Student Attachment to School

Much educational, psychological, and sociological research has determined that student academic success increases with student feelings of “belonging” or attachment to school. Because of its relationship to multiple disciplines, student attachment to school is described in numerous ways, such as sense of belonging, school engagement, school connectedness, school climate, and student cultural synchronization.

Although disciplines discuss student-school attachment data and terms differently, similar themes consistently emerge that reflect overarching qualities, or factors, that are highly predictive of student academic success. They include (1) a sense of belonging or a feeling of being connected to or feeling you have a place in your school, (2) self-esteem or feeling worthy of receiving and making attachments, (3) having close friends within school and positive relationships with peers, (4) having ...