Student Well-Being

New Inquiry to Measure Student Engagement

By Debra Viadero — January 21, 2004 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A group of Indiana University researchers is looking for high schools to take part in a first-of-a-kind national survey aimed at finding out how connected teenagers are to their schools and to learning.

“If you improve students’ engagement, you’re going to improve students’ learning, and that is going to improve the lives of students later on,” said Martha M. McCarthy, the director of the new High School Survey of Student Engagement, which researchers are hoping to launch this spring.

Information on registering for the survey, “High School Survey of Student Engagement,” is available from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Like commercial standardized tests, the new study will give schools and districts results for their own students and show how those findings compare with national norms. Unlike those achievement-oriented tests, however, the survey seeks to get beyond what students know to find out more about their behavior and day-to-day learning experiences. It asks students, for example, how much time they spend on homework, whether any teachers have mentored them outside class, and whether they read for pleasure on their own time.

“This tells you parts of the school experience that can easily be changed to improve students’ engagement,” said Ms. McCarthy, who is also a professor of educational leadership and law at the university, in Bloomington, Ind. “If you find out your students are only writing two papers a year that are three pages or more long, that’s certainly something you can change.”

Asking Questions

The survey is modeled on the National Survey of Student Engagement, which is also based at Indiana University. Begun in 1999, that survey has been given to more than 425,000 college students. With help from high school teachers and administrators, university researchers tweaked questions from the existing survey to better fit high school students.

“It asks questions and probes into areas that virtually no one else has done,” said Timothy F. Hyland, the high school superintendent for the Glenbard, Ill., schools. His 8,800-student high school district, located in the western suburbs of Chicago, test-piloted the survey last year.

He said school officials there were surprised to learn that 15 percent of the teenagers surveyed answered no to a question asking them whether they would come back to Glenbard’s schools if they had to repeat their high school experience.

“We’re a high-performing suburban school system, and that caught a lot of people off guard,” Mr. Hyland said of that response.

The survey also showed that students had few contacts with faculty members outside the classroom. In response, the school system installed an e-mail system in its four high schools that enables students to write to the teachers in their buildings and vice versa. Students can also e-mail the superintendent.

“We’ve got all the math and reading scores, but we didn’t have anything of any reliability on the affective attitudes of our students,” Mr. Hyland said.

He said the district hopes to continue the survey on an annual basis now in order to accumulate some longitudinal data on its students.

Districts such as Glenbard that take part in the study will have to pay a fee. The rates begin at $750 for schools with fewer than 750 students and $1,500 for schools in the 1,000-to-2,000-student range.

Indiana University’s college of education supports other administrative costs for the study now, but researchers are hoping to attract foundation funding for more expanded administrations of the survey. This spring’s survey will include 100 schools.

The deadline for schools to register for the study is Feb. 15.

A version of this article appeared in the January 21, 2004 edition of Education Week as New Inquiry to Measure Student Engagement

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being Netflix's 'Adolescence' Sparks Debate Over Sex Education in Schools
Sex education, generally ill-equipped to handle subject matter to which teens are exposed, is getting further squeezed.
6 min read
052025 abstinence sex education computer access 476732252
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being What Schools Can Do About Climate Change Right Now
A new report details how schools can adapt for climate change in both small and big ways.
7 min read
Ceiba Phillips, an 11-year-old Eaton Fire evacuee, visits his school gutted by the fire in Altadena, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
Ceiba Phillips, an 11-year-old Eaton Fire evacuee, visits his school gutted by the fire in Altadena, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. A new report from EdTrust outlines how schools can adapt for climate change, from incorporating the concept into the curriculum, tending to students' climate anxiety, and making climate-resilient facility upgrades.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Student Well-Being Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ Sounds an Alarm on Troubled Teens. What Can Teachers Do?
The popular Netflix series "Adolescence" raises questions about what schools can do for troubled teens.
6 min read
Illustration of a depressive boy that is sitting and thinking on a window at night (dark blue background)
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being 4 Ways Schools Can Ease Student Anxiety During Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Changes in the federal immigration enforcement landscape can cause increased anxiety among all students
4 min read
Illustration of a large hand holding an umbrella over a person of color who is sitting with her head in her hands.
iStock/Getty