Components of School Engagement Among African American Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined how various components of school engagement contribute to the academic performance of African American adolescents. The sample consisted of 499 African American adolescents in Grades 9 to 11. We investigated how adolescents' gender, grade, cognitive functioning, and parental education affect their school engagement and whether school engagement contributes to academic performance above and beyond students' background factors. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the conceptual school engagement model with 3 factors: school identification, school participation, and school expectations. Results revealed that students' gender, cognitive functioning, and mothers' education are related to school engagement. It also showed that components of school engagement predicted a significant portion of academic performance even after controlling for these background variables as well as their grade level. In examining the components of school engagement, school participation and school expectations emerged as significant predictors of academic performance, although school identification was not significantly associated with academic performance after controlling for students' background factors. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

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