How to Measure
Student Engagement
Every educator is energized by those moments when students are alert, listening attentively, asking insightful questions, and participating in classroom discussions with enthusiasm. These are all signs of student engagement. Educators know instinctively what it feels and looks like when students are engaged. Yet, with student engagement being such a critical driver of student success, educators can’t just rely on instinct when it comes to measuring student engagement.
In this article, we examine how educators can effectively measure student engagement and use data to enhance the learning conditions that support student success.
How Student Engagement Impacts Student Success
A commonly used definition of student engagement is, “How involved or interested students appear to be in their learning and how connected they are to their classes, their institutions, and each other.” While there may be many definitions of student engagement, one thing educators, researchers, and families agree on is that when students are actively engaged in learning, they are more likely to perform better, persist through challenges, and achieve their educational goals.
What the Research Says About Student Engagement
Studies consistently show a strong positive relationship between student engagement and academic performance, including improved grades, test scores, and overall academic achievement—in both K–12 and higher education classrooms.
Research by Dr. Armando P. Delfino highlights that when students are actively involved in their learning, they demonstrate increased motivation, which directly correlates with higher academic achievement.
A 2023 study shows that student engagement is a key factor in developing higher-order skills like critical thinking and problem solving. Engaged learners are more inclined to participate in discussions, collaborate with peers, and take initiative in their studies, all of which contribute to honing these essential skills.
Additionally, student engagement contributes to the development of positive relationships within the classroom, enhancing the overall educational experience. A study published in The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Education found that strong connections between students and educators foster a sense of belonging, which boosts motivation and engagement. Students are more likely to engage in their learning when they feel connected to their teachers, when they experience mutual trust and respect, and when teachers provide constructive guidance and feedback.
Research by the Center for American Progress indicates that implementing teaching strategies designed to increase engagement, such as collaborative learning and giving students agency, leads to improved academic outcomes.
Overall, these findings underscore the importance of intentionally cultivating student engagement in order to support academic success.
Measuring Student Engagement: The Critical Role of Learning Conditions
Learning conditions, the factors in a classroom that either support or hinder students’ ability to learn, play a vital role in fostering student engagement. Learning conditions like classroom culture, relevance, rigor, and student-teacher relationships all influence students’ motivation and engagement.
When learning conditions are positive—characterized by supportive relationships, relevant content, and opportunities for collaboration—students are more likely to participate actively and feel motivated. Conversely, negative learning conditions can lead to disengagement, which decreases student involvement and investment in their learning.
Educators can gain important insights into student engagement levels by measuring students’ perceptions of their learning conditions. These data can also help educators understand classroom dynamics and identify ways to enhance engagement.
Key Learning Conditions for K-12 Students
Numerous studies show that nine learning conditions strongly influence students’ motivation and their ability to engage and learn. These learning conditions are:
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Affirming Identities: Students feel more connected to and motivated in classrooms that recognize and affirm their background and identities.
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Classroom Community: Students feel safe to engage and succeed in school when their classroom environment encourages a sense of community and fosters mutual support among classmates.
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Feedback for Growth: Students learn more effectively when their teachers set high expectations, recognize progress, and offer respectful, critical feedback to help students improve.
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Learning Goals: Students learn more effectively when it is clear to them what they are supposed to be learning and how it fits into the big ideas of that subject area.
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Meaningful Work: Students are motivated to learn when the work in class feels interesting and relevant to them.
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Student Voice: Students take ownership of their learning and are more actively engaged in their schoolwork when they have choices, share their ideas, and feel heard.
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Supportive Teaching: Students are more likely to feel valued and able to learn when their teachers provide them with the instructional support needed to be successful.
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Teacher Caring: Students engage more deeply in their work when they feel their teachers like and care about them.
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Well-Organized Class: Students are more motivated and focused on learning when the teacher develops routines and systems that contribute to the smooth functioning of the classroom.
Learning Conditions That Impact Student Engagement in
Grades 6–12
Download this guide to learn more about each learning condition, view sample questions, and get instructional materials to increase student engagement.
Key Learning Conditions for Higher Education Students
More than thirty years of research has shown that creating learning environments that focus on college students’ psychological experiences can boost academic engagement, enhance well-being, and promote fairer outcomes.
