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ABSTRACT
A vast literature investigates academic disengagement among students, including its ultimate manifestation, dropping out of school. Research also shows that test disengagement can be a problem for many inferences educators and policymakers wish to draw from test scores. However, few studies consider whether academic and test disengagement are related. In this study, we examine whether behaviors indicative of academic disengagement like chronic absenteeism and course failures are related to behaviors indicative of test disengagement like rapidly guessing on items. We also examine whether social-emotional factors like low academic self-efficacy and self-management, which research suggests are the root causes of academic disengagement, are also related to rapid guessing behavior. Our results provide evidence that academic and test disengagement are related, including through a common association with poor self-management. The implications of this connection for measurement and practice are discussed.
Notes
1 Having a GPA below 2.0 has been used in the early warning system literature, which is designed to help identify students at risk of dropping out long before they leave school (Balfanz, Wang, & Byrnes, Citation2010; Heppen & Therriault, Citation2008).
2 Given fit indexes for these statistics are unknown, we conformed to cutoff criteria suggested in other studies, using a delta CFI of less than or equal to .01 and a delta RMSEA less than or equal to .06 to indicate sufficient model fit (Fan & Sivo, 2005; Hu & Bentler, Citation1998; Schermelleh-Engel, Moosbrugger, & Müller, 2003; Vandenberg & Lance, 2000).