Exploring Student Engagement in Urban Public High Schools: An Improvement Science Study

Author

Ashley Hunter Freeman

Date of Award

2025

Degree Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

Comments

Presented to the Faculty of Sacred Heart University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education, Sacred Heart University

Committee Chair

Kathleen Wallace Ed.D.

2nd Reader

Maureen F. Ruby, Ph.D.

3rd Reader

Brandon Frame, Ed.D.

Abstract

This Dissertation in Practice began with a simple question about student engagement and ended with a framework for systemic change. Set in Harborview Public High Schools, an urban and historically under-resourced district, the study examined how educators define engagement, the barriers that limit it, and the supports needed to strengthen it. Fragmented initiatives and inconsistent practices have hindered the development of a coherent classroom-anchored engagement strategy. Guided by an Improvement Science framework, this study used a twophase convergent mixed methods design that included questