Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Student Engagement Instrument

First Published November 18, 2009 Research Article

Authors

Lusíada University, Porto, Portugal, [email protected]
by this author
,
Lisbon University, Lisbon, Portugal
by this author
,
Lusíada University, Porto, Portugal
by this author
,
Lusíada University, Porto, Portugal
by this author
First Published Online: November 18, 2009

Student engagement is an emergent research domain in educational psychology, as research increasingly supports the connection between academic achievement, school-related behaviours, and student engagement. In spite of the important role of student engagement in academic achievement across cultures, little is known about the cross-cultural validation of the factorial structure of students’ school engagement instruments. This study explores the psychometric properties of The Student Engagement Instrument (Appleton & Christenson, 2004) in a population with a culture different from that in which the original version was developed and validated. The participants were 760 high school Portuguese students. Results confirm the factorial structure of the original version and reinforce the empirical support for a six-factor structure. However, some items loaded in different subscales, raising questions about the cultural specificities of the student engagement construct.

L’engagement scolaire est un domaine émergent de l’investigation dans la psychologie de l’éducation, dans le même sens où l’investigation est en train de appuyer de plus en plus la liaison entre la réussite scolaire, les comportements rapportés à l’école, et l’engagement scolaire. Malgré le rôle important de l’engagement scolaire dans le succès académique à travers des cultures, peu se sait au sujet de la validation dans ces mêmes cultures de la structure factorielle des instruments de l’engagement scolaire des étudiants. Le but de cette étude était d’explorer les propriétés psychométriques de The Student Engagement Instrument (Appleton & Christenson, 2004) dans une population avec des différences culturelles en relation avec la population utilisée pour le développement et la validation de la version originale. Les participants étaient 760 lycéens étudiants portugais. Les résultats confirment la structure factorielle de la version originale et le soutien empirique d’une structure de six facteurs a été renforcé. Cependant, quelques items appuyés sur différentes sous-échelles soulèvent des questions au sujet des spécificités culturelles de construction de l’engagement scolaire.

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