A Study Of School Engagement In Students With Dyslexia In Singapore

School engagement has been associated with better student outcomes. Despite this, there has been limited research on engagement of students with dyslexia, even though they experience greater challenges in school.

Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate facilitators of engagement in a classroom context and their impact on students with dyslexia.

The systematic literature review explored the relationship between classroom environment and academic performance amongst students aged 11-16 and sought to identify the characteristics of effective classroom.

Fifteen studies met the criteria for inclusion. Synthesis of findings indicated that classroom environments had a small to medium effect on achievement.

Effective classroom characteristics included well-structured classrooms which promoted autonomy, mastery goal structures and positive relationships with teachers and peers.

However, few studies had been conducted with at-risk populations such as students with special needs, making it inappropriate to generalise findings.

Using a quantitative-qualitative sequential mixed methods design, the empirical paper investigated behavioural and emotional engagement by studying 160 students (12-16 years old) with dyslexia attending secondary schools in Singapore.

Classroom environment and engagement were measured using questionnaires Teacher as Social Context, Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales, Classroom Life Scale and Engagement vs Disaffection with Learning.

Path analysis was used to explore the relationships between independent variables (classroom environment), mediating variables (engagement) and dependent variable (progress in literacy).

Engagement was found to mediate relationships between peer relationships and literacy progress.

Qualitative data obtained through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of 16 of the participants further supported the quantitative data to show that classrooms which promoted a sense of autonomy, competency and relatedness were associated with better engagement.

Other themes that emerged suggested that well-structured and stimulating classrooms, supportive homes and personal factors facilitated engagement while dyslexia-related difficulties caused disengagement.