The effects of student engagement on high school mathematics

Abstract

My thesis focuses on the impact student engagement has on tenth grade mathematic test scores. Using secondary data from the Education Longitudinal Survey, I examined the math scores of 7,480 tenth graders in 2004. I predicted that students who were more engaged in their school environment will have higher test scores. In addition to engagement, I examine the impact that social networks and parental influences play in these math scores. I predicted that school engagement, school factors, parental influences, and peer relationships would play a role in determining tenth grade math scores. In addition, I predicted that socioeconomic status (SES) would play a role in determining extracurricular activities and parental involvement. Overall, many of the hypotheses tested were supported, indicating that increasing student engagement with their school will have a positive impact on their math scores. Parental involvement had a more positive impact on math scores among higher SES families, particularly because the social expectations and network surrounding the students. SES had a significant impact on math scores by impacting the school, the expectations, and the parental influence on the child. Peer influences researched here had a negligible impact on math scores. Future research from here needs to focus on the implementation of student engagement activities and the effectiveness of these activities.