Our Services

School Engagement Questionnaire

The NCSE School Engagement Questionnaire was compiled in 2006 based on extensive research into the school engagement literature and a thorough review of existing school engagement measures. We designed the survey to measure three aspects of school engagement:

• cognitive engagement,
• behavioral engagement,
• and emotional engagement.

The resulting 42-question survey was rigorously tested for validity and reliability, and the fifteen items that had the highest predictive value – five for each engagement type – were selected for a short survey version. In addition, a section of questions on bullying was added. Since then, the survey has been used in many schools across the country.

Everything you need to conduct a successful survey is included in the $75 packet.

• The 42-question, full survey
• The 15-question short survey, best for the youngest children
• Spanish survey versions
• Bonus bullying survey
• Coding sheets for each survey
• A pre-formatted Excel data entry sheet for each survey
• Survey administration tips.
• The report evaluating survey validity and reliability,
• Quantifying School Engagement Research Report, also free on our website.
  The Peer Victimization in Schools report based on the bullying supplement, also free on our website.
• (Upon request, we would be happy to send you versions of the long survey in Portuguese and the short survey in Urdu with your purchase. Note that these surveys were translated by researchers unaffiliated with NCSE.)
• The survey may be used with an unlimited number of students in a single research study, either once or multiple times during a single school year, for the flat fee.

Click here to purchase survey materials.

Training Programs

Click here to view our training programs.

Policy and Practice Assessment

Most schools have a plethora of policies and practices that have evolved over years, sometimes on a reactive rather than a proactive basis. Take the NCSE AAA Policy and Practice Assessment to help reevaluate your school practices through the lens of school engagement. There are three versions of the assessment tool, one each for high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. The extensive assessment covers thirteen categories of school practices, including academic support, discipline, grading, and supportive services among others.

Ultimately, these data help illuminate critical factors that contribute to whether or not students are engaged and connected to their school community — and whether policies intentionally foster or unintentionally undermine student attendance, attachment and achievement.

There are three valuable aspects to the work. First, is the discussion among school team members that is required in order to reach consensus on the answers to the assessment questions. Second, is the analysis that NCSE provides in a written report. Third, is the two-hour technical assistance session that we facilitate in order to help you set priorities for immediate action, and for longer-term work.

Contact us for more information: info@schoolengagement.net

View a sample of the NCSE Policy and Practice Assessment tool (NEED TO LINK THIS)

Evaluation Services

Have a program or intervention you want to evaluate? We can help. Our experienced evaluation staff will design a study to meet any budget. We listen to your goals and needs, and meet you wherever you are in your evaluation plan. We can help you do everything from designing a logic model to building a system for data collection, to analyzing your data.

We will work cooperatively with you to design a practical evaluation that you can use to improve your program and show funders the value of your work. We are experts in both process evaluations to assess the systemic functioning of your program, and outcome evaluations to measure your program’s effectiveness. We are experienced in both quantitative and qualitative evaluations, and understand that the best evaluations include both. We will:

Conduct focus groups among stakeholder groups

Survey larger numbers of program participants, designing the survey instrument with your feedback beforehand

Interview key program staff and stakeholders

Write a thorough summary that will highlight your strengths and include suggestions for improvement

Share results through PowerPoints and presentations

Build your capacity to continue your own evaluation efforts

You can get started by downloading How to Evaluate Your Truancy Reduction Program [insert link to page? Or to document?] free from our Publications page, or by attending our professional development workshop by the same name [insert link].

If your program is still in the design stage and not ready for evaluation, we can help guide you through the design phase while incorporating an evaluation plan right from the beginning.

Interested and have some more questions? Contact Jodi Heilbrunn at JodiH@schoolengagement.net.