Eight Myths of Student Disengagement

Jennifer Fredricks is a professor of Human Development at Connecticut College where she also directs the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy. She has published over 35 journal articles and book chapters on student engagement, family socialization, adolescent development, and extracurricular participation. She is currently working on a three year grant on student engagement in math and science classrooms funded by the National Science Foundation.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorAbout the ContributorsIntroductionMyth 1. It′s Easy to Tell Who Who Is Engaged: What Is Engagement and How Can I Assess It in My Classroom?Portraits of EngagementWhat Is Engagement?Why Assess Engagement?Consistency, Duration, and Variation in EngagementMethods for Assessing EngagementChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExercisesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 2. Some Students Just Don′t Care: How Disengagement Is More Than Just a Lack of Student MotivationSchool Versus Out-of-School TasksTeacher-Student Relations and DisengagementPeer Relations and DisengagementChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExercisesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 3. What Happens Outside of School Competes With Academics: How Out-of-School Time and Families Affect Engagement in SchoolExtracurricular Activity Participation and Academic OutcomesVariation in Engagement Across ContextsSelf-Determination Theory and EngagementFamilies and EngagementBarriers to Parent InvolvementChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExercisesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 4. Hands-On Is Minds-On: How to Create More Engaging Classroom Tasks That Result in Deep LearningDesigning Classroom Tasks for EngagementCognitive Components of the TaskAuthentic TasksAuthentic Instructional ModelsMotivational and Cognitive Challenges With Authentic InstructionStrategies for Implementing Cognitively Complex TasksChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExamplesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 5. Focus on Content: Don’t Make It Personal: How Relationships Matter for Student EngagementTeacher Support and Student Engagement and AchievementEssential Characteristics of Meaningful Teacher-Student RelationsBuilding Relatedness in the ClassroomBeing an Autonomy-Supportive TeacherSupporting Students′ Need for CompetenceHow Teachers Support Cognitive EngagementBarriers to Developing High-Quality RelationshipsBuilding Relationships With Difficult StudentsConnecting With Diverse StudentsChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExercisesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 6. Socializing With Peers Detracts From Student Engagement: How to Create a Peer Context That Supports EngagementWhy Are Peer Relationships Important?FriendshipsTeachers′ Beliefs and Instructional PracticesHow Do Peers Socialize Engagement?Cooperative Learning and Collaborative InstructionKey Strategies for Supporting Cooperation and CollaborationCreating Classroom CommunitiesChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExercisesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 7. There’s Only So Much a Teacher Can Do: How to Help Those Students Still Struggling to SucceedWhy Is It Important to Resist Disengagement?Risk Factors for DisengagementWhy Is a Student Disengaged?Boys and DisengagementAcademic Problems and DisengagementStudents With a History of Behavioral ProblemsAfrican American, Hispanic, and Low-Income Students and DisengagementInterventions to Increase EngagementChapter SummaryText-to-Practice ExercisesKey Terms and ConceptsResearch-Based ResourcesMyth 8. Student Engagement Is a Student Choice: Choosing to Make the Effort and Not Waiting for Engagement to HappenReferencesIndex

"A must have book for all classroom teachers. A relevant, eye-opening approach to classroom problems and student attitudes that we didn’t think we could solve."