About Check & Connect

Check & Connect is an intervention used with K-12 students who show warning signs of disengagement with school and who are at risk of dropping out. At the core of Check & Connect is a trusting relationship between the student and a caring, trained mentor who both advocates for and challenges the student to keep education salient. Students are referred to Check & Connect when they show warning signs of disengaging from school, such as poor attendance, behavioral issues, and/or low grades.

Of the dropout prevention interventions reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse, Check & Connect is the only program found to have strong evidence of positive effects on staying in school.

In Check & Connect, the "Check" component refers to the process where mentors systematically monitor student performance variables (e.g., absences, tardies, behavioral referrals, grades), while the "Connect" component refers to mentors providing personalized, timely interventions to help students solve problems, build skills, and enhance competence. Mentors work with caseloads of students and families for at least two years, functioning as liaisons between home and school and striving to build constructive family-school relationships. See more about the Components and Elements of Check & Connect.

Demonstrated Outcomes

Demonstrated outcomes of Check & Connect include:

• decrease in truancy, tardies, behavior referrals, and dropout rates;
• increase in attendance, persistence in school, credits accrued, and school completion; and
• impact on literacy.

See Selected Findings from Check & Connect Research Studies for more information.

Since the 1990s, Check & Connect has been implemented across the United States in 48 states. This includes 9 state-wide implementations. Check & Connect has also been implemented in five international locations.

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