Abstract

The Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) is a relatively new inventory designed to measure cognitive and
affective engagement in school for middle and high school students. We explored the reliability and validity of
the SEI for 122 college students. Results provided evidence for adequate to good reliability and
validity--indicating a good fit between the data and a 4-factor structure based on Teacher-Student Relationships,
Peer Support at School, Future Aspirations and Goals, and Family Support for Learning. Two factors
representing affective engagement (Peer Support at School and Teacher-Student Relationships) emerged as
important predictors of career perceptions in our college student sample. Peer Support at School also predicted
college GPA. Facilitating continuity in the operationalization and measurement of student engagement across
secondary and post-secondary settings, findings also highlight the potential importance of student engagement to
career development.

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