engagement & Learning
Learning Playlists > Engagement & Learning
Student engagement is critical to consistent attendance, learning, and success in school. This curated playlist offers a collection of research, articles, practical frameworks, and resources, designed to help students throughout your school community feel like they belong and be motivated to learn. These resources are intended to help educators and leaders cultivate a trauma-responsive, inclusive, and supportive environment where all students can thrive.
- Fueling Learning Through Engagement : Education Insights 2025-2026
- 25 mins
This 2025 study captures attitudes and beliefs of close to 1400 educators, caregivers and students across the United States about engagement in school. While it reflects a shared understanding of the importance of student engagement to learning and success in school, it also offer broad perspectives on the most effective ways to engage students and the biggest challenges to doing so. The data was collected Hanover Research on behalf of Discovery Education.
- The Relation Between Student Learning in a Post-Pandemic Context (report)
- 30 mins
Chronic absenteeism in Illinois grew from 18% of students before the pandemic to 30% by the 2023 school year, and this report makes clear that the students most affected are also those with the least margin for lost learning time. Drawing on statewide data across nearly 870 Illinois districts, the research finds that each additional day of absence correlates with measurable declines in test scores, particularly in math, and that this relationship has grown stronger, not weaker, since COVID. Black and Latino students, students eligible for free or reduced lunch, and high schoolers across Chicago Public Schools show the steepest increases in absenteeism and the strongest negative relationship between absences and achievement.
- 30 mins
When students feel that who they are is a liability rather than an asset, the brain responds with stress, not learning. This report from the Learning Policy Institute draws on neuroscience and decades of education research to show that identity safety, built through trusting relationships, culturally responsive teaching, restorative practices, and consistent community, is not a supplement to academic rigor but a precondition for it. Practical and research-grounded, it offers school teams a framework for examining how their environments either affirm or threaten the identities of the students they serve.
- 30 mins
This article describes the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships, developed by Dr. Karen Mapp from the Harvard School of Education. The model develops family engagement that is sustainable, equitable, and mutually beneficial to families and educators by supporting strategic planning, professional development, the co-creation of engagement strategies, and culturally responsive practices that facilitates engagement
- 5 Strategies to Cultivate Belonging in the Classroom (article)
- 7 mins
Belonging is a practice, and its effects reach further than we can see. Written by a veteran inclusion classroom teacher, this Edutopia article offers five concrete strategies for building a culture where every student feels chosen, from leaving an empty desk for the child who has not yet arrived to designing the classroom so that students who are typically left out get to be the choosers.
- Creating a Sense of Belonging (article)
- 7 mins
Belonging does not happen by accident. This piece from the Annie E. Casey Foundation draws on the work of scholar john a. powell and the voices of young people of color, elders, and youth organizers to identify seven concrete ways schools and organizations can signal to young people that they are welcome, seen, and valued. For school teams thinking about what belonging actually looks like in practice, this is a grounded and accessible starting point that centers youth voice alongside research.
- How to Tackle Chronic Absenteeism: Resources for Policymakers, Educators, and Researchers (resources)
- 8 mins
Getting students back in the building requires more than attendance tracking. This resource from the American Institutes for Research identifies four evidence-based approaches for addressing chronic absenteeism: strengthening family communication, improving conditions for learning, investing in early warning systems, and engaging community-focused supports. Notably, it connects attendance directly to school climate, making the case that students show up consistently when they feel safe, supported, and genuinely connected to the people and places around them.
- Enhancing Student Engagement in Schools (guide)
- 20 mins
This resource addresses the gap between understanding the importance of student engagement creating the conditions that motivate students to engage in a sustained way. It highlights these three components of engagement: understanding student needs, encouraging student participation, and creating a safe and inclusive school environment.