Adolescents’ Perceptions of School Environment, Engagement, and Academic Achievement in Middle School

TLDR

The study examined how middle‑school students’ perceptions of the school environment relate to engagement and academic achievement. Researchers surveyed 1,046 ethnically diverse urban students. Findings indicated that seventh‑grade perceptions of school environment predicted participation, identification, and self‑regulation in eighth grade, which mediated a direct effect on eighth‑grade achievement.

Abstract

This short-term longitudinal research examined the relationships among middle school students’ perceptions of school environment, school engagement, and academic achievement. Participants were from a representative, ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,046 students. The findings supported the theoretical conceptualization of three different, but related, dimensions of school engagement: school participation, sense of identification with school, and use of self-regulation strategies. The results also indicated that students’ perceptions of the distinct dimensions of school environment in seventh grade contribute differentially to the three types of school engagement in eighth grade. Finally, the authors found that students’ perceptions of school environment influenced their academic achievement directly and indirectly through the three types of school engagement. Specifically, students’ perceptions of school characteristics in seventh grade influenced their school participation, identification with school, and use of self-regulation strategies in eighth grade that occur therein and, in turn, influenced students’ academic achievement in eighth grade.