Changing Patterns of Engagement in the Transition to High School

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Student Engagement, Coursework, and High School Trajectories

Abstract

At the macro level, social-psychological theories of engagement imply that the inequality in student engagement may increase as students progress through school, with low-achieving students in particular becoming increasingly disengaged in the later grades. Empirical support for this assertion is mixed however. In this analysis we consider changes in engagement among diverse students over the transition from middle to high school. We examine changes in the total inequality in student engagement among all students, as well as divergence in engagement between students of differing gender, race, socioeconomic background, and initial levels of achievement.

Authors

• Sean P. Kelly, University of Pittsburgh

• Heather E. Price, University of Notre Dame