School engagement is associated with higher achievement and lower school drop- out rates. Teacher, peer, and parent relationships are critical in the development of school engagement. However, most researchers have looked at the effects of these relationships on school engagement in isolation. Also, few studies have looked at how the impact of these relationships on school engagement may vary as the result of school attended, age, gender, and race. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the growing body of research exploring the mechanisms that underlie the socio-emotional antecedents of school engagement. A theoretical framework for the examination of school engagement as an assessment of how well family, teacher, and peer relationships are meeting students' needs drew from Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model and Catalano and Hawkins (1996) social development model. Latent variable structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze an archival data set that included 2,217 students in grades 6 through 8 attending three public middle schools in Texas. Results indicated that reported levels of school engagement were explained primarily by peer and teacher relationships. Family context played an indirect role on school engagement, via its influence on peer and teacher relationships. Grade, gender, and race also impacted how relational factors influenced school engagement. Results highlight the importance of positive relationships with family, peers, and teachers, in increasing the development of school engagement. Results also highlight taking into account the unique needs of the student based on his or her age, gender, and ethnic background when designing interventions for school engagement. / text

This study was designed to accomplish three main objectives. The first objective was to test the hypothesis that school engagement is a multidimensional construct with three factors: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive or academic engagement. The second objective was to test for invariance of the measurement and factorial structures of school engagement across white and African-American students. And the third objective of the study was to test for invariance of the latent mean structures of school engagement across white and African-American students. In order to accomplish the objectives of the study a step by step approached, using structural equation modeling, was followed. First, the best fitting model of school engagement for both white and African American students were identified. Second, invariance of the number of underlying factors of school engagement across white and African-American students was tested. Third, invariance of factor loadings across the two racial/ethnic groups was tested. Fourth, invariance of the factor variances and covariances was tested. Fifth, latent mean structures of school engagement between white and African-American were compared. Finally, the results of the calibrating sample were cross-validated with the second half of the sample. Results from this study produced consistent support for a three-factor model of school engagement and without cross-loadings to other dimensions of school engagement. However, some parameters including factor loadings, factor variances and latent means were found non-invariant across white and African American students. African American students rated themselves statistically significantly higher on emotional engagement than white students. In addition, weaknesses in the measurement model especially the reliability coefficients of observed indicators and variance accounted for by the latent factors were identified. Cognitive engagement proved to be the most difficult to measure among all three dimensions of school engagement. Finally, analysis of the cross-validating sample produced some important differences which included one additional non-invariant factor loading, one factor covariance, and one additional latent mean difference between white and African American students. / Ph. D.

Thesis advisor: Jacqueline Lerner / Previous research has found higher levels of school engagement to be related to various positive outcomes such as higher academic achievement, higher levels of competence, lower depression, and better personal adjustment. Overall, there is strong evidence to suggest a broad positive association between school engagement and a variety of academic, social, and emotional outcomes. However, existing work has certain limitations and some important questions remain to be addressed. In an effort to address the limitations of previous research, this study aimed to establish the within and across time relationships between family and contextual variables and school engagement. The sample for this longitudinal study included 596 students who were part of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. These students were first surveyed in the fifth grade and completed subsequent questionnaires in the 6th and 7th grade (44% male; 56% female). In addition to the CES-D, several scales were constructed from the broad array of measures used in the 4-H study. The goals of this research were to identify the within and across time family and contextual predictors of school engagement, the predictors of the emotional and cognitive outcomes that result when adolescents are engaged in school, and to determine whether school engagement acts as a mediator between the variables of school climate, teacher support and parental involvement and the outcomes of grades, perceived academic competence, depression, educational aspirations, and educational expectations. The effects of gender, SES, and race were also examined. Statistical tools including regression analysis and tests of mediation were used. The findings indicated that the predictors of school engagement varied for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders in this sample. The changing predictors of school engagement and thus, the ways in which school engagement mediated the relationships between family and contextual variables and developmental outcomes demonstrated the fluidity of the adolescent and their changing needs and influences. These findings also illustrated the value of the longitudinal design of this study. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: David L. Blustein / Recent immigration into the United States is characterized by an increase in the influx of people from Latin America, Asia and Africa (Larsen, 2004). The increased diversity of the immigrant population calls for greater attention to the needs of this population, particularly as immigrants and their children are entering the education system. A growing body of literature documents the experience of immigrant youth in schools and the implications of school engagement, and academic achievement for their future success (e.g., Suárez-Orozco, Suárez-Orozco & Todorova 2008). Vocational and ethnic identity represent different aspects of the implementation of the individual's self concept which are relevant to students' academic engagement and success (Kenny, Blustein, Haase, Jackson & Perry, 2006; Suárez-Orozco, et. al., 2008). Previous research has examined separately the contribution of perceptions of discrimination and vocational variables to the school engagement experiences of immigrant students and students of color respectively; however, the collective contribution of these variables has not been studied. The present study brings together these two bodies of literature to understand the relationship between school engagement, perceptions of discrimination, vocational and ethnic identity variables in a sample of 125 Cape Verdean immigrant students. The participants were first through second generation high school students with at least three years of residence in the US. Specific ethnic/ acculturation profiles (ethnic, national, bicultural, and diffuse) developed by previous researchers were confirmed in this sample. Differences were found in perceptions of discrimination between those students in the bicultural and diffuse profiles. The results of a regression analysis indicate that perceived discrimination moderates the relationship between vocational variables (career planfulness and vocational identity) and school engagement. The third set of hypotheses, examining vocational variables as mediators of the relationship between perceptions of discrimination and school engagement were not supported. The findings highlight the importance of including considerations of ethnicity, acculturation and perceptions of discrimination as one considers the academic and vocational functioning of immigrant students. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

