According to Adena M. Klem and James P. Connell, "First Things First (FTF), an education reform initiative for schools and school districts developed by the Institute for Research and Reform in Education, seeks to raise student academic performance to levels required for post-secondary education and high-quality employment.

"The Institute works with partners around three goals: (1) strengthening relationships among students, school staff, and families; (2) improving teaching and learning in every classroom every day; and (3) reallocating budget, staff, and time to achieve goals one and two. To meet these goals, FTF helps create personalized environments by restructuring schools into small learning communities (SLCs) and integrates high-quality, standards-based teaching and learning into the SLCs.

"In addition to small learning communities where small groups of teachers and students stay together for all core courses during the day and for the entire time they are in the school (e.g., all three years of middle school or all four years of high school), FTF uses several other strategies to create personalized environments. SLCs become the place where staff members take collective responsibility for every students' success as well as make key decisions about discipline, staffing, time use, and budgets . . .

"Another strategy for creating a caring environment for students is to provide them and their families with an advisor or advocate in the school. FTF developed the Family Advocate System with the goal of creating a bridge between the SLCs and families. Staff members in the SLCs become advocates for a small number of students and their families, stay with them the entire time they are in school, and do whatever it takes to help those students succeed."

Source: Klem, A.M., & Connell, J.P. (September, 2004). Relationships Matter: Linking Teacher Support to Student Engagement and Achievement. Journal of School Health, 7(74), 262-273.