Though student engagement is hypothesized to be a factor in explaining student level differences in afterschool programs, the measurement of student engagement in this context is inconsistent, and findings from the small number of studies about how engagement impacts developmental and academic outcomes are mixed. In this study, we tested the factor structure of Wang and colleagues' school engagement scale with a sample of middle school students (N = 197) who attended an afterschool program in an urban setting. Results suggest that a bifactor model of engagement best fits the data, meaning that engagement consists of four specific factors (affective, behavioral, cognitive, social) and a global factor. We then used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between engagement, academic outcomes, and positive youth development (PYD). Results also showed positive associations with student mathematics achievement and PYD, but no significant associations were found between engagement and English achievement. This study provides a theoretically aligned way to measure engagement and evidence to support engagement as a key factor in predicting youth outcomes in an out-of-school context.

中文翻译：

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了解课后参与：调查青少年的发展成果

尽管假设学生参与度是解释课后项目中学生水平差异的一个因素，但在这种情况下对学生参与度的衡量是不一致的，并且关于参与度如何影响发展和学业成果的少数研究结果好坏参半。在本研究中，我们以中学生为样本（N = 197) 在城市环境中参加了课外活动。结果表明，参与度的双因素模型最适合数据，这意味着参与度由四个特定因素（情感、行为、认知、社会）和一个全局因素组成。然后，我们使用结构方程模型来检查参与度、学术成果和积极的青年发展 (PYD) 之间的关系。结果还显示与学生数学成绩和 PYD 呈正相关，但在参与度和英语成绩之间没有发现显着关联。本研究提供了一种理论上一致的方法来衡量参与度和证据，以支持参与度是预测校外环境中青年成果的关键因素。