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Classroom Support, Engagement, and Reading Achievement in Elementary Students: a Multilevel Study

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Abstract

The support and engagement teachers foster in their classrooms likely impact student success in reading achievement. Therefore, we used a multilevel approach to examine if students’ perception of support and engagement at both the individual and classroom levels were associated with students’ overall reading achievement. Perception data collected from 37 third- and fourth-grade classrooms (N = 578 students) indicated that student perceptions of individual and classroom engagement contributed significantly to students’ reading achievement; however, both support assessed at the individual and classroom levels were non-significant factors. We also found that girls and those with higher perceptions of engagement were associated with higher reading scores; however, higher classroom engagement was associated with lower reading scores. We discuss both theoretical and practical implications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Washington State University, 360 Cleveland Hall, 509-335-2324, Pullman, WA, 99164-2136, USA

    Kira J. Carbonneau, Genna Kieper & Carlos Anguiano

  2. RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO, USA

    Carlos Anguiano

  3. University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Matthew Lemberger-Truelove

  4. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    David Atencio

Authors
  1. Kira J. Carbonneau
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  2. Genna Kieper
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  3. Carlos Anguiano
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  4. Matthew Lemberger-Truelove
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  5. David Atencio
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were done by Matthew Lemberger-Truelove and David Atencio. Data analysis were performed by Kira J. Carbonneau, Carlos Anguiano, Genna Kiper, and Matthew Lemberger-Truelove.

The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kira J. Carbonneau, Genna Kieper, and Carlos Anguiano, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kira J. Carbonneau.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee at the University of New Mexico.

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Informed assent and parental permission were obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The informed assent and parent permission allowed for publication of results at the aggerate level.

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Carbonneau, K.J., Kieper, G., Anguiano, C. et al. Classroom Support, Engagement, and Reading Achievement in Elementary Students: a Multilevel Study. Contemp School Psychol 28, 197–206 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-022-00431-7

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