Measuring Student Engagement in Community College: Construct Validity of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement

Using data from the 2019 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) 3‐year cohort, this article presents a validation study of the 2017 version of CCSSE. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were implemented to investigate the psychometric properties and construct validity with strategies to address missing data. Eight engagement factors were identified underlying 42 engagement‐related items. Of the original 38 benchmark items, 28 (73.7%) were retained in the new engagement factors; the remaining 14 items are new. The goodness of fit indices met the accepted standards supporting the psychometric properties of this solution. This study provides a more rigorous and accurate methodological approach than the five benchmarks, and resonate with recent research on community college students’ experiences in their institutional context. Community college administrators should consider utilizing the new engagement factors to better assess their institution's engagement performance and implement more effective institutional improvements.