The seven critical learning conditions for college students are:
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Belonging Certainty: Students are able to engage in learning when they feel that they belong, or fit in. This decreases their social isolation and increases their academic achievement and performance along with their overall well-being.
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Identify Safety: Students feel safe to engage and succeed in school when their classroom environment encourages a sense of community, fosters mutual support among classmates, and affirms students’ diverse identities.
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Institutional Growth Mindset: Students experience less identity threat and feel like they can succeed when instructors and leaders encourage the idea that intelligence is not fixed but can grow through effort.
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Self-Efficacy: Students build confidence in their learning abilities for persistence and academic success.
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Social Belonging: Students feel comfortable engaging in learning when they experience interpersonal and situational cues from faculty, staff, and fellow students signaling that they belong in class.
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Social Connectedness: Students are more likely to have better social and academic experiences during college, including higher emotional well-being and better health, when they feel a sense of connectedness to their peers and instructors.
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Trust and Fairness: Students from negatively stereotyped or historically underserved groups can question whether faculty and staff treat them fairly in interactions, grading, and other forms of evaluation.
When educators communicate and behave in ways that foster trust and a perception of caring, students from these groups can feel more confident in engaging in learning.
Learning Conditions That Impact Student Engagement in Higher Education
Download this guide to learn more about each learning condition, view sample questions, and get instructional materials to support student engagement in higher education.
How to Measure Student Engagement and Improve Learning Conditions with PERTS
The Elevate (for grades 6–12) and Ascend (for higher education) programs provide educators with research-validated tools to measure students’ perceptions of their learning conditions. The resulting data and detailed reports provide educators with actionable insights they can use to create more engaging and equitable learning environments.
How to Check for Student Engagement in Grades 6–12 with Elevate
In middle schools and high schools using Elevate, students take a 5–10-minute survey that delves into their perceptions of nine classroom learning conditions that are critical for student engagement. Teachers analyze the data and then, in partnership with students, select and implement new instructional practices that catalyze student engagement. Students periodically retake the learning conditions survey so teachers can monitor how student perceptions change over time and the impact changes in classroom practices have on student engagement.
Below are detailed explanations of three of the learning conditions Elevate measures, including questions from the student survey, to illustrate how to measure student engagement.
Teacher Caring
The role in student engagement: Strong teacher-student relationships enhance engagement and create an inclusive environment that supports equity and better student outcomes.
Teacher Caring in Practice
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Teachers make an effort to get to know students, such as asking about their likes and dislikes.
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Teachers show students that they matter to them.
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Students believe their teachers are invested in helping them succeed.
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Teachers handle discipline problems with empathy and fairness.
How to Check for Student Engagement by Measuring Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Caring
The Elevate survey asks students these questions about teacher caring:
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I feel like this teacher is glad that I am in their class.
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This teacher cares about my life outside of school.
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This teacher treats me with respect.
Explore the PERTS Teacher Caring Practice Guide to discover research-based instructional strategies that strengthen teacher caring.
Feedback for Growth
The role in student engagement: Students learn more effectively when teachers set high expectations, acknowledge progress, and provide constructive feedback. This type of feedback fosters student motivation and engagement in learning.
Feedback for Growth in Practice
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Teachers prioritize growth rather than just proficiency.
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In areas that require improvement, teachers provide actionable, constructive feedback while also offering reassurance. In areas where students excel, teachers give encouragement and praise.
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Teachers acknowledge and celebrate students’ hard work when they successfully complete challenging tasks.
How to Check for Student Engagement by Measuring Students’ Perceptions of the Feedback They Receive
The Elevate survey asks students about their experience receiving feedback:
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This teacher lets me know they believe I can do well in this class.
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I get specific suggestions about how to improve my work.
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In this class, it is more important to try than to get things right the first time.
Explore the PERTS Feedback for Growth Practice Guide for research-based recommendations on how to provide feedback to students that promotes growth.
Meaningful Work
The role in student engagement: Students are more motivated to learn when classroom activities are relevant to their lives and interests. Connecting lessons, classwork, and homework to students’ lived experiences increases their engagement, creates a sense of ownership, and deepens their understanding.
Meaningful Work in Practice
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Teachers help students understand why their learning is important by exploring how concepts relate to students’ own lives and interests.
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Teachers connect classroom activities to real-world experiences, demonstrating how what students learn applies outside of school and in everyday situations.
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Teachers create opportunities for student voice, allowing them to select topics or projects that resonate with their interests, which fosters greater engagement and ownership of their learning.
How to Check for Student Engagement by Measuring Students’ Perceptions of Their Classwork
The Elevate survey asks students how they feel about what they’re learning and doing in class:
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In this class, we do meaningful work, not busy work.
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What we learn in this class is connected to real life.
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This teacher makes what we’re learning really interesting.
Explore the PERTS Meaningful Work Practice Guide to find research-based instructional strategies that enhance meaningful work in the classroom.
How to Measure Student Engagement in Higher Education Classrooms with Ascend
Higher education faculty and administrators use the Ascend program to learn how engaged students are in their courses. Like Elevate, the foundation of the Ascend program is a 5–10 minute customizable survey that reveals students’ perceptions of seven learning conditions that impact student engagement.
Based on the survey data, instructors select classroom practices to implement that research has shown improve learning conditions and lead to instruction that is more equitable, more engaging, and more supportive of student success.
The following three sample learning conditions illustrate how Ascend measures student engagement.
Institutional Growth Mindset
The role in student engagement: An institution’s belief about intelligence—whether it’s fixed or able to change—shapes students’ experiences with their courses. When a growth mindset is prioritized, students tend to face less identity threat, stay engaged in their classes, and perform better academically.
Institutional Growth Mindset in Practice
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Faculty and staff promote the idea that hard work and persistence lead to improvement and success.
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Feedback is framed positively, focusing on areas for growth rather than just grades or outcomes.
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Instructors recognize and celebrate individual and collective progress, not just final achievements.
How to Check for Student Engagement by Measuring Students’ Perceptions of the Institution’s Belief About Intelligence
The Ascend survey asks students whether:
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This instructor seems to believe that students have a certain amount of intelligence, and they really can’t do much to change it.
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This instructor seems to believe that your intelligence is something that you can’t change very much.
Learn research-based instructional strategies to encourage a growth mindset in the classroom in the PERTS Institutional Growth Mindset Practice Guide.
Self-Efficacy
The role in student engagement: Self-efficacy, or confidence in one’s abilities to complete a task or reach a goal, is crucial for academic persistence and success. Students with high self-efficacy are often more motivated to learn and engage in their learning.
Self-Efficacy in Practice
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Instructors strive to foster a culture that emphasizes collaboration, inclusivity, and support to help students feel valued and capable.
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Students have opportunities to work with mentors who provide guidance, support, and help build students’ confidence and belief in their abilities.
How to Check for Student Engagement by Measuring Students’ Perceptions of Their Self-Efficacy
The Ascend survey measures students’ self-efficacy with questions like:
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I feel confident about my ability to do well in this class.
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I am confident that I can perform effectively in this class.
Discover research-based instructional strategies to support and encourage students’ self-efficacy in the PERTS Self-Efficacy Practice Guide.
Social Connectedness
Social connectedness, or the formation of bonding relationships, is crucial for students' sense of belonging and significantly enhances their satisfaction, academic success, well-being, and engagement in college.
Social Connectedness in Practice
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Instructors work to build connections among students and between themselves and their students, such as sharing personal stories of belonging, implementing practices that create an identity-safe classroom environment, and ensuring that course policies prioritize students' needs.
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Faculty and staff encourage students to ask questions, even if they “should” already know the answers.
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Instructors provide structured activities which provide students with opportunities to get to know one another and to identify things they have in common.
How to Check for Student Engagement by Measuring Students’ Social Connectedness
The Ascend survey asks students how socially connected they feel with questions like:
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In this class, I can rely on other students for academic support.
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I receive clear academic feedback from this instructor.
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I can communicate with this instructor about this class as needed.
Find research-based instructional practices for building social connectedness in the PERTS Social Connectedness Practice Guide.
Utilize Elevate and Ascend to Improve Student Engagement
Educators know the important role student engagement plays in students’ ability to learn and thrive in the classroom, and research confirms its impact. Therefore, having the tools to measure student engagement is essential in order for educators to improve the learning conditions that foster engagement.
Elevate and Ascend by PERTS provide research-validated surveys to measure student engagement and research-based practices to enhance student engagement. Learn more about the PERTS student engagement programs for grades 6–12 and higher education.