Relationship between classroom student engagement and achievement in urban high-poverty elementary schools

Research has established student academic engagement as an important factor for learning in elementary settings. The current investigation builds on previous literature by examining the relationship between observed class wide student academic engagement behaviors, as measured by the Cooperative Learning Observational Code for Kids (CLOCK), and student achievement, as measured by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), in urban high-poverty elementary schools. A sample of 60 classrooms and 1,418 third through fifth grade students was collected from a singular school year. Primary questions were addressed via correlational and multiple regression analyses. Spearman’s correlation found that Active Engaged Time (AET), Passive Engaged Time (PET), and Prosocial Behavior (PS) were positively correlated with PARCC Reading proficiency; Non-Physical Aggression (NpA), and Interference (In) were negatively correlated with PARCC Reading proficiency. PET was positively correlated with PARCC Mathematics proficiency; NpA and In were negatively related to PARCC Mathematics proficiency. Multiple regression analyses revealed that CLOCK AET, PET, PS, and In predicted PARCC Reading proficiency (10.2% of the variance), and all CLOCK indices predicted PARCC mathematic proficiency (15.3% of the variance). Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.