Older students with reading difficulties struggle with high school academics and are at risk for not graduating. Despite a growing body of research on adolescent literacy in upper elementary and middle school, the research on high school reading interventions is relatively scant and not as promising as one would hope. Rather than assuming students know how to read well by the time they enter secondary schools, educators need to consider the reading skills students may be lacking as well as ensure that students remain motivated and engaged in learning. This study synthesizes the research findings from several studies on supplementary reading interventions for adolescents as well as research findings on how motivation is interwoven with adolescent literacy achievement. Previous research has examined motivation for reading by looking at intrinsic and avoidance motivation and forming reading profiles of students in fifth grade. My study brings these profiles to the high school level and investigates whether the reading profiles at the end of eighth grade predict reading achievement and motivation for ninth grade students in a reading intervention course and those not in a reading intervention. The study focuses on ninth grade, a pivotal year for students, and how students’ involvement in reading intervention courses prior to and in ninth grade predict student achievement on a reading comprehension measure, as well as their reading motivation and school engagement.

The purpose of this study was to explore mechanisms through which high school students experience and cope with perceived discrimination and how discrimination and coping mechanisms relate to psychological distress and school engagement. Framed within transactional stress and coping and sociopolitical development theories, I tested a multiple mediation model with an ethnically diverse sample of public high school students (N = 979) and a subsample of Latina/o students (n = 433) to examine the mediating effects of three coping mechanisms (perceived social support, ethnic identity, and critical consciousness) on the relationship between perceived discrimination and the outcomes of psychological distress and school engagement. Additionally, psychological distress was examined as a mediator in the link between perceived discrimination and school engagement. Measurement and structural models were tested and demonstrated an adequate fit to the data. The hypothesized structural model accounts for 54% of the variance in school engagement and 31.2% of the variance in psychological distress in the full sample. The same model accounts for 63.4% of the variance in school engagement and 26.7% of the variance in psychological distress in the Latina/o subsample. A bootstrap analysis revealed that critical consciousness and perceived social support mediate the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress in the full sample. Further, critical consciousness, ethnic identity, perceived social support, and psychological distress mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and school engagement. A bootstrap analysis in the Latina/o subsample indicated that critical consciousness and psychological distress mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and school engagement. While there are associated risks, the results highlight critical consciousness development as a protective racism-related coping mechanism for ethnically diverse adolescents and Latina/o youth in particular. Strengths, limitations, and implications of the study are discussed.

Children with behaviour problems tend to be more unengaged and low-achieving at school than children without behaviour difficulties. This systematic literature review is highlighting the meaning of intervention to support children towards the school engagement.  The interventions for decreasing behaviour problems, is seen as a facilitator to be engaged. The school engagement will lead to an academic achievement at school. Early engagement has impact for longer in future in child’s life. The engagement in kindergarten has influence in primary school engagement and achievement. Therefore, intervening in early age to support children at-risk, will lead to better possibilities in learning. The risk factors can be child’s socioeconomical status, race, disability and parent’s low involvement in the school settings. Behaviour problem has pointed out to be hindering factor for the school engagement and this means missed opportunities in learning. This might lead even more disruptive behaviour. That kind of behaviour is challenging for the whole classroom, since it affects on everyone’s learning. Teacher’s attitudes manifest the self-worthiness in students. Supportive and friendly environment at school embraces the participation to the school settings. Especially, children from low socioeconomical families tend to score lower at school. These children need more intervening from the teacher to cultivate the school engagement. This systematic review analysed the data from 14 different articles from Europe, USA and Australia.

