Data Collection and Analysis

Measuring Student Engagement

The world is changing faster than it ever has before, and with it, so must education. Technology has bred a new generation of students that are highly engaged in our global society, with their perceptions toward older educational approaches being mundane and tedious. This is why student engagement in education is one of my top priorities. I know that what I teach my students is important. If they don’t know that, then I feel that I am doing an inadequate job. Beyond that, “student engagement measures have been shown to correlate positively with achievement and negatively with the likelihood of dropping out of school” (Fredricks, McColskey, Meli, Montrosse, Mordica, and Mooney, 2011). Fortunately, Act 77’s mandate for personalized education is a sign that in Vermont, education is changing in a way that should address the dynamics of engagement. This interdisciplinary unit based upon the Three Pillars of Personalization is a way to measure that.

The issue with engagement is that it is more qualitative than quantitative, so measuring it is not straightforward. However, I am not the first to attempt to measure it. In 2011, a team of educational researchers from the Regional Educational Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro prepared a comprehensive report entitled Measuring student engagement in upper elementary through high school: a description of 21 instruments. The instruments outlined in this article range from student reporting to teacher reporting, as well as through various dimensions of engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) (Fredricks et al, 2011). Based on my own understanding of engagement, it can be observed and reported on by the teacher (behavior), but true engagement is more than just interest. Student perception of their own engagement and relevance of the work they do (cognitive) is a stronger indicator, and should be student reported.

The survey I give will be partially based on the High School Survey of Student Engagement, which was created by the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at the Indiana University School of Education (HSSSE). The survey will be given three times:

• first, at the beginning of the year to establish a base measure of student engagement in their education up until middle school
• second, before we begin the ethnography unit to measure any changes in perception in the first six weeks of middle school
• third, at the conclusion of the ethnography unit, with students responding to the same statements, this time in regard to the ethnography unit itself

Students will respond to each statement with one of the following for answers: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. Here is the tentative list of statements they will be responding to:

• I try my hardest in most of my classes
• I find most of my classes/school work challenging
• I find most of my classes/school work interesting
• I enjoy working on tasks that take a lot of thinking and mental effort
• I see how the work I do in school will help me later on in life
• I enjoy working with other people
• I feel like I have a lot of choice regarding my education
• I persevere when I feel challenged
• I believe that I communicate well in writing
• I believe that I communicate well verbally

The third survey will include more pointed short answer evaluation and reflection questions, such as the following:

• What did you enjoy about the ethnography project?
• What would you change about the ethnography project if you could?
• What would you do differently if you did this project again?
• What did you learn from this project that you think you will use in the future?

Works Cited

Fredricks, Jennifer, Wendy McColskey, Jane Meli, Bianca Montrosse, Joy Mordica, and Kathleen Mooney. "Measuring Student Engagement in Upper Elementary through High School: A Description of 21 Instruments." Issues & Answers 098 (2011). Regional Educational Laboratory at SERVE Center UNC, Greensboro. Institute of Education Sciences - National Center for Educational Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Web. 14 July 2017.

Torres, Amanda. "The High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE)." (2013). National Association of Independent Schools. Web. 14 July 2017.