Can educational engagement prevent Early School Leaving? Unpacking the school’s effect on educational success

Abstract

There is growing evidence that school engagement, or more specifically disengagement, is a key indicator for predicting Early School Leaving. The aim of this article is to explore the impact of secondary schools in student (dis)engagement and subsequent opportunities to succeed in school. Drawing on data from a qualitative study in five secondary schools in Barcelona, the article discusses the role of school context in inhibiting or facilitating school engagement by exploring compositional effects, organisational and pedagogical practices, and teachers’ expectations. To do so a twofold perspective is adopted: firstly, we look at the main school features and their impact on students’ educational opportunities; and secondly, a systematic analysis of the dimensions of school engagement (behavioural, emotional and cognitive) is carried out. As a result, the article contributes to the identification of the most significant variables at school level that influence student engagement and their opportunities for school success.

Keywords:

• Early school leaving
• school effect
• school engagement
• educational inequalities

Notes

1. The European Commission (EC) defines ESL as the “percentage of the population aged 18–24 with at most lower secondary education and not in further education or training” (European Commission 2013, 8). In this regard, the EC aims to reduce ESL to 10% (15% in the case of Spain) by 2020. Currently, the percentage of early school leavers in Spain (21.9%) and Catalonia (22.2%) is much higher than the overall average for the EU-28 (11.1%).

2. The specificity of the sample in terms of “educational risk” is of crucial importance in order to interpret the results of the analysis and to reflect on their implications. In this regard, the results are not applicable to all the students with low socio-economic and cultural status, given their internal heterogeneity both in social and educational terms. However, the specificity of the sample does not bring into question the impacts that different schools generate on the students’ potential for engagement with their schooling.

3. The real names of all the actors interviewed have been changed to protect their anonymity.