title: Student engagement and its relationship with early high school dropout.
abstract: Although the concept of school engagement figures prominently in most school dropout theories, there has been little empirical research conducted on its nature and course and, more importantly, the association with dropout. Information on the natural development of school engagement would greatly benefit those interested in preventing student alienation during adolescence. Using a longitudinal sample of 11,827 French-Canadian high school students, we tested behavioral, affective, cognitive indices of engagement both separately and as a global construct. We then assessed their contribution as prospective predictors of school dropout using factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Global engagement reliably predicted school dropout. Among its three specific dimensions, only behavioral engagement made a significant contribution in the prediction equation. Our findings confirm the robustness of the overall multidimensional construct of school engagement, which reflects both cognitive and psychosocial characteristics, and underscore the importance attributed to basic participation and compliance issues in reliably estimating risk of not completing basic schooling during adolescence.
authors: Ecole de Psychoéducation, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada. isabelle.archambault@umontreal.ca
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Archambault
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Janosz
authors: Jean-Sébastien
authors: JS
authors: Fallu
authors: Linda S
authors: LS
authors: Pagani
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012919:Social Behavior; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*