There is an urgent need to develop appropriate instruments to measure student engagement in math and science for the fields of research and practice. The present study developed and validated student-and teacher-report survey measures of student engagement in math and science. The measures are built around a multidimensional perspective of engagement by using a bifactor modeling approach. The sample was recruited from an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse middle and high school student population in the United States. The findings confirmed that student engagement is comprised of multiple related yet distinct dimensions, with evidence to support a bifactor structural model. There was also empirical evidence supporting measurement invariance and predictive validity. The results demonstrate the soundness of the psychometric properties of the Math and Science Engagement Scales.

Service-learning is an experience-based approach to education and learning that has a set of diverse learning outcomes. Because of the uniqueness of its pedagogical approach and breadth of potential learning outcomes, management and business scholars have recognized its value. Much theory and supporting research has been generated on the effect of service-learning on college and university students. Through meta-analytic techniques, we found support for the hypotheses that service-learning has a positive effect on understanding of social issues (Est. ␦ ‫؍‬ .34); personal insight (Est. ␦ ‫؍‬ .28); and cognitive development (Est. ␦ ‫؍‬ .52). We also found significant moderating evidence for research design, type of reflection, type of measurement, and the service experience as optional or required. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings along with suggestions for future research.

Learning to write words may strengthen orthographic representations and thus support word-specific recognition processes. This hypothesis applies especially to Chinese because its writing system encourages character-specific recognition that depends on accurate representation of orthographic form. We report 2 studies that test this hypothesis in adult learners of Chinese. In those studies, the researchers 1st compared the effects of an online writing tutor that included character handwriting with an instructional tutor that included reading only. The writing condition led to better performance on word recognition and on character-meaning links but not on the character-phonology link. In the 2nd experiment, we added an alphabetic (Pinyin) typing tutor to strengthen the phonology link and to control for manual motor activity during instruction. This experiment replicated the effects of writing on word recognition and charactermeaning links, whereas alphabetic (Pinyin) typing supported only phonological representations and the character-phonology link. Theoretically, the studies suggest constituent-specific effects: writing on orthography and alphabetic coding on phonology. We suggest the mechanism for the writing effect is the refinement of visual-spatial information needed for character recognition and the addition of a sensorymotor memory that accompanies writing. The practical implication is that an integration of character handwriting and Pinyin typing promotes learning to read Chinese in a second language learning context.

Abstract. Increasing school engagement is critical for improving academic achievement and reducing dropout rates. In order to increase student engagement and identify those students who are most disengaged from school, we need to conceptualize and measure student engagement appropriately. This study used a mixed method sequential exploratory design to develop and validate a student survey measure of school engagement that reflects a multidimensional conceptualization of engagement. Psychometric tests were conducted with a large racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 5th–12th graders in the United States ( N = 3,632). Findings demonstrated that a bifactor multidimensional model fit the data appropriately and provided evidence of measurement invariance, construct, and predictive validity. Results provided a psychometrically sound foundation for capturing the behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of student engagement and disengagement in school.

The authors argue for the inclusion of students' subjective sense of belonging in an integrated model of student persistence (Cabrera et al., J Higher Educ 64:123-139, 1993). The effects of sense of belonging and a simple intervention designed to increase sense of belonging are tested in the context of this model. The intervention increased sense of belonging for white students, but not for African American students. However, sense of belonging had direct effects on institutional commitment and indirect effects on intentions to persist and actual persistence behavior for both white and African American students.Keywords Sense of belonging Á Persistence Á Intentions Á Intervention Extensive efforts to identify factors that increase the persistence of students at colleges and universities have yielded sophisticated theories and complex models of student persistence. The current study investigates the importance of one factor that, although not traditionally emphasized in prevailing models of the college student experience, has recently received increased attention in research on student persistence: students' sense of belonging to their college or university. This study examines whether sense of belonging deserves a place in