In the United States today, significant gaps exist among the races along a variety of measures of academic success, including standardized test scores, grade point averages, and drop-out and graduation rates. In recent decades, social scientists and educators alike have sought to uncover the reasons for these gaps, and many have focused on the role of cultural and institutional factors within the school setting. In recent years, researchers have examined such factors as a students' school identification (Osborne 1997; Voelkl 1997), students' opportunities to learn and the classroom climate (Oakes 1985), students' sense of school belonging (Goodenow 1993), and of particular interest to this researcher, sense of school engagement (Fredricks, Blumenfeld and Paris, 2004). Using data drawn from the Community College Survey on Student Engagement (CCSSE) administered by Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in the spring semester of 2007, I explore (1) whether students' levels of academic achievement, as measured by grade point average, vary across racial groups, as much of the literature has shown; and (2) whether any of the observed racial differences in academic achievement can be explained by differing levels of school engagement. Results show that black students at HCC do, in fact, report lower academic achievement compared to their white counterparts, but that these racial differences persist even after controlling for levels of school engagement. In other words, school engagement predicts academic achievement for all students, blacks as well as whites. The strongest predictors of academic achievement for students at HCC are class attendance, quality of student-faculty relations, and hours spent studying.

Numerous benefits are associated with physical activity participation with recent evidence indicating this may transfer into the classroom environment. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between attitudes towards active or passive physical activity participation and classroom engagement in elementary school children. Methods: Students (n = 67) in grades 3-5 completed The Children’s Self-Perceptions of Adequacy in and Predilection for Physical Activity (CSAPPA) and The Elementary Student Engagement Instrument (SEI). Results: A statistically significant positive correlation (r = .31, P < .05) was found between the CSAPPA and SEI indicating that students who prefer active participation in physical activity also report higher levels of engagement within the school environment. No statistical difference was noted between males and females or across grade levels. Conclusion: The results of this research support the benefits of physical activity participation within the school environment. The lack of statistical difference with regard to sex is also noteworthy in that research connecting physical activity and classroom engagement frequently indicates differences between males and females. This is possibly attributed to the inclusive culture established by the school which promotes and supports opportunities for all students. These findings are particularly relevant in light of current trends to reduce time spent in physical education, free play, and other physical activity opportunities within the school day.

Children in the child welfare system face a multitude of challenges following maltreatment. These children frequently go on to report poor outcomes in many facets of their life, including education. It is thought that children who are removed from their home following maltreatment and placed in out-of-home placement (OHP), experience even more challenges due to their removal from their home and environment. The literature surrounding maltreated children's educational outcomes suggest that these children struggle in school when compared to children who have not experienced maltreatment. However, literature surrounding the educational outcomes of maltreated children who experience OHP, versus maltreated children who do not experience OHP, tend to collectively present with mixed results. The purpose of this study was to isolate the effect of OHP on the educational outcome of, school engagement, to get a clearer picture of how OHP affects the educational outcomes of maltreated children. This study utilized data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW II) with a total sample of 1,490 children. Propensity score matching was employed to isolate the effect of OHP on school engagement. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in the school engagement of maltreated children who experience OHP, when compared to the school engagement on maltreated children who remain in-home. Direction for future research, and clinical implications are addressed. / Master of Science / Children who experience any form of abuse (physical, sexual, neglect, and other), tend to experience a number of challenges in many parts of their life following the abuse. It is thought that children who are removed from their home following abuse and placed in out-of-home placement (OHP), experience even more challenges due to their removal from their home, family, and school. OHP is when the child is removed from the home and placed with a temporary caregiver in a: family or non-family foster home, group home, residential care, etc. When looking at the challenges that these abused children face, it is common for these children to experience challenges with school and their academics. The purpose of this research study was too narrow in on how OHP affects the child’s ability to do well in school, specifically how it affects the child’s school engagement. School engagement is best described as the way the child interacts and responds to school, including their attitudes and thoughts about school. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the school engagement of children who experience abuse and OHP, when compared to the school engagement of children who experience abuse and remain in their original home. The results of this research study suggest that it is less about OHP, and more about abuse, that makes it difficult for abused children to have positive school engagement.