Multilevel Exploration of Student Engagement and Achievement

Student engagement is an indicator of achievement in schools, and one of the non-academic measures accepted for school accountability reporting under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Using a model of three engagement dimensions, a measurement of school engagement was given to all public school students in a western state. Results showed positive associations of engagement with school achievement across all engagement domains. Engagement explained approximately 8 to 13 percent of intergroup variation in scores. Adding student demographic variables to the engagement variable showed differing effects. Race and poverty decreased accounted for variance, while disability increased it. School size and mean engagement each explained almost 100% of intergroup variance. School effects were extremely important in accounting for school level variation. Future research such as multi-level SEM is proposed.