A study of 805 4th through 7th graders used a model of motivational development to guide the investigation of the internal dynamics of 4 indicators of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection and the facilitative effects of teacher support and 3 student self-perceptions (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) on changes in these indicators over the school year. In terms of internal dynamics, emotional components of engagement contributed significantly to changes in their behavioral counterparts; feedback from behavior to changes in emotion were not as consistent. Teacher support and students' self-perceptions (especially autonomy) contributed to changes in behavioral components: Each predicted increases in engagement and decreases in disaffection. Tests of process models revealed that the effects of teacher context were mediated by children's self-perceptions. Taken together, these findings suggest a clear distinction between indicators and facilitators of engagement and begin to articulate the dynamics between emotion and behavior that take place inside engagement and the motivational dynamics that take place outside of engagement, involving the social context, self-systems, and engagement itself.

This article presents a motivational conceptualization of engagement and disaffection: First, it emphasizes children's constructive, focused, enthusiastic participation in the activities of classroom learning; second, it distinguishes engagement from disaffection, as well as behavioral features from emotional features. Psychometric properties of scores from teacher and student reports of behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral disaffection, and emotional disaffection were examined using data from 1,018 third through sixth graders. Structural analyses of the four indicators confirm that a multidimensional structure fits the data better than do bipolar or unidimensional models. Validity of scores is supported by findings that teacher reports are correlated with student reports, with in vivo observations in the classroom, and with markers of self-system and social contextual processes. As such, these measures capture important features of engagement and disaffection in the classroom, and any comprehensive assessment should include markers of each. Additional dimensions are identified, pointing the way to future research.

This study examined the role of natural peer-group selection and socialization processes in children's school motivation. At the beginning of the school year, self-and teacher reports of classroom engagement were obtained for 109 students in 2 4th-and 2 5th-grade classrooms. On the basis of interviews with 57 students, composite maps of the social networks in these classrooms were constructed, which were found to be reliable across reporters and composed of children with similar motivational orientations. Longitudinal analyses of a 4th-grade classroom across the school year indicated continuity in the motivational composition of peer groups, despite considerable changes in individual memberships. Evidence was found for motivationally based group selection across time and for group socialization of individuals' engagement.

This study examined the effects of peer groups on changes in academic engagement in 11- to 13-year-old children. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% participated at the beginning and end of the school year. Peer groups were assessed using socio-cognitive mapping; as an indicator of motivation, teachers reported on students' classroom engagement. Peer groups were homogeneous in terms of engagement, and despite considerable member turnover across time, their motivational composition remained fairly intact. Peer group engagement levels in the fall predicted changes in children's motivation across time. Although the magnitude of effects was relatively small, evidence for group influences persisted when controlling for peer selection and the influence of teacher and parent involvement.

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