Running head: RIMM-KAUFMAN SUMMARY 1

Rimm-Kaufman Summary

Whitley Montgomery
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Question & Hypothesis

Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman and her colleagues conducted a study that proposed three

questions. The first question was: To what extent do observationally based, teacher-reported,

and student-reported measures of engagement show concordance and discordance? (2014).

Their hypothesis was that there would be varied approaches to measurement that would provide

different perspectives on engagement. Their second question: To what extent do the quality of

teacher-student interactions and student gender contribute to engagement? (2014). They

hypothesized that there would be a higher engagement in girls than boys and a higher quality

teacher-student interaction in relation to higher engagement. Third question: Does quality of

teacher-student interaction predict student engagement differently for boys and girls? (2014).

Their hypothesis was that they expected higher quality teacher-student interactions would be

needed to engage boys more than girls.

Method

The participants the study included was from schools located in a suburban district in a

Mid-Atlantic state. Sixty-three fifth grade teachers were chosen and 387 fifth grade students

were chosen for this study. The teachers would inform researchers of the typical days for math

and the researchers would come for observation (2014). The observations were scheduled for

three different days and each observation was 63 minutes long. The first researcher assistant

videotaped the classroom before the math transition, the second researcher assistant conducted

two 4-min observations of each child and submitted a rating while the teacher was observed also
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(2014). After the observation, the children were given a questionnaire about their engagement in

mathematics. Then the videotapes were then sent to the lab.

Results

The results showed the quality of teacher-student interactions to observed or teacher-reported

behavioral engagement; higher classroom organization related to higher levels of observed

behavioral engagement (2014). Those (students) in classes that gave them higher levels of

emotional support had a higher reported emotional, social, and cognitive engagement when

focusing on mathematics. Boys were reported with higher cognitive and emotional engagement

in organized classrooms. They had higher social engagement than girls in classrooms with higher

instructional support. Rimm-Kaufman and her colleagues finish by summing up different

approaches in which engagement can be measured.