Research Brief for Class Meetings
Class Meetings have been proven to meet the following objectives:







Develop positive community when students feel as though they belong, feel significant
members of the group, and have fun
Teach and reinforce relationship-building skills
Promote social interest through sharing, listening, inclusion, participation, and dialogue
Model and practice social skills such as cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, selfcontrol
Merge social, emotional, and intellectual learning
Model and practice problem-solving and goal-setting
Promote effective decision-making
Anticipated direct results of Class Meetings: improved connection to peers, teachers and school.
Indirect results of Class Meetings: improved mental wellness, social and emotional competence, behavior,
and academic engagement (these are some of the typical needs of adolescent development)
More problems for many 9th graders associated with adolescent development
benchmark of life course changes
tends to be less parent supervision
likely to have less positive relationships with their
parents
greater need for supportive adults outside of the family
increased peer pressure
social pressure as others in the community tend to
expect students in high school to act with a higher level
of maturity and competence than may be possible
unmet needs of young adolescents may lead to physical
and/or mental health concerns
challenged to stay on track for school and life success
40%-60% high school students are disengaged from
school
many find it difficult to accumulate sufficient course
credits in inflexible time span
nationally, more than 10% students get “stuck” in 9th
grade
boys are twice as likely as girls to be retained in 9th grade
9th grade is likely to bulge with numbers of students
more than any other grade, while 10th grade experiences
a dip in numbers with 9th grade retention and drop out
Transition to a new school brings the challenge of new social relationships, new school practices and
routines, and feelings of anonymity and alienation to many 9th graders.



May be inadequately prepared for high school where there is more challenging material
Lack of skills or lagging skills are deficits in high schools where students are often expected to be
independent learners
Instead of a fail-safe system of support, 9th graders may find there are only one or two teachers explicitly
charged to shepherd students to graduation
Conditions for Learning Survey is administered annually to assess how well school is setting the
conditions for effective learning. Class Meetings, well implemented, improve students’ conditions for
learning. Some of the measures related to Class Meetings are:
I feel listened to.
I feel cared about.
I feel teachers are helpful adults.
My teachers know me.
My teacher knows my interests and goals
There’s at least one adult at school who I can go to for
help.
Most students have good social skills and want to do well
in school
My peers solve problems creatively.
Most students resolve conflicts peacefully.