Skip to main content
Log in

The Student Engagement in Schools Questionnaire (SESQ) and the Teacher Engagement Report Form-New (TERF-N): Examining the Preliminary Evidence

  • General Article
  • Published:
Contemporary School Psychology: Formerly "The California School Psychologist" Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Student engagement in school is an important construct that has been associated with student success. For the current study, researchers examined the psychometrics of the Student Engagement in Schools Questionnaire (SESQ) and the Teacher Engagement Report Form (TERF-N) of student engagement. The results revealed that both the SESQ and the TERF-N have good internal consistency. The exploratory factor analysis results for the SESQ demonstrated alignment with the theoretically driven development (five factors: Affective Engagement-Liking for Learning, Affective Engagement-Liking for School, Behavioral Engagement-Effort & Persistence, Behavioral Engagement-Extracurricular, and Cognitive Engagement) whereas the results for the TERF-N were more complicated. The items did not load as conceptualized in a 3-factor model, but instead loaded on one, General Engagement factor. Finally, while it may be that teachers viewed a student’s level of engagement as a global construct, the correlations between the measures indicated that they might be used to provide helpful, convergent information obtained from a variety of sources regarding a student’s levels of engagement. Future directions and implications for school psychologists are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Appleton, J.J., Christenson, S.L., & Furlong, M.J. (2008). Student engagement with school: Critical conceptual and methodological issues of the construct. Psychology in the Schools, 45, 369–386. doi: 10.1002/pits.20303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appleton, J.J., Christenson, S.L., Kim, D., & Reschly, A.L. (2006). Measuring cognitive and psychological engagement: Validation of the student engagement instrument. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 427–445. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2006.04.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T.A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, M., McGee, R., Taylor, B., & Williams, S. (2007). Health outcomes in adolescence: Associations with family, friends and school engagement. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 51–62. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.04.002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cattell, R.B. (1966). The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christenson, S.L., Sinclair, M.F., Lehr, C.A., & Godber, Y. (2001). Promoting successful school completion: Critical conceptual and methodological guidelines. School Psychology Quarterly, 16, 468–484. doi: 10.1521/scpq. 16.4.468.19898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, A.B., & Osborne, J.W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 10(7), 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L.J., & Shavelson, R.J. (2004). My current thoughts on coefficient alpha and successor procedures. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64, 391–418. doi: 10.1177/0013164404266386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabrigar, L.R., Wegener, D.T., MacCallum, R.C., & Strahan, E.J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4, 272–299. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finn, J.D. (1989). Withdrawing from school. Review of Educational Research, 59, 117–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredricks, J.A., Blumenfeld, P.C., & Paris, A.H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research 74(1), 59–109. doi: 10.3102/00346543074001059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furr, R.M., & Bacarach, V.R. (2008). Psychometrics: An introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furlong, M.J., Whipple, A.D., St. Jean, G., Simental, J., Soliz, A., & Punthuna, S. (2003). Multiple contexts of school engagement: Moving toward a unifying framework for educational research and practice. The California School Psychologist, 8, 99–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gliner, J.A., & Morgan, G.A. (2000). Research methods in applied settings: An integrated approach to design and analysis. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum & Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30, 79–90. doi: 10.1002/1520-6807(199301)30:1<79::AID-PITS231030011 3>3.0.CO;2-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jimerson, S.R., Campos, E., & Greif, J.L. (2003). Toward an understanding of definitions and measures of school engagement and related terms. The California School Psychologist, 8, 7–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jimerson, S.R., Renshaw, T.L., Stewart, K., Hart, S., & O’Malley, M. (2009). Promoting school completion through understanding school failure: A multi-factorial model of dropping out as a developmental process. Romanian Journal of School Psychology, 2, 12–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, J.H. (2006). Factor analysis in counseling psychology research, training, and practice: Principles, advances, and applications. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 684–718. doi: 10.1177/0011000006286347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, P. (2002). An easy guide to factor analysis. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1992). The Children’s Depression Inventory. New York: Multi-Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam, S.F., & Jimerson, S.R. (2008). Exploring student engagement in schools internationally: Consultation paper. Chicago, IL: International School Psychologist Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L.K., & Muthén, B.O. (2009). Mplus Statistical Analysis with Latent Variables: User’s Guide (5th Ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patrick, H., Ryan, A.M., & Kaplan, A. (2007). Early adolescents’ percpetions of the classroom social environment, motivational beliefs, and engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 83–98. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reschly, A.L., Appleton, J.J., & Christenson, S.L. (2007). Student engagement at school and with learning: Theory and interventions. NASP Communiqué, 35(8).

  • Reschly, A.L., & Christenson, S.L. (2006). Prediction of dropout among students with mild disabilities: A case for inclusion of student engagement variables. Remedial and Special Education, 27, 276–292. doi: 10.1177/07419 325060270050301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shernoff, D.J., & Schmidt, J.A. (2008). Further evidence of an engagement-achievement paradox among U.S. high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(5), 564–580. doi: 10.1007/s10964-007-9241-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SPSS, Inc. (2007). SPSS Base 16.0 for Mac User’s Guide. Chicago, IL: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurstone, L.L. (1947). Multiple factor analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, C.O., Greene, B.A., & Mansell, R.A. (2006). Identification with academics, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy as predictors of cognitive engagement. Learning and Individual Differences, 16, 1–12. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2005.06.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yates, A. (1987). Multivariate exploratory data analysis: A perspective on exploratory factor analysis. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shelley R. Hart.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hart, S.R., Stewart, K. & Jimerson, S.R. The Student Engagement in Schools Questionnaire (SESQ) and the Teacher Engagement Report Form-New (TERF-N): Examining the Preliminary Evidence. Contemp School Psychol 15, 67–79 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340964

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340964

Keywords

Navigation