Jennifer A. Fredricks

The Measurement of Student Engagement: A Comparative Analysis of Various Methods and Student Self-report Instruments

One of the challenges with research on student engagement is the large variation in the measurement of this construct, which has made it challenging to compare findings across studies. This chapter contributes to our understanding of the measurement of student in engagement in three ways. First, we describe strengths and limitations of different methods for assessing student engagement (i.e., self-report measures, experience sampling techniques, teacher ratings, interviews, and observations). Second, we compare and contrast 11 self-report survey measures of student engagement that have been used in prior research. Across these 11 measures, we describe what is measured (scale name and items), use of measure, samples, and the extent of reliability and validity information available on each measure. Finally, we outline limitations with current approaches to measurement and promising future directions.

Extracurricular Involvement and Adolescent Adjustment: Impact of Duration, Number of Activities, and Breadth of Participation

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the associations between a variety of measures of extracurricular participation and indicators of youth development. We use data from the Childhood and Beyond Study, a larger longitudinal study of adolescent development. The sample is primarily White middle-class adolescents in Grades 7 through 12. First, we examined the relation between the duration of involvement in school clubs and in organized sports over a 3-year span and youth development. Second, the linear and nonlinear relations between the number of extracurricular activities and youth development 1 year later were examined. Finally, we tested the link between the breadth of participation and youth development 1 year later. In general, across all 3 sets of analyses, our findings indicate that greater involvement in extracurricular activities is associated with academic adjustment, psychological competencies, and a positive peer context. The results were strongest for the oldest group of youth.

A Qualitative Exploration of Adolescents’ Commitment to Athletics and the Arts:

This study sought to enhance, through qualitative methods, an understanding of the factors that influence adolescents’commitments to extracurricular activities over time. We obtained semistructured interview data from 41 adolescents who had been highly involved in athletics or the arts since middle childhood. We examined their interpretations of the factors that supported or hindered their continued involvement in these activities over the years. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that psychological factors, perceptions of the context, and emerging identity all played a role in decisions to remain involved or quit. Perceived competence and peer relationships emerged as important psychological factors, whereas perceptions of challenge and costs and benefits were important contextual influences. We discuss implications of the findings for the implementation of extracurricular programs that support adolescent development.

The Reciprocal Links Between School Engagement, Youth Problem Behaviors, and School Dropout During Adolescence

Drawing on the self-system model, this study conceptualized school engagement as a multidimensional construct, including behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, and examined whether changes in the three types of school engagement related to changes in problem behaviors from 7th through 11th grades (approximately ages 12-17). In addition, a transactional model of reciprocal relations between school engagement and problem behaviors was tested to predict school dropout. Data were collected on 1,272 youth from an ethnically and economically diverse county (58% African American, 36% European American; 51% females). Results indicated that adolescents who had declines in behavioral and emotional engagement with school tended to have increased delinquency and substance use over time. There were bidirectional associations between behavioral and emotional engagement in school and youth problem behaviors over time. Finally, lower behavioral and emotional engagement and greater problem behaviors predicted greater likelihood of dropping out of school.

Developing and Fostering Passion in Academic and Nonacademic Domains

The purpose of this study was to explore how passion was manifested among gifted and talent youth selected from a larger longitudinal study of child and adolescent development. The gifted sample included 25 high school and college students who were selected because they were in a gifted program in elementary school. The talent sample included 41 high school students who were selected because they were highly involved in athletics and the arts in middle childhood. The authors found that passion was more characteristic of participation in nonacademic activities (i.e., sports and the arts). Talented youth were more likely to talk about wanting to do their activity all the time, experiencing flow, getting emotional release from participation, and internalizing the activity into their identity. The authors also found that school settings, and especially regular classrooms as compared with gifted and advanced classes, appeared to undermine rather that support passion. The authors discuss implications of their findings for creating school environments that can foster passion. Putting the Research to Use We found very little evidence of passion in our interviews with gifted high school and college youth. Instead, most of these youth talked about being bored and that little motivated them besides demonstrating their ability. Unfortunately, many of the youth talked negatively about aspects of both the academic and social environment. We offer suggestions for teachers and schools on how to increase passion in the classroom. Students are more likely to experience passion in environments where they feel supported by peers who are of similar ability and motivation levels, where teachers model enthusiasm and press for understanding, where there is adequate challenge, and where are opportunities to work on varied, meaningful, and cognitively complex tasks.

Engagement in School and Out-of-School Contexts: A Multidimensional View of Engagement

This article presents a multidimensional model of engagement (i.e., behavioral, emotional, cognitive) across school and organized out-of-school contexts (i.e., extracurricular activities, community organizations, and after-school programs). First, I describe the reasons why it is important to examine engagement in both school and organized out-of-school contexts. Next, an outline of the different ways involvement in organized out-of-school activities may relate to school is given. Finally, I present a conceptual model that outlines the contextual factors that are related to higher engagement in both school and out-of-school settings. The impact of teacher support, peer relationships, structure, and task characteristics on engagement are outlined. Practical examples of ways teachers can increase engagement in each area are given.

Healthy mind, healthy habits: The influence of activity involvement in middle childhood

There is growing evidence that participating in extracurricular and out-of-school activities during adolescence is associated with both short- and long-term indicators of positive development (e.g., Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eccles & Templeton, 2002; Mahoney, 2000). Yet, few researchers have questioned whether these relations are solely the result of activity participation during adolescence or if they are the culmination of a process that began in middle childhood. Middle childhood is marked by many physical, cognitive, social, and contextual changes. It is during this time that children develop multiple cognitive skills, such as reasoning and the ability to reflect on ones accomplishments, experiences, and aspirations. Childrens social worlds broaden as they begin to participate in organized out-of-school activities. The changes in childrens abilities and skills coupled with the new contexts in which children develop suggest that middle childhood is an important period for the development of skills and beliefs through participation in out-of-school activities. Although entry into adolescence and adulthood brings new abilities and interests, some of the benefits of adolescent participation may not be realized unless the groundwork is laid in middle childhood. There is little evidence available concerning developmental hypotheses about the reasons or mechanisms for these associations. Longitudinal studies over extended periods of time afford an opportunity to examine positive and negative consequences of participation based on activity characteristics as well as other potential influences such as parental encouragement or child talent.

Organized out-of-school activities and peer relationships: Theoretical perspectives and previous research

The goal of this volume is to show how organized activities provide an ideal setting for developing a deeper understanding of peer relations, as well as offering a context for a more positive study of peers. The chapters in this volume focus on youth 10 to 18 years of age. In this introductory chapter we first describe the reasons why organized activities, like sports, arts, and school clubs, are ideal settings to examine peer processes. Next, we describe the theoretical and empirical research related to two questions: (1) how do peers influence organized activity participation and (2) how does organized activity participation influence peer relations. We organize this review around three themes outlined in the broader peer relations literature: (1) peer groups, (2) peer relationships, and (3) peer interactions.

Moving beyond attendance: lessons learned from assessing engagement in afterschool contexts.

Youth engagement is the least researched, but potentially most important, aspect of participation in afterschool programs. The level of youth engagement can vary across programs, across youth within a program, and within individual youth over time. Engagement is important for both recruiting and retaining participants, and has been associated with more positive academic outcomes over time. This chapter integrates perspectives from practitioners, researchers, and the school engagement literature. Reasons why engagement is an important dimension of afterschool programming, different methods for assessing engagement, key features of engaging afterschool programs, and implications for practice are also outlined.

Measuring Youth Participation, Program Quality, and Social and Emotional Skills in After-School Programs

Increases in funding for and attention to after-school programs have led to greater scrutiny over both the quality and effectiveness of this programming, putting pressure on programs to measure both setting-level characteristics and the impact of involvement on participants. Yet research on the outcomes of after-school participation has been mixed. One reason for the mixed finding is that the effects of after-school participation vary by type of program, quality of programming, and length of youths’ involvement. Better measurement can help determine which types of programs are most effective and how often young people need to attend to see these benefits. First, we focus on the Quality, Engagement, Skills, Transfer (QuEST) model, and outline measurement issues for three components of this model, quality, engagement, and social and emotional skills. Next, a case study of an evaluation of the program Girls on the Run is presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion of measurement challenges and recommendations for policy makers and practitioners. Recommendations include: (1) using logic models to define the goals of the program and to help identify appropriate outcomes, (2) incorporating measures of youth participation and engagement into evaluations to better understand the impact of after-school programs, (3) evaluating the technical quality of available measures and selecting measures that are appropriate to the study goals, and (4) considering the organization’s capacity for evaluation.