ABSTRACT
There remains no doubt that positive connections to adults have profound implications for child and adolescent outcomes (Barber, Stolz, & Olsen, 2005; Garmezy, 1985; Hawkins & Weis, 1985; Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990; Werner & Smith, 1992). Contemporary notions of school connectedness extend this axiom by emphasizing that reciprocal attachment between youth and individual adults, although essential, is not enough. Connectedness to school and the concomitant positive results it fosters depend on positive exchange both with individual adults and with collections of adults, adult institutions, and the values embodied by them (Lerner, 1991; Whitlock, 2006). Families are critical partners in school endeavors to cultivate connectedness for they are part of a social ecology capable of supporting development by rewarding competence and fostering coherence (Werner & Smith, 1992).
