Connect with Kids Helps Educators Meet
the Goals of Federal Initiatives
- No Child Left Behind
- Safe and Drug-Free Schools
- Title I, Title IV, Title V
Support for No Child Left Behind
- Connect with Kids offers parents and schools an opportunity to participate in a comprehensive initiative bringing positive youth development messages to students. Using the power of television to improve student behavior, school climate and school safety, this unique and multifaceted approach has been shown to improve community perceptions about school initiatives and can foster school and community connectedness.
- Research on implementation of Connect with Kids has shown that the program is effective and can impact classroom performance (complete assignments on time, stay on task, persevere through difficult schoolwork, etc.) and improve classroom behavior (anger, respect, obeying teachers, bullying/threats). The U.S. Department of Education has identified Connect with Kids as one of the programs they selected as research-based and is included in the What Works Clearinghouse as an effective program. School systems have been encouraged to use this list as a guide for selecting programs to be funded with federal monies.
- School safety and character education are closely linked with the Connect with Kids program. In compelling videos, students observe peers modeling positive character traits, often in difficult situations. These messages are reinforced at home through Connect with Kids televised news reports and half-hour television programs that send a common message.
- The Connect with Kids program is designed to reach a large number of parents, even those not likely to attend school functions or read information “sent home.” Through the Connect with Kids television programs and directed viewing, schools can get a “message” out to all parents about what schools are doing to improve performance.
- Connect with Kids programs emphasize the importance of parents’ active engagement with their children. The school and its community media partner can reinforce the key role parents play in reducing risky behavior in children.
Specific areas of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that can be used to fund Connect with Kids include Title I, Title IV and Title V. Specifics about each title are as follows:
Title I: Funds under this section are designated for schools and school systems with high percentages of children from low-income families. According to Section 1118, school systems who receive Title I funds may use some of these resources “to implement programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents to improve student academic performance and school performance.” Part of the purpose of this section is to “work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between the parent and the school.” Schools are encouraged to adopt “and implement model approaches to parent involvement.” They are also asked to look at “developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses in parent involvement activities.” Throughout Title I regulations, the question of access is raised. Successfully engaging parents of low-income children is sometimes challenging. The Connect with Kids program is a unique and powerful way to accomplish this goal.
- Connect with Kids reaches parents in their area of greatest comfort - their home. Through the coordinated use of television and school initiatives, Connect with Kids offers televised news stories and specials on issues that are tied to character education and life skills related to school success. All programs correlate to the Connect with Kids material students receive at school through curriculum-integrated lessons.
- The Connect with Kids program teaches parents ways they can successfully support and help their child succeed in school. While most parent outreach programs reach a fairly low number of parents, the Connect with Kids program reaches thousands of parents with one television broadcast.
- For parents who have Internet access, Connect with Kids offers online correlated learning activities and parent tips from experts.
- Connect with Kids also includes Parent Outreach, videos and resources that can be used in parent workshops and/or groups, in the community, and made available for parents to use at home (reserve). Parent Outreach is designed to support parent discussion, sharing and family learning.
Title IV: All school systems must use federal funds (Title IV) to insure that schools are safe and drug-free. To this end, all systems must submit a safe and drug-free plan. This plan must include prevention activities. Connect with Kids is such a prevention program.
Title V: The purpose of Title V is to support local education reform efforts and school improvement, and to provide continuing innovation to educational improvement. These funds can be used to help teachers use technology more effectively and to acquire technology, including media resources and computer software. Other priorities for funding include dropout prevention, parent involvement, and the improvement of classroom learning and teaching. There is also a focus on the importance of community service to strengthen the community through nonviolence, responsibility, compassion, respect and moral courage. Connect with Kids program addresses these issues in multiple ways.
- Connect with Kids brings television into the classroom as an important and easy-to-use tool for teachers. The Connect with Kids curriculum uses youth topic classroom videos in conjunction with weekly Connect with Kids news reports and half-hour Connect with Kids programs on local television stations to make the lessons on character education and life skills meaningful in the classroom.
- The Connect with Kids website gives teachers, students and parents an online resource that is timely and up-to-date. The current video news stories on the site offer teachers a resource to make their lessons as relevant as the weekly news. The website also offers extended learning activities for parents and students.
- The video segments and related curriculum activities highlight the character traits identified in the Title V section on community service. The Connect with Kids television programs relate to violence prevention and reduction of risk-taking behaviors.
