Student engagement and disruptive behavior

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to the construct of student engagement in school and analyses the relationship between student engagement and disruptive behavior among elementary and secondary students. The survey was conducted among 365 students from 7th and 10th grades. The data was collected through the Questionnaire of Student Engagement in School, the Portuguese version for research of the Student Engagement in School Scale (Lam &Jimerson, 2008) and through the Disruptive Behavior Scale, a scale developed for the Portuguese population (Veiga, 2008). The results indicate a moderate to a high student’s engagement, with the 7th graders exhibiting greater values. In terms of behavior, the results suggest that students indicate low levels of disruption, mainly into the group of the 7th the graders. Finally, results point to a negative relationship between school engagement and disruptive behavior, strengthening the idea that school engagement plays a protective role to the school adjustment.