Student Perspectives of School Disengagement and Reengagement

Background and Purpose:

Completing high school is an important social milestone. Students overwhelmingly aspire toward graduation and the pursuit of post-secondary education; however, many students’ ability to excel in education is affected by socioenvironmental and pedagogic hurdles. This qualitative study examined youth narratives detailing experiences of school disengagement and reengagement. Scholarship establishes school disengagement to result from multiple contextual and individual factors (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). However, youth perspectives, and the context through which they emerge, are often overlooked in research examining complex youth experiences (Futch-Ehrlich, 2016). Little is known regarding how young people understand their experiences disengaging and reengaging academically. In order to support school success, it is vital to develop school-based strategies that are informed by a thorough understanding of student perspectives.

Methods:

This qualitative study sought to gain insight from young people about experiences of school disengagement and reengagement. Data derive from fifteen individual interviews conducted with young people participating in an education reengagement program in the Seattle metropolitan area. In these interviews, young people described their school experiences in relation to their academic, family and community contexts. Students offered their perspectives regarding why they left school and how they navigated barriers to continue their education through reengagement programs. Counternarrative storytelling informed the study’s sampling design, interview questions, and critical content analysis. Youth of color were intentionally oversampled (13 of the 15 interviews) to provide space for direct youth voice documenting the educational narratives of underrepresented students.

Results:

Results indicate that a confluence of familial and residential instabilities, lack of peer and school staff support, racial bias, low adult expectations, and negative school climates impeded school engagement and led to feeling typecast within deficit-based educational narratives. For instance, one Latinx student noted, “When my teachers found out I was pregnant ... all of the sudden I felt like I was being treated like a statistic.” Students emphasized the importance of reconceptualizing these narratives while working to complete high school and go on to college. Culturally affirming and accommodating relational supports with adults were found to be salient motivators for students’ academic reengagement.

Conclusions and Implications:

Our findings identify multiple opportunities for schools to target supportive services toward young people struggling academically and socially. School should be a protective factor for young people, where all are given the opportunity to meaningfully participate in safe environments that foster healthy social and academic development. It is vital that educators and community-partners place special emphasis on creating learning environments that promote inclusivity and buffer experiences of instability or inequality. We discuss recommendations informed by direct youth voice aimed at cultivating more accommodating school climates and ensuring all students succeed.