Conceptualization and Assessment of Adolescents’ Engagement and Disengagement in School
A Multidimensional School Engagement Scale
Abstract
Abstract. Increasing school engagement is critical for improving academic achievement and reducing dropout rates. In order to increase student engagement and identify those students who are most disengaged from school, we need to conceptualize and measure student engagement appropriately. This study used a mixed method sequential exploratory design to develop and validate a student survey measure of school engagement that reflects a multidimensional conceptualization of engagement. Psychometric tests were conducted with a large racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 5th–12th graders in the United States (N = 3,632). Findings demonstrated that a bifactor multidimensional model fit the data appropriately and provided evidence of measurement invariance, construct, and predictive validity. Results provided a psychometrically sound foundation for capturing the behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of student engagement and disengagement in school.
References
2015). Bifactor analysis and construct validity of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ) in non-clinical Spanish samples. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–14. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00404
(2008). Student engagement with school: Critical conceptual and methodological issues of the construct. Psychology in the Schools, 45, 369–386. doi: 10.1002/pits.20303
(2006). General multilevel modeling with sampling weights. Communications in Statistics: Theory and Methods, 35, 439–460. doi: 10.1080/03610920500476598
(2007).
(Entry into adulthood: Are adult role transitions meaningful markers of adult identity? . In R. MacmillanEd., Constructing adulthood: Agency and subjectivity in the life course (pp. 199–224). London, UK: Elsevier Science. doi: 10.1016/S1040-2608(06)11008-42014). Observations of student behavior in non-classroom settings: A multilevel examination of location, density, and school context. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35, 1–31. doi: 10.1177/0272431614562835
(2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14, 464–504. doi: 10.1080/10705510701301834
(2013). Two concepts or two approaches? A bifactor analysis of psychological and subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 1033–1068. doi: 10.1007/s10902-012-9367-x
(2006). A comparison of bifactor and second-order models of quality of life. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 41, 189–225. doi: 10.1207/s15327906mbr4102_5
(2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255. doi: 10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
(1991).
(Competence, autonomy, and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes . In M. R. GunnarL. A. SroufeEds., Self processes in development: Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 23, pp. 43–77). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.2003).
(Advanced mixed methods research designs . In A. TashakkoriC. TeddlieEds., Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 209–240). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.2012).
(Part I commentary: So what is student engagement anyway? . In S. L. ChristensonA. L. ReschlyC. WylieEds., Hand book of research on student engagement (pp. 133–148). New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_61989). Withdrawing from school. Review of Educational Research, 59, 117–142. doi: 10.3102/00346543059002117
(2004). An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data. Psychological Methods, 9, 466–491. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.9.4.466
(2005).
(School engagement . In K. A. MooreL. LippmanEds., Conceptualizing and measuring indicators of positive development: What do children need to flourish? (pp. 305–321). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59–109. doi: 10.3102/00346543074001059
(2012).
(A comparative analysis of various methods and student self-report instruments . In S. ChristensonA. L. ReschyC. WylieEds., Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 763–783). New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_379382011). Measure twice, cut down error: A process for enhancing the validity of survey scales. Review of General Psychology, 15, 380–387. doi: 10.1037/a0025704
(2004).
(Internalizing problems during adolescence . In R. M. LernerL. SteinbergEds., Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 587–626). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.2015). Evaluation of dimensionality in the assessment of internal consistency reliability: Coefficient alpha and omega coefficients. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 34, 14–20. doi: 10.1111/emip.12100
(2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41, 111–117. doi: 10.1207/s15326985ep4102_4
(2007). Using positive youth development to predict contribution and risk behaviors in early adolescence: Findings from the first two waves of the 4-H study of positive youth development. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 263–273. doi: 10.1177/0165025407076439
(2007). Cognitive processing of self-report items in educational research: Do they think what we mean? Educational Psychologist, 42, 139–151. doi: 10.1080/00461520701416231
(2004). The National survey of student engagement: Conceptual framework and overview of psychometric properties. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning.
(2011). Affect and engagement during small group instruction. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 13–24. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.09.001
(2007). Examining a multidimensional model of student motivation and engagement using a construct validation approach. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 413–440. doi: 10.1348/000709906X118036
(1999). Test theory: A unified treatment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(2003). Objectifying content validity: Conducting a content validity study in social work research. Social Work Research, 27, 94–104. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42659521
(2002). Protective factors related to antisocial behavior trajectories. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 258, 277–290. doi: 10.1002/jclp.10022
(2006). Quantifying school engagement: Research report, Retrieved from http://schoolengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/QuantifyingSchoolEngagementResearchReport-2.pdf
. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 315–341. doi: 10.1007/s10648-006-9029-9
(2010). Bifactor models and rotations: Exploring the extent to which multidimensional data yield univocal scale scores. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 544–559. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2010.496477
(2013). Multidimensionality and structural coefficient bias in structural equation modeling: A bifactor perspective. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 73, 5–26. doi: 10.1177/0013164412449831
(2016). To what extent do teacher-student interaction quality and student gender contribute to fifth graders’ engagement in mathematics learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 107, 170–185. doi: 10.1037/a0037252
(2014). Efficacy of the responsive classroom approach: Results from a 3-year longitudinal randomized control trial. American Education Research Journal, 51, 567–603. doi: 10.3102/0002831214523821
(2001). The classroom social environment and changes in adolescents’ motivation and engagement during middle school. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 437–460. doi: 10.3102/00028312038002437
(2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. The American Psychologist, 55, 5–14. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5
(2012). How do young adolescents cope with social problems? An examination of social goals, coping with friends, and social adjustment. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 32, 851–875. doi: 10.1177/0272431611429944
(2009).
(Engagement as an organizational construct in the dynamics of motivational development . In K. WentzelA. WigfieldEds., Handbook of motivation in school (pp. 223–245). Malwah, NJ: Erlbaum.2008). A motivational perspective on engagement and disaffection: Conceptualization and assessment of children’s behavioral and emotional participation in academic activities in the classroom. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69, 493–525. doi: 10.1177/0013164408323233
(2011).
(Developmental dynamics of student engagement, coping, and everyday resilience . In S. ChristensonA. L. ReschyC. WylieEds., Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 34–46). New York, NY: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_22015). The trajectories of student emotional engagement and school burnout with academic and psychological development: Findings from Finnish adolescents. Learning and Instruction, 36, 57–65. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.11.004
(2014). Staying engaged: Knowledge and research needs in student engagement. Child Development Perspectives, 8, 137–143. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12073
(2012). Social support matters: Longitudinal effects of social support on three dimensions of school engagement from middle to high school. Child Development, 83, 877–895. doi: 10.12691/education-4-16-6
(2014). The reciprocal links between school engagement and youth problem behavior during adolescence. Child Development, 85, 722–737. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12138
(2016). The Math and Science engagement scale: Development, validation, and psychometric properties. Learning and Instruction, 43, 16–26. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.008
(2010). Adolescents’ perceptions of classroom environment, school engagement, and academic achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 47, 633–662. doi: 10.3102/0002831209361209
(2013). Adolescent educational success and mental health vary across school engagement profiles. Developmental Psychology, 49, 1266–1276. doi: 10.1037/a0030028
(2011). The assessment of school engagement: Examining dimensionality and measurement invariance across gender and race/ethnicity. Journal of School Psychology, 49, 465–480. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2011.04.001
(2009).
(Peers and academic functioning at school . In K. H. RubinW. M. BukowskiB. LaursenEds., Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 531–547). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.2006). Development during early and middle adolescence. Handbook of Educational Psychology, 2, 87–113.
(