Social-emotional competence, interpersonal relationships, and rules: multilevel associations with student engagement
Date
2021
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
There is an ongoing need for interventions and practices that promote student engagement and prevent school dropout that are both effective and expand beyond the individual level to reach all students. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify aspects of the school context experienced by all students and student skills that can be enhanced by schools to foster student engagement and prevent dropout. This study examined the multilevel main effects of grade level and students’ perceptions of social–emotional competence, teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, and fairness of school rules on student engagement. It also investigated the multilevel moderation effects of grade level and students’ perceptions of teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, and fairness of school rules in the association between perceptions of social–emotional competence and student engagement. Additionally, grade level was examined as a moderator of the association between students’ perceptions of teacher–student relationships and student engagement. Data were collected from 29,359 students in grades 3–12 in 97 Delaware public schools via the Delaware School Surveys. ☐ Results of hierarchical linear analyses indicated that beyond the influence of demographic factors and grade level, students’ perceptions of social–emotional competence, teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, and fairness of school rules were positively related to their engagement. The association between social–emotional competence and student engagement was the strongest among all relationships examined. Students in elementary schools reported greater student engagement than students in secondary schools. Results demonstrated that the relationship between social–emotional competence and student engagement was stronger for students who perceived more positive teacher–student relationships and more fairness of school rules. Moreover, the association between teacher–student relationships and student engagement was stronger in secondary schools compared to elementary schools. Findings suggest that improving social–emotional competence, teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, and fairness of school rules are potential school-wide interventions to promote student engagement. Key limitations of the study include the correlational and cross-sectional research design, the use of aggregated school-level variables and student self-reports, and utilizing only the total scores from the social–emotional competence and student engagement measures. Future research should address these limitations as well as examine classroom-level data, differences between middle and high schools, and mediation effects to further investigate the dynamics among students’ perceptions of social–emotional competence, teacher–student relationships, student–student relationships, fairness of school rules, and student engagement.
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Keywords
School climate, School rules, Social emotional comptence, Student engagement, Student-student relationships, Teacher-student relationships