Relationship to Check & Connect

Development of the SEI

The SEI is based on a model of engagement that grew out of work with Check & Connect. Check & Connect mentors recognized that successfully re-engaging students required more than meeting academic and behavioral standards of schools. Rather, successful engagement also required attention to students’ cognitive (e.g., self-regulation, perceived relevance of schooling, future goals) and affective engagement (e.g., belonging, relationships with teachers and peers) at school and with learning. Thus, Christenson and colleagues proposed a 4-part typology of engagement that included academic, behavioral, cognitive, and affective subtypes (Appleton, Christenson, Kim, & Reschly, 2006; Christenson & Anderson, 2002; Christenson et al., 2008; Reschly & Christenson, 2006). Indicators of students’ academic and behavioral engagement are typically readily available in school data systems; however, affective and cognitive engagement require student self-report. A search of the literature did not find an instrument suited for this specific purpose, thus, the development work on the SEI was initiated.

Engagement Types and Indicators

Adapted from Reschly, Appleton, and Christenson, 2007; Reschly, Pohl, & Appleton, 2014;

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