1999). The applicability of the findings to the problem of practice is also discussed. As
stated in Chapter One, the problem of practice in this study was that some U.S. middle school
teachers may not be engaging in appropriate self-reflective practices to foster school
79

connectedness in their students (Allen et al., 2018; Biag, 2016; Oskineegish, 2019). This section
is organized by research question and within research question by theme.
Research Question 1: Authentic Care
Participants reported that the influence of their reflections was on their conceptualization
and general beliefs regarding school connectedness, specifically in relation to school
connectedness as students’ belief that their educators cared for them. This theme was consistent
with the findings of previous researchers, who indicated that students’ perception that their
teachers cared about them was one of the strongest predictors of adolescents’ school
connectedness (Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst,
2017; Volungis & Goodman, 2017). The finding that participants perceived these supports for
students’ social and emotional needs as fostering school connectedness among transitioning
students was consistent with Lester and Cross’s (2015) conclusion to the same effect. The
finding was also consistent with those of other researchers who identified teachers’ meeting
student needs as another of the strongest predictors of school connectedness in adolescents (see
Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis
& Goodman, 2017).
Discretionary supports also included the overarching goal of fostering a sense of
community and common cause among all school stakeholders, with the collective effort being
directed toward meeting students’ social and emotional needs. Participants indicated that
observations (i.e., past experiences) of transitioning students’ support needs promoted self-
reflection and goal-directed behavior for the purpose of realizing a safe and supportive learning
environment in which students felt cared for and valued. Participants’ descriptions of the effects
of their reflections on fostering school connectedness emphasized the importance of treating the
80

students as whole people, rather than only as learners, a finding consistent with those of previous
researchers (see Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al., 2015).
Research Question 2
The second research question was: How do teachers reflect on strategies to address
school connectedness for students transitioning to middle school? The three themes that emerged
during data analysis to answer this question were: (Theme 2) self-reflective practices were
focused on teacher behaviors to meet students’ social and emotional needs rather than on
personal biases, (Theme 3) Purposeful observation, and (Theme 4) Learning about students as
individuals. These findings are discussed in the following subsections.
Theme 2: Intentional Interaction
Participants indicated that their self-reflective practices were focused on how their
behaviors and strategies aligned with their conceptualizations of school connectedness. These
behaviors and strategies aligned with those that Lester and Cross (2015) described as increasing
adolescents’ school connectedness. Discretionary supports included providing positive feedback
and encouragement, listening actively, believing in students’ abilities, caring about students, and
providing interactive teaching and learning styles (Lester & Cross, 2015). The study findings
were also consistent with the conclusion in SCT that specific social environments influence goal-
directed behavior (see Bandura, 1971). The findings associated with this theme indicated that
teachers’ self-reflection was deliberately directed toward improving their own behaviors in order
to address the observed needs of specific, individual transitioning students or groups of
transitioning students (e.g. the needs of a specific class). Participants’ focus on optimizing their
behaviors to meet students’ social and emotional needs required consideration of environmental
and individual factors in order to tailor discretionary supports to meeting observed needs in
81

specific social and individual contexts. No participant referred to any process of metacognitive
self-reflection regarding how they thought about their students, either in relation to unconscious
biases or otherwise.
The omission of metacognitive processes from the self-reflective practices reported by
participants was notable. A component of the problem of practice addressed in this study was
that teachers who have unconscious racial, linguistic, or cultural biases against some students are
more likely to withhold discretionary supports from those students than teachers without such
biases (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al., 2015). Self-reflective
practices in which teachers “uncover, identify, and examine internal biases that impact their
understanding” of and expectations for students of all identities (Oskineegish, 2019, p. 77) may
result in a more equitable distribution of discretionary supports to foster school connectedness in
all students (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al., 2015).
Participants in the present study did not indicate that they engaged in self-reflective practices to
identify and counter unconscious biases. Teachers reflected on their observations of students’
social and emotional needs and how they as teachers could act to better meet those needs. Thus,
the focus of teachers’ self-reflections was entirely on interpreting patterns of student behavior
and on modifying their own behavior. Teachers did not report the metacognitive self-reflections
described by Oskineegish (2019), which involve thinking about how one thinks, specifically in
relation to how unconscious biases might be distorting one’s thinking and the resulting
discretionary supports in relation to some students. Researchers have linked the omission of
metacognitive self-reflection on unconscious biases from teachers’ practices to negative
outcomes, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including lower levels of
school connectedness (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al., 2015).
82

The perceptions of participants in the present study that their self-reflective practices
contributed to students’ school connectedness was consistent with the findings of previous
researchers, who did not argue that self-reflection on unconscious biases was necessary for
increasing students’ school connectedness to any degree. However, the finding that participants
did not report metacognitive self-reflection suggested that their practices might have a greater
positive effect on students’ school connectedness if they undertook and regularly practiced self-
reflection on their unconscious biases, as recommended by Oskineegish (2019).
Theme 3: Purposeful Observation
Participants’ observation strategies included observing transitioning students’ needs in
the classroom, watching for signs of distress among students by standing in the hall between
classes, and administering anonymous, online questionnaires to solicit student feedback.
Strategies for addressing transitioning students’ specific needs included approaching distressed
students to offer support and guidance, devoting instructional time to teaching the protocols and
social skills sixth-graders need to thrive in middle school, and inviting sixth-graders to approach
the participant at any time, in relation to any need or question. Participants used these strategies
deliberately to develop transitioning students’ school connectedness, and they stated that the
strategies were effective because they remediated knowledge-deficits, anxiety, and feelings of
isolation that would otherwise constitute barriers to school connectedness for new sixth-graders.
The importance participants placed on removing barriers to school connectedness associated
with students’ introduction to a novel school environment were consistent with previous
researchers’ findings that successful acclimation to the middle school setting is an important
predictor of transitioning students’ academic and social success (Hill & Mobley, 2016; Klem &
Connell, 2004; Prumbu & Necosi, 2013; Stracuzzi & Mills, 2010). Teachers’ prioritization of
83

removing barriers to transitioning students’ school connectedness was also consistent with
literature indicating that negative student outcomes, such as substance use, gang activity, and
premature sexual activity, are associated with feelings of disconnectedness from the school
environment (Garcia-Moya et al., 2019; Hodges et al., 2018; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015); the
finding is also consistent with past research establishing that students’ sense of sense of
connection to the school via positive relationships with supportive teachers reduces the risk of
those outcomes (Ekstrand, 2015; Garcia-Moya et al., 2017; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015).
The SCT linkage between experience, expectation, and goal-directed behavior in a
specific social environment (see Bandura, 1971, 1989, 1999) was particularly apparent in
relation to this theme. Participants reported experiences of observing behavioral manifestations
of individual students’ needs (e.g., an appearance of being lost, confused, or upset) in the specific
social environment of the study school and of self-reflection regarding the importance of meeting
students’ social and emotional needs. These experiences led participants to perceive themselves
as removing barriers to students’ school connectedness when they assisted students with
observed needs. This perception resulted in participants’ implementation of the goal-directed
behaviors of meeting transitioning students’ observed support needs to remove barriers to school
connectedness, consistent with the process described in SCT (see Bandura, 1971, 1989, 1999).
This finding was relevant to addressing the problem of practice because it confirmed that
participants perceived their self-reflective practices as enabling more effective discretionary
supports to enhance students’ school connectedness. Specifically, Theme 3 indicated that
participants perceived self-reflection on strategies for removing barriers to school connectedness
as effective in fostering transitioning students’ school connectedness.
84

Theme 4: Learning About Students as Individuals
Participants indicated that their reflections on strategies to address school connectedness
for students transitioning to middle school included strategies to learn about students as
individuals. Strategies for learning about students as individuals included questionnaires and
verbal inquiries, either during class or one-to-one. Learning about students as individuals
allowed participants to develop a conception of the social and emotional needs of the student,
who they were then able to welcome and care for during the transition to middle school. As
indicated in the literature (see Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al.,
2015), attending to students’ social and emotional needs was perceived as increasing students’
school connectedness. Theme 4 was also consistent with the finding of McGrath and Van
Bergen (2015) that the success of transitioning students’ acclimation to the middle school
environment is dependent to a large extent on students’ individual personalities, characteristics,
and needs.
Recommendations for Practice
As findings in this study and in the literature have indicated, school connectedness
resulting from teachers’ discretionary supports is one of the most important predictors of
transitioning students’ academic success and overall wellbeing (CDC, 2018; Lester & Cross,
2015; Mattthew et al., 2017; Moradkhani et al., 2017). School connectedness based on teacher
support is also an important protective factor for reducing high-risk behaviors and negative
academic and social outcomes in transitioning students (Ekstrand, 2015; Garcia-Moya et al.,
2017; McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015). The four recommendations for practice in this section are
offered to assist teachers in utilizing a process of observing needs, reflecting on interventions,
and implementing supports to increase transitioning students’ school connectedness.
85

Recommendation 1: Teachers Should Continue to Observe, Reflect On, and Meet Students’
Social and Emotional Needs to Increase School Connectedness
It is recommended that teachers continue to observe, reflect on, and meet students’
specific, individual support needs. Findings in this study are supported by empirical research
indicating that teachers’ self-reflective practices can be highly effective in improving
discretionary supports that enhance transitioning students’ school connectedness, overall
academic success, and wellbeing (Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018;
Finley, 2018; Mattthew et al., 2017; Moradkhani et al., 2017; Probst, 2017; Volungis &
Goodman, 2017). Observation should be directed toward identifying support needs that include
but are not limited to knowledge-deficits, anxiety, and feelings of isolation that might constitute
barriers to school connectedness for transitioning students; personality factors (e.g. shyness) that
may inhibit school connectedness; poor grades or other signs that the student is struggling
academically, and; negative or uncharacteristic moods or behaviors that may indicate the
presence of stressors (Anyon et al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Hill & Mobley, 2016; Klem & Connell,
2004; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Prumbu & Necosi, 2013; Read et al., 2015; Stracuzzi & Mills,
2010).
Participants proceeded to reflect on their observations of student needs and on strategies
they could implement to better meet those needs. A typical process of self-reflection reported in
this study began with the teacher observing signs of stress or struggling in a specific student or
group of students, as described in the previous recommendation for practice. Teachers’ self-
reflection was then focused on how they could modify their own interactions with the student to
address the observed support need. Through their reflections, teachers developed strategies to
develop students’ transition-specific social and emotional needs through practices such as
86

approaching distressed students to offer support and guidance, devoting instructional time to
teaching the protocols and social skills sixth-graders needed to thrive in middle school, and
inviting sixth-graders to approach the participant at any time, in relation to any need or question,
as examples of the research-supported practice of treating students holistically (Anyon et al.,
2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al., 2015). Teachers believed they met
students’ need to feel valued and cared for through practices previously described by Lester and
Cross (2015), including providing positive feedback and encouragement, listening actively,
believing in students’ abilities, caring about students, and providing interactive teaching and
learning styles. Findings in this study and in the literature indicated that such practices, and
students’ resulting sense that their teachers value and care for them, are essential for fostering
school connectedness in adolescents (see Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al.,
2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis & Goodman, 2017).
Recommendation 2: Teachers Should Implement and Regularly Practice Metacognitive
Self-Reflection on Their Unconscious Biases
It is recommended that teachers implement and regularly practice metacognitive self-
reflection on their unconscious biases. A salient characteristic of the self-reflective practices
identified in this study was their exclusive orientation toward improving participants’ behavioral
strategies to meet students’ observed social, emotional, and academic needs. The strategies
which participants identified and implemented as a result of their self-reflections were consistent
with researcher-recommended strategies for increasing students’ school connectedness (Anyon et
al., 2016; Biag, 2016; Mahatmya et al., 2016; Read et al., 2015), as discussed in relation to the
previous recommendation. However, the omission of metacognitive self-reflection on
87

unconscious biases from participants’ reported practices suggested that their self-reflection may
not yet be optimal for fostering students’ school connectedness.
Teachers’ support in meeting students’ needs and maintaining a positive, safe learning
environment is one of the strongest predictors of school connectedness in adolescents (Allen et
al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis &
Goodman, 2017). The teacher behaviors and attitudes most strongly associated with students’
school connectedness are discretionary, including providing positive feedback and
encouragement, active listening, believing in students’ abilities, caring about students, and
providing interactive teaching and learning styles (Lester & Cross, 2015). The problem of
practice addressed in this study is that some middle school teachers may not be engaging in
appropriate self-reflective practices may fail to foster school connectedness in their students
(Allen et al., 2018; Biag, 2016; Oskineegish, 2019). The study findings confirmed that the
condition described in the problem of practice exists in the study setting, a school that has had
more success than the district average in narrowing achievement gaps between different student
sub-populations.
The recommendation that teachers implement and regularly practice metacognitive self-
reflection on their unconscious biases is derived from previous research indicating that teachers
engage in such practices are more likely to facilitate better teaching, learning, and understanding
for transitioning students (Matthew et al., 2017; Moradkhani et al., 2017). Researchers have also
identified teachers’ self-reflective practices as an effective means of personally and
professionally developing themselves, which positively affect their ability to support and educate
transitioning students (Moradkhani et al., 2017; Oskineegish, 2019). Teachers can engage in the
recommended, metacognitive self-reflection on unconscious biases by working through mindful
88

reflection to “uncover, identify, and examine internal biases that impact their understanding” of
and expectations for students of all identities (Oskineegish, 2019, p. 77). Self-reflection on
unconscious biases should involve teachers in systematic inquiry to gain a deeper knowledge and
understanding of themselves, as well as of their teaching practices and their students (Matthew et
al., 2017).
Recommendation 3: Schools Should Implement Systems and Adopt Programs and
Practices that Support Teachers’ Self-Reflective Practices to Foster School Connectedness
for Transitioning Students
It is recommended that schools use a framework to evaluate teachers’ self-reflective
practices that influence voluntary supports to promote school connectedness in their students.
One such evaluation tool found is the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) model for examining
self-reflective practices. Kirkpatrick’s levels of evaluation (2016) are an effective means to
establish, measure, and promote learning objectives for teaching techniques that assist with
school connectedness. Applied as a cognitive learning tool, the model can help teachers to
improve their self-reflective practices in order to smooth students’ transition to middle school
through enhanced school connectedness.
The Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick New World Model, developed in 2016, is a model with
four levels for training evaluation, including reaction, learning, behavior, and results. This model
is used as an evaluation tool and strategic planning guide based on its clear and concise steps for
evaluation, to be used in conjunction with classroom-based and online learning programs. The
model facilitates the assessments of training outcomes and impacts (Heydari et al., 2019). The
Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick New World Model is therefore recommended as a framework to
establish a platform for teacher and staff needs.
89

There is also a need for a combined and cohesive professional development program to
train middle school educators on the importance of implementing practices to support school
connectedness. Proactively evaluating PD outcomes is also necessary to assess the
appropriateness of the professional development model for the school. Training all teachers in a
school with the same model, such as the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2016) New World Model,
will contribute to consistency in assessment, PD outcomes, and student experiences to the extent
that they are influenced by PD outcomes. The New World Model’s integrated evaluation tool
will ensure alignment between the model and the assessment and thereby contribute to making
assessments more meaningful. Use of the New World Model may assist teachers in leveraging
self-reflection on personal biases to ensure equitable observation and meeting of all students’
individual needs, so transitioning students are connected to their school through authentic care.
Recommendation 4: School Site Administrators and District Leadership Teams Should
Promote and Support Teacher Self-Reflective Practices as an Integral Part of the School
and District Culture
Teachers’ support in meeting students’ needs and maintaining a positive, safe learning
environment is one of the strongest predictors of school connectedness in adolescents (Allen et
al., 2017; Bower et al., 2015; Fifolt et al., 2018; Finley, 2018; Probst, 2017; Volungis &
Goodman, 2017). Teacher behaviors and attitudes that strengthen students’ school connectedness
are voluntary. Teachers who employ self-reflective practices are more likely to facilitate better
teaching, learning, and understanding for transitioning students (Mattthew et al., 2017;
Moradkhani et al., 2017).
Researchers have also found that teachers who employ self-reflective practices practice
systematic inquiry into themselves; as a result, teachers gain a deeper knowledge and
90

understanding of themselves, as well as of their practices and their students (Mattthew et al.,
2017). As such, teachers can improve their quality of teaching, learning, and understanding
through a self-reflection, described as a practice in which teachers “uncover, identify, and
examine internal biases that impact their understanding” of and expectations for students of all
identities (Oskineegish, 2019, p. 77). Researchers have identified teachers’ self-reflective
practices as an effective means of personally and professionally developing themselves, which
positively affect their ability to support and educate transitioning students (Moradkhani et al.,
2017; Oskineegish, 2019).
Self-reflection is an essential component in the process through which teachers observe
and meet transitioning students’ needs to foster school connectedness. By seeking to know
students as whole and unique individuals, and by reflecting on specific, practical ways to meet
observed needs, teachers can plan and provide effective, tailored supports for transitioning
students. Future research is needed to explore how teacher self-reflection specifically regarding
internal biases can be combined with the practices explored in this study to further enhance
transitioning students’ school connectedness.
However, the findings and recommendations in this study have indicated ways in which
teachers can leverage self-reflection as a link between observing student needs and meeting them
so transitioning students will feel embraced and nurtured as valued members of their school
community. It is therefore recommended that teachers be held accountable for implementing
self-reflective practices to meet the needs of the whole child to increase school connectedness.
Examining whether the transition of students’ school connectedness increased when they receive
supports from teachers that meet their needs and make them feel cared for must be a part of this
91

process (Allen et al., 2018; Bowers et al., 2015; Garcia-Moya et al., 2019; Hodges et al., 2018;
McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015).
Limitations and Delimitations
The first limitation in this study was the dependence of the credibility and dependability
of the data and findings on the honesty and accuracy of participants’ responses. Participant
honesty was encouraged through the assurance that their identity would be kept confidential.
Participant accuracy was facilitated through a member-verification process that allowed
participants to reflect on and confirm their responses approximately one to two weeks after their
interview.
The second limitation in this study was the potential for researcher bias to weaken the
confirmability of the findings. To address this limitation, the researcher practiced bracketing by
reflecting on and working to mindfully suspend personal biases that might have influenced the
data or how the data were interpreted (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The limitation was further
addressed through the inclusion of direct quotations from the data as evidence for all findings in
the report of results. The presentation of evidence allows the reader to confirm the findings
independently.
This study was delimitated to teachers in one middle school in the U.S. Southwest. This
delimitation is likely to limit the transferability of the findings to other samples and populations,
including but not limited to teachers of younger or older students, teachers in schools with
different demographic compositions, and teachers in other countries or regions. To assist readers
in assessing the transferability of the findings in this study to their own research contexts, thick
descriptions of the data, study settings, and participants have been provided.
92

This study was also delimited to a small sample and to data collection from one source
(i.e., semi-structured interviews). The small sample size may further limit the transferability of
the findings. The delimitation of data collection to semi-structured interviews was acceptable
because participants’ self-reports were the most direct means of accessing relevant data about
their internal, individual processes and perceptions, and because other sources of data about the
phenomenon of interest, such as archival data, did not exist.
Recommendations for Future Research
An important factor relevant to the problem of practice that the findings in this study
could not fully address was the effectiveness of teacher self-reflection regarding their internal
biases in enhancing transitioning students’ school connectedness. This point was not fully
addressed in the findings because participants did not describe any self-reflective practices
relevant to it in their responses. It is recommended that future research be focused on the
influence of teacher self-reflection specifically regarding internal bias on transitioning students’
school connectedness. This focus can be ensured in qualitative research by developing an
interview protocol focused on this specific form of self-reflection rather than on self-reflection in
relation to teaching generally.
Findings from this research may be used to develop hypotheses to be tested in
quantitative research. Quantitative research using a large sample and a validated survey
instrument is recommended to determine whether and to what extent the findings in this study
are generalizable to the population of teachers of transitioning students. Quantitative research
using an experimental design is also recommended to objectively confirm or disconfirm and
measure the perceived causal relationships participants reported in this study, as between specific
93

teacher supports (cause) and transitioning students’ school connectedness (effect), as mediated
by variables such as how much students feel cared for or feel that their needs are met
Conclusion
Findings in this study affirmed that self-reflection is an essential component in the
process through which teachers observe and meet transitioning students’ needs to foster school
connectedness. By seeking to know students as whole and unique individuals, and by reflecting
on specific, practical ways to meet observed needs, teachers can plan and provide effective,
tailored supports for transitioning students. Future research is needed to explore how teacher
self-reflection specifically regarding internal biases can be combined with the practices explored
in this study to further enhance transitioning students’ school connectedness. However, the
findings and recommendations in this study have indicated ways in which teachers can leverage
self-reflection as a link between observing student needs and meeting those needs, so
transitioning students will feel embraced and nurtured as valued members of their school
community.
Previous researchers have found that teachers who reflect on how they perceive their
students are more likely to support all students equitably. Equitable support for all students can
increase all students’ school connectedness, which may, in turn, significantly improve students’
academic, social, and behavioral outcomes. Findings in this research have indicated that some
U.S. teachers of diverse students are not practicing self-reflection on biases. A comparison
between the findings and previous research has indicated that implementation of teacher self-
reflective practices may be a readily available means by which U.S. teachers of diverse students
can further improve their students’ school connectedness. The potential behavioral, social, and
academic benefits for students are compelling reasons for ensuring that all U.S. teachers of
94

diverse students are aware of and encouraged to engage in self-reflection to prevent unconscious
biases from weakening their support for students’ school connectedness.

95

References
Akos, P., Lineberry, C., & Queen, J.A. (2015). Promoting a successful transition to middle
school. Routledge.
Akos, P., Rose, R., & Orthner, D. (2015). Sociodemographic moderators of middle school
transition effects on academic achievement. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35(2),
170-198.
Aldridge, J., & Ala’l. K. (2013). Assessing students’ views of school climate: Developing and
validating the what’s happening in this school? (WHITS) Questionnaire. Improving
Schools, 16(1), 47–66.
Alismail, H. A. (2016). Multicultural education: Teachers’ perceptions and preparation. Journal
of Education and Practice, 7(11), 139- 146. http://files.eric.ed.gov/
fulltext/EJ1099450.pdf
Allen, K., Kern, M. L., Vella-Brodrick, D., Hattie, J., & Waters, L. (2018). What schools need to
know about fostering school belonging: A meta-analysis. Education Psychology Review,
(30)1.
Allen, M. L., Rosas-Lee, M., Ortega, L., Hang, M., Pergament, S., & Pratt, R. (2016). They just
respect you for who you are: Contributors to educator positive youth development
promotion for Somali, Latino, and Hmong Students. Journal of Primary Prevention,
37(1), 71–86.
Allen, K., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Waters, L. (2017). School belonging and the role of social and
emotional competencies in fostering an adolescent’s sense of connectedness to their
school. In Social and Emotional Learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific (pp. 83-99).
Singapore: Springer.
96

Anyon, Y., Zhang, D., & Hazel, C. (2016). Race, exclusionary discipline, and connectedness to
adults in secondary schools. American Journal of Community Psychology, 57(3-4), 342-
352.
Bailey, G. (2015). An investigation of the concerns of fifth graders transitioning to middle
school. RMLE Online, 38(5), 1-12.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.
Psychological Review, 84, 191–215. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44(9),
1175.
Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Asian Journal of Social
Psychology, 2(1), 21-41.
Baudoin, N., & Galand, B. (2017). Effects of classroom goal structures on student emotions at
school. International Journal of Educational Research, 86, 13–22.
doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2017.08.010
Beenet, J. (2019). Building school connectedness and positive climate in the middle school
environment. Education World, 12(1) 19-46.
Benedict, F. T., Vivier, P. M., & Gjelsvik, A. (2015). Mental health and bullying in the United
States among children aged 6 to 17. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(5), 782–795.
doi:10.1177/0886260514536279
97

Benner, A. D., Boyle, A. E., & Sadler, S. (2016). Parental involvement and adolescents’
educational success: The roles of prior achievement and socioeconomic status. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence, 45(6), 1053-1064. doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0431-4.
Berkowtiz, R., Moore, H., & Astor, R., & Benbenishty, R. (2016). A research synthesis of the
associations between socioeconomic background, inequality, school climate, and
academic achievement. Review of Educational Research, 1-45.
doi:10.3102/003465431666982
Biag, M. (2016). A descriptive analysis of school connectedness: The views of school personnel.
Urban Education, 51(1), 32-59.
Bloom, R. (2005). School connectedness: Improving student’s lives. Population and Family
Health, 20(5), 1-16.
Blum, R. W. (2005). A case for school connectedness. Educational Leadership, 62(7), 16-20.
Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c147/f42f463c6ec513c388b2f9bf28196c33bf9b.pdf
Bolland, K. A., Bolland, A. C., Bolland, J. M., Church, W. T., Hooper, L. M., Jaggers, J. W., &
Tomek, S. (2016). Trajectories of school and community connectedness in adolescence
by gender and delinquent behavior. Journal of Community Psychology, 44(5), 602-619.
Bonell, C., Humphrey, N., Fletcher, A., Moore, L., Anderson, R., & Campbell, R. (2014). Why
schools should promote students’ health and wellbeing? BMJ 348, g3078.
doi:10.1136/bmj.g3078.
Bonny, A. E., Britto, M. T., Klostermann, B. K., Hornung, R. W., & Slap. G. B. (2000). School
Disconnectedness: Identifying adolescents at risk. Pediatrics 106(5), 1017–1021.
98

Boonk, L., Gijselaers, H. J., Ritzen, H., & Brand-Gruwel, S. (2018). A review of the relationship
between teacher involvement indicators and academic achievement. Educational
Research Review, 24, 10-30. https://doi:10.1016/j.edrev.2018.02.001
Borman, G. D., Rozek, C. S., Pyne, J., & Hansleman, P. (2019). Reappraising academic and
social adversity improves middle school students’ academic achievement, behavior, and
well-being. PNAS, 33, 16286-16291. doi:10.1073/pnas.1820317116
Bower, J., van Kraayenoord, M., C. & Carroll, A. (2015). Building social connectedness in
schools: Australian teachers’ perspectives. International Journal of Educational,
Research 70, 101–109.
Bowers, H., Lemberger, M. E., Jones, M. H., & Rogers, J. E. (2015). The influence of repeated
exposure to the student success skills program on middle school students’ feelings of
connectedness, behavioral and metacognitive skills, and reading achievement. The
Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 40(4), 344-364.
Bradshaw, C. P., Waasdorp, T. E., Debnam, K. J., & Johnson S. L. (2014). Measuring school
climate in high schools: A focus on safety, engagement, and the environment. Journal of
School Health, 84(9), 593–604.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in
Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Castro, M., Expósito-Casas, E., López-Martín, E., Lizasoain, L., Navarro-Asencio, E., &
Gaviria, J. L. (2015). Parental involvement on student academic achievement: A meta-
analysis. Educational Research Review, 14, 33-46. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2015.01.002
99

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Fostering School Connectedness: Improving
Student Health and Academic Achievement. Information for School Districts and School
Administrators. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/factsheets/connectedness_administrators.ht
m
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & the American Psychiatric Association. (2019).
School connectedness: Strategies for increasing protective factors among youth, 2019.
Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & the American Psychiatric Association. (2009).
School connectedness: Strategies for increasing protective factors among youth, 2009.
Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Chung-Do, J. J., Goebert, D. A. Chang J. Y., & Hamagani. F. (2015a). Developing a
comprehensive school connectedness scale for program evaluation. Journal of School
Health, 85(3), 179–188.
Chung-Do, J. J., Goebert, D. A., Hamagani, F., Chang, J. Y., & Hishinuma, E. S. (2015b).
Understanding the role of school connectedness and its association with violent attitudes
and behaviors among an ethnically diverse sample of youth. Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, 1-26. doi:10.1177/0886260515588923
Clark, R. E., & Estes, F. (2008). Turning research into results: A guide to selecting the right
performance solutions (2nd ed.). Greenwich CT: Information Age.
Coelho, V. A., Marchante, M., & Jimerson, S. R. (2017). Promoting a positive middle school
transition: a randomized-controlled treatment study examining self-concept and self-
esteem. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 46, 558–569. doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0510-6
100

Cohlhepp, C. F. (2018). Student perceptions regarding the transition from elementary to middle
school: Engaging student void in the development of an improved, data-informed
transition program (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). State College, PA: University of
Pennsylvania.
Conway, G., & Jugarap, E. J., Marquez, V., Crisostomo, K., & Ouano, J. (2018). Examining the
salience of school connectedness in college students' academic help-seeking behavior.
Philippine Journal of Counseling Psychology, 20. 61-80.
Craig, J. M. (2015). Which bond matters more? Assessing the differential strengths of parental
bonding measures on adolescent delinquency over time. Youth Violence and Juvenile
Justice, 14(3), 225–242. doi:10.1177/1541204014565670
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cumming, T. M., Marsh, R. J., & Higgins, K. (2017). School connectedness for students with
disabilities: From theory to evidence-based practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B., & Oher, D. (2019). Implications
for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied
Developmental Science. doi:10.1080/108888691.2018.1537791
Dary, T., Pickeral, T., Schumer, R., & Williams, A. (2017). Weaving key elements of student
engagement into the fabric of schools. Student Engagement, 2017. Retrieved from
https://www.advanc-ed.org/source/weaving-key-elements-student-engagement-fabric-
schools
101

DeCamp, W., & Newby, B. (2015). From bullied to deviant: The victim-offender overlap among
bullying victims. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 13(1), 3–17.
doi:10.1177/1541204014521250
Dumont, H., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Neumann, M., Niggli, A., & Schnyder, I. (2012). Does
parental homework involvement mediate the relationship between family background and
educational outcomes? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37(1), 55-69.
doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2011.09.004.
Durlak, J. A. (2015). Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice.
New York, NY: Guilford.
Durisic, M., & Bunijevac, M. (2017). Parental involvement as an important factor for successful
education. CEPS Journal, 7(3), 137-153.
Ekstrand, B. (2015). What it takes to keep children in school: A research review. Educational
Review, 67(4), 459–482.
Elreda, L. M., Kibler, A., Futch Ehrlich, V. A., & Johnson, H. (2016). Learning in linguistically
diverse middle school classrooms: The role of the classroom peer network. Society for
Research on Educational Effectiveness. Retrieved from
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED566975
Evans, D., Borriello, G. A., & Field, A. P. (2018). A review of the academic and psychological
impact of the transition to secondary education. Frontiers in Psychology.
doi:10.3389/fpssyg.2018.01482
Fernandez, A., Loukas, A., Golaszewski, N. M., Batanova, M., & Pasch, K. E. (2019).
Adolescent adjustment problems mediate the association between racial discrimination
102

and school connectedness. Journal of School Health, 89(12), 945-952.
doi:10.1111/josh.12838
Fifolt, M., Morgan, A. F., & Burgess, Z. R. (2018). Promoting school connectedness among
minority youth through experience-based urban farming. Journal of Experiential
Education, 41(2), 187-203.
Finley, A. M. (2018). Fostering success: Belongingness pedagogy for English language learners.
BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 37-48.
Forrest, C. B., Bevans, K. B., Riley, A. W., Crespo R., & Louis T. A. (2013). Health and school
outcomes during children's transition into adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health,
52(2), 186–194.
Foster, C. E., Horwitz, A., Thomas, A., Opperman, K., Gipson, P. Burnside, A., … & King, C.
A. (2017). Connectedness to family, school, peers, and community in socially vulnerable
adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 81, 321-331.
doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.08.011
Fusch, P. I., & Ness, L. R. (2015). Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research. The
Qualitative Report, 20(9), 1408-1416.
García-Moya, I., Brooks, F., Morgan, A., & Moreno, C. (2015). Subjective well-being in
adolescence and teacher connectedness: A health asset analysis. Health Education
Journal, 7(6), 641–654.
Garcia-Moya, I., Bunn, F., Jimenez-Iglesias, A., Paniagua, C., & Brooks, F. M. (2019). The
conceptualization of school and teacher connectedness in adolescent research: a scoping
review of literature. Educational Review, 71(4), 423-444.
doi:10.1080/00131911.2018.1424117
103

Golaszewski, N. M., Pasch, K. E., Fernandez, A., Poulos, N. S., Batanova, M., & Loukas, A.
(2018). Perceived weight discrimination and school connectedness among youth: Does
teacher support play a protective role? Journal of School Health, 88(10), 754-761.
doi:10.1111/josh.12682
Goodenow, C. (1993). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationships to
motivation and achievement. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 13(1), 21–43.
doi:10.1177/0272431693013001002
Gray, C., Wilcox, G., & Nordstokke, D. (2017). Teacher mental health, school climate, inclusive
education and student learning: A review. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie
Canadienne, 58(3), 203.
Gyansah, S. T., Soku, R., Esilfie, G. (2015). Child delinquency and pupils’ academic
performance in Fumesua municipal assembly primary school in the Ejisu- Juaben
municipality, Ashanti region, Ghana. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(12), 107-121.
Hall, G. E., & DiPerna, J. C. (2017). Childhood social skills as predictors of middle school
academic adjustment. Journal of Early Adolescents, 37, 825–851.
doi:10.1177/0272431615624566
Hill, L. M., & Mobley, J. A. (2016). Making the change from elementary to middle school.
Vistas Online. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/vistas
Hodges, A., Cordier, R., Joosten, A., Bourke-Taylor, H., & Speyer, R. (2018). Evaluating the
psychometric quality of school connectedness measures: A systematic review. PLoS
ONE, 13(9), e0203373. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0203373
Hogekamp, Z., Blomster, J., Bursalioglu, A., Calin, M. C., Cetincelik, M., Haastrup, L., & van
den Berg, Y. H. M. (2016). Examining the importance of the teachers' emotional support
104

for students' social inclusion using the one-with-many design. Frontiers in Psychology,
7(1014), 1-19. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01014
Irizarry, Y. (2015). Selling students short: Racial differences in teachers’ evaluations of high,
average, and low performing students. Social Science Research, 52, 522-538.
doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2015.04.002
Joyce, D. (2019). Does school connectedness mediate the relationship between teacher support
and depressive symptoms? Children & Schools, 41(1), 7-16. doi:10.1093/cs/cdy024
Khawaja, N. G., Allan, E., & Schweitzer, R. D. (2018). The role of school connectedness and
social support in the acculturation in culturally and linguistically diverse youth in
Australia. Australian Psychologist, 53(4), 355-364. doi:10.1111/ap.12327
King, D. (2016). Internal Models of Attachment and the Teacher-Student Relationship during the
Middle School transition: A Phenomenological Study. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/openview/47fbb61e2f73c117e4d14c1dce35c972/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Klem, A. M., & Connell, J. P. (2004). Relationships matter: Linking support to student
engagement and achievement. Journal of School Health, 74(7), 262-273.
Koca, F. (2016). Motivation to learn and teacher-student relationship. Journal of International
Education and Leadership, 6(2), 2-20.
Koehler, A. A., Newby, T. J., & Besser, E. D. (2016). In the eye of the beholder: Using student
narratives to explore memorable teachers. Educational Review, 69(2), 158–180.
Lamborn, S. D. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: authoritative
parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development,
63(5), 1266-1281.
105

Langford, R., Bonell, C., Jones, H., Pouliou, T., Murphy, S., Waters, E., … & Campbell, R.
(2015). The World Health Organization’s Health promoting school’s framework: A
Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 130.
Leavy, P. (2017). Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, Arts-Based, and
Community-Based Participatory Research Approaches. New York, NY: Guilford.

Lee, C. (2017). Awareness as a first step toward overcoming implicit bias: Enhancing
justice reducing bias GWU Law School Public Law. Research Paper No. 2017-56; GWU
Legal Studies Research Paper No. 289 2017-56.
Lei, H., Cui, Y., & Chiu, M. M. (2017). The relationship between teacher support and students’
academic emotions: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2288, 1-22.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02288
Lester, L., & Cross, D. (2015). The relationship between school climate and mental and
emotional wellbeing over the transition from primary to secondary school. Psychology of
Well-being, 5(1), 9
Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
LoCasale-Crouch, J., Jamil, F., Pianta, R. C., Rudasill, K. M., & DeCoster, J. (2018). Observed
quality and consistency of fifth graders’ teacher–student interactions: Associations
with feelings, engagement, and performance in school. SAGE Open.
doi:10.1177/2158244018794774
Lucariello, J. M., Nastasi, B. K., Anderman, E. M., Dwyer, C., Ormiston, H., & Skiba, R. (2016).
Science supports education: The behavioral research base for psychology's top 20
106

principles for enhancing teaching and learning. Mind, Brain, and Education, 10(1), 55-
67.
Mahatmya, D., Lohman, B. J., Brown, E. L., & Conway-Turner, J. (2016). The role of race and
teachers’ cultural awareness in predicting low-income, Black and Hispanic students’
perceptions of educational attainment. Social Psychology of Education, 19(2), 427-449.
Mahuro, G. M., Hungi, N., & Lamb, S. (2016). Parental participation improves student academic
achievement: A case of Iganga and Mayuge districts in Uganda. Journal of Cogent
Education, 3(1), 25-36.
Marcelin, J. R., Siraj, D. S., Victor, R., Kotadia, S., & Maldonado, Y. A. (2019). The impact of
unconscious bias in healthcare: How to recognize and mitigate it. The Journal of
Infectious Diseases, 220(2), S62-S73. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiz214
Marracini, M. E., & Brier, Z. M. F. (2018). School connectedness and suicidal thoughts and
behaviors: A systematic meta-analysis. School Psychology Query, 32(1), 5-21.
doi:10.1037/spq0000192
Marsh, R. J., Higgins, K., Morgan, J., Cummings, T. M., Brown, M. & McCreery, M. (2019).
Evaluating school connectedness of students with emotional and behavioral disorders.
Children & Schools, 41(3), 153-160. doi:10.1093/cs/cdz013
Martin, J. (2004). Self-regulated learning, social cognitive theory, and agency. Educational
Psychologist, 39(2), 135-145.
Mathew, P., Mathew, P., & Peechattu, P. J. (2017). Reflective practices: A means to teacher
development. Asia Pacific Journal of Contemporary Education and Communication
Technology, 3(1), 126-131. Retrieved from https://apiar.org.au/wp-
content/uploads/2017/02/13_APJCECT_Feb_BRR798_EDU-126-131.pdf
107

Matthews, T., Danese, A., Wertz, J., Ambler, A., Michelle, M., Diver, A, ...& Arsenault, L.
(2015). Social isolation and mental health at primary and secondary school entry: A
longitudinal cohort study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, 54(3), 225–232. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2014.12.008
McDowall, A. (2017). (Not) Knowing: Walking the Terrain of Indigenous Education with
Preservice Teachers. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 1-9.
McGrath, K. F., & Van Bergen, P. (2015). Who, when, why and to what end? Students at risk of
negative student-teacher relationships and their outcomes. Educational Research Review,
14, 1-17. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2014.12.001
McInnes, B. D. (2017). Preparing teachers as allies in Indigenous education: Benefits of an
American Indian content and pedagogy course. Teaching Education, 28(2), 145-161.
McWhirter, E. H., Garcia, E. A., & Bines, D. (2018). Discrimination and other education
barriers, school connectedness, and thoughts of dropping out among Latina/o students.
Journal of Career Development, 45(4), 330-344. doi:10.1177/0894845317696807
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Merriam, S. & Tisdell, E. (2016). Qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Moradkhani, S., Raygan, A., & Moein, M. S. (2017). Iranian EFL teachers' reflective practices
and self-efficacy: Exploring possible relationships. System, 65, 1-14.
doi:10.1016/j.system.2016.12.011
108

Moritz Rudasill, K., Sirota, K., Kraleman, M., Prokasky, A., Madison, K., & Molfese, J. (2017).
Child temperament at school and in the classroom. In R. J. Waller (Ed.) Mental Health
Promotion in Schools: Special Topics, Special Challenges. Philadelphia, PA: Springer.
Niehaus, K., Irvin, M. J., & Rogelberg, S. (2016). School connectedness and valuing as
predictors of high school completion and postsecondary attendance among Latino youth.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 44(45), 54-67.
doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.02.003
Niesen, V. (2018). Transition from elementary to middle school: Strategies for educators.
National Association of School Psychologists, 23(337), 1-3.
Nguyen, T. H., Gutierrez, R. A. E., & Kahnekakʌ: lé: Aregano, P. (2019). Drawing inspiration
from American Indian student success frameworks: The role of family. New Directions
for Student Services, 2019(167), 63-74. doi:10.1002/ss.20321.
Onetti, W., Fernández-García, J. C., & Castillo-Rodríguez, A. (2019) Transition to middle
school: Self-concept changes. PLoS ONE 14(2), e0212640.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212640
Oskineegish, M. (2019). The role of self-reflection in an indigenous education course for teacher
candidates. Education, 25(1), 77-95.
Owusu-Ansah, A., & Kyei-Blankton, L. (2016). Going back to the basics: Demonstrating care,
connectedness, and a pedagogy of relationship in education. World Journal of Education,
6(3), 1-9.
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015).
Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method
109

implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health
Services Research, 42(5), 533-544.
Parrilla, A., Gallego, C. & Sierra, S. (2016). When educational transitions are supported by
students. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 16(1), 1104-1107.
Perkins, D. F., Syvertsen, A. K., Mincemoyer, C., Chilenski, S. M., Olson, J. R., Berrena, E.,
& Spoth, R. (2016). Thriving in school: The role of sixth-grade adolescent–parent–
school relationships in predicting eighth-grade academic outcomes. Youth & Society,
48(6), 739–762. doi:10.1177/0044118X13512858
Pinquart, M. (2016). Associations of parenting styles and dimensions with academic
achievement in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology
Review, 28(3), 475-493. doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9338-y
Porumbu, D., & Necşoi, D. V. (2013). Relationship between parental involvement/attitude and
children's school achievements. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 76, 706-710.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.191
Potter, D., & Morris, D. S. (2017). Family and schooling experiences in racial/ethnic academic
achievement gaps: A cumulative perspective. Sociological Perspectives, 60(1), 132–167.
doi:10.1177/0731121416629989
Probst, E. H. (2017). The effect of implementation of the Developmental Designs for Middle
School (DDMS) program on the social skills of 7th grade students (Unpublished doctoral
dissertation). Retrieved from
http://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3442&context=etd
110

Read, K., Aldridge, J., Ala'i, K., Fraser, B., & Fozdar, F. (2015). Creating a climate in which
students can flourish: A whole school intercultural approach. International Journal of
Whole Schooling, 11(2), 29-44.
Renshaw, T. L. (2015). A replication of the technical adequacy of the student subjective
wellbeing questionnaire. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 33(8), 757–768.
Renshaw, T. L., Long, A. C. J., & Cook, C. R. (2015a). Assessing adolescents’ positive
psychological functioning at school: Development and validation of the student
subjective wellbeing questionnaire. School Psychology Quarterly, 30(4), 534–552.
Renshaw, T. L., Long, A. C. J., & Cook, C. R. (2015b). Assessing teachers’ positive
psychological functioning at work: Development and validation of the Teacher
Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire. School Psychology Quarterly, 30(2), 289–30.
Rovis, D., & Jonkman, H. (2015). Basic J: A multilevel analysis of adverse family relations,
school bonding and risk behaviors among adolescents. Journal of Child and Family
Studies. 2015, 1–14. doi:10.1007/s10826-015-0223-6.
Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance to
psychiatric disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611.
doi:10.1192/bjp.147.6.598
Sharp, C., Penner, F., Marais, L., & Skinner, D. (2018). School connectedness as psychological
resilience factor in children affected by HIV/AIDS. AIDS Care, 30(suppl. 4), 34-41.
doi:10.1080/09540121.2018.1511045
Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects.
Education for Information, 22, 63-75.
111

Shernoff, D. J., Michelle, S., Tonks, S. M., Anderson, B., Cavanagh, R. F., Sinha, S., & Abdi, B.
(2016). Student engagement as a function of environmental complexity in high school
classrooms. Learning and Instruction, 43, 52-60.
Simatele, M. (2018). A cross-cultural experience of microaggression in academia: A personal
reflection. Education as Change, 22(3),1-23. doi:10.25159/1947-9417/3132
Sparks, S. D. (2019). Black-white achievement gaps go hand in hand with discipline disparities.
Education Week, 39(10), 5.
Stacey, F. G., James, E. L., Chapman, K., Courneya, K. S., & Lubans, D. R. (2015). A
systematic review and meta-analysis of social cognitive theory-based physical activity
and/or nutrition behavior change interventions for cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer
Survivorship, 9(2), 305-338.
Stracuzzi, N. F., & Mills, M. L. (2010). Teachers matter: Feelings of school connectedness and
positive youth development among Coos County youth. Carsey Institute, 23, 1-12.
Symonds, J., & Hargreaves, L. (2016). Emotional and motivational engagement at school
transition: A qualitative stage-environment fit study. Sociological Methods & Research,
36(1), 309–334. doi:10.1177/0049124187016002006
Tao, K., Owen, J., & Drinane, J. (2017). Was that racist? An experimental study of
microaggression ambiguity and emotional reactions for racial–ethnic minority and white
individuals. Race and Social Problems, 9(4), 262-271. doi:10.1007/s12552-017-9210-4
Tufford, L., & Newman, P. (2012). Bracketing in qualitative research. Qualitative Social Work,
11(1), 80-96.
Uslu, F., & Gizir, S. (2017). Student belonging of adolescents: The role of teacher-student
relationships, peer relationships, and family involvement. Educational Sciences, Theory
112

& Practice, 17(1), 63-82. doi:10.127838/estp.2017.10104
Valenzuela, A., & Rubio, B. (2018). Subtractive schooling. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English
Language Teaching, 1-7.
Veiga, F. H., Garcia, F. Reeve, J., Wentzel, K., & Garcia, O. (2015). When adolescents with high
self-concept lose their engagement in schools. Revista de Psicodidactica, 20, 305-320
doi:10.1387/RevPsicodidact.12671
Volungis, A. M., & Goodman, K. (2017). School violence prevention: Teachers establishing
relationships with students using counseling strategies. SAGE Open.
doi:10.1177/2158244017700460
Wang, M.-T, & Degol. J. L. (2016). School climate: A review of the construct, measurement,
and impact on student outcomes. Educational Psychology Review 28(2), 315–35.
Watson, J. C. (2017). Examining the relationship between self-esteem, mattering, school
connectedness, and wellness among middle school students. Professional School
Counseling, 21(1), 108-130. doi:10.5330/1096-2409-21.1.10
Zullig, K. Collins, J., R., Ghani, N., Hunter, A. A., Patton, J. M., Huebner, E. S., & Zhang, J.
(2015). Preliminary development of a revised version of the school climate measure.
Psychological Assessment 27(3), 1072–1081.
113

Appendix A: Protocols
Interview Protocol
Researcher reads: “Our interview will be guided by a protocol with two parts. The first,
preliminary part consists of five close-ended demographic questions. The second, main part
consists of nine open-ended questions in which I’ll ask you to describe your perceptions and
experiences that are relevant to the topic of this study.”
Demographic Items
Researcher reads: “We’ll begin with the five demographic items. The answers to some of
these items may be obvious, but it is necessary for me to document your responses in the audio-
recording of our interview, so I appreciate your patience in answering them.”
1. Please state your gender.
2. Please state your age.
3. Please state your level of education.
4. Please state the number of years you have been teaching.
5. Please state the number of years you have been teaching at your current school.
Open-Ended Questions
Researcher reads: “We are now moving on to the main part of the interview. I am going
to ask you nine open-ended questions about your experiences in your school and about your self-
reflection practices. Please try to answer in as much detail as possible, giving concrete examples
or multiple examples of your experiences and perceptions whenever you can.”
1. How would you define school connectedness? (RQ1)
2. How would you describe the role of teachers and administrators in promoting school
connectedness? Please explain the reasons for your answer. (RQ1)
114

3. In your perception, how connected do your students feel to the school? Please explain the
reasons for your answer. (RQ1)
4. What specific strategies and practices do you implement to increase student
connectedness? (RQ2)
5. How would you describe your self-reflective practices as a teacher? (Context)
6. How often do you think about the connectedness of your students, and what do you think
about when you do? (RQ2)
7. How would you describe any systems, procedures, activities, or strategies in your current
school related to school connectedness for students transitioning to middle school?
(Context)
8. How does your self-reflection influence strategies you use to address school
connectedness for students transitioning to middle school? (RQ2)
9. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract School connectedness is associated with positive academic, social, and personal outcomes in adolescents, and teacher support is one of the strongest predictors of adolescents’ school connectedness. The purpose of this project was to explore how teachers in one Southwestern U.S. middle school (Grades 6-8) perceived their self-reflective practices as influencing their abilities to provide voluntary supports that promoted school connectedness in students transitioning into sixth grade. The study school’s district leader reported a significant achievement gap between White students and students of other ethnicities. One-to-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 teachers of transitioning students. The findings indicated that teachers perceived their self-reflective practices as positively influencing their students’ school connectedness when the practices focused on meeting students’ social and emotional needs. Teachers reflected on strategies to remove barriers to students’ school connectedness and on strategies to welcome and care for students as people with social and emotional needs rather than as learners only. The findings and recommendations in this study have indicated how teachers can leverage self-reflection as a link between observing student needs and meeting those needs. Transitioning students will then feel embraced and nurtured as valued members of their school communities. Future research is needed to explore how teacher self-reflection, specifically regarding internal biases, can be combined with the practices explored in this study to enhance transitioning students’ school connectedness further.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Self-reflective practices and procedures to systematically examine reading comprehension instruction

PDF

Using restorative practice community-building activities to meet the social-emotional needs of students

PDF

Factors that promote or inhibit a teacher’s ability to identify and refer students with anxiety or depression for evaluation

PDF

Teachers’ knowledge of gifted students and their perceptions of gifted services in public elementary schooling

PDF

Exploring three outcomes of online teacher preparation: teaching for social justice, critical reflection, and voluntary collaboration

PDF

Future educator programs in high schools: an evaluative study

PDF

Practices supporting newcomer students

PDF

Connectedness and distance learning: a study of student, teacher, and parent perceptions

PDF

Linking theory and practice in teacher education: an analysis of the reflective-inquiry approach to preparing teachers to teach in urban schools

PDF

Social emotional learning curriculum implementation: an evaluation study of fidelity

PDF

Embedded academic support for high school student success: an innovation study

PDF

Better together: teacher attrition, burnout, and efficacy

PDF

Increasing the number of minoritized teachers in the Apex public schools: an evaluation study

PDF

Building teacher competency to work with middle school long-term English language learners: an improvement model

PDF

Factors impacting the effectiveness of mentor teachers in a national teacher residency

PDF

The tracking effect: tracking and the impact on self-efficacy in middle school students

PDF

The academic implications of providing social emotional learning in K-12: an evaluation study

PDF

Math and science academy literacy instruction: student study strategies, self-perception as readers, and reading achievement

PDF

Child welfare turnover: an evaluation study of work-life balance practices

PDF

Incorporating teacher self-care into teacher education: a curriculum for pre-service teachers to increase teacher wellness and prevent teacher burnout

Asset Metadata

Creator Elliot, Patricia Flynn (author)

Core Title School connectedness and teacher reflective practices

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 12/11/2020

Defense Date 11/17/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag middle school education,OAI-PMH Harvest,school connectedness,teacher reflection,transitioning to middle school

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hirabayashi, Kimberly (committee chair), Brown, Toni (committee member), Mora-Flores, Eugenia (committee member)

Creator Email pelliot@usc.edu,plflynn@me.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-410242

Unique identifier UC11666643

Identifier etd-ElliotPatr-9196.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-410242 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ElliotPatr-9196.pdf

Dmrecord 410242

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Elliot, Patricia Flynn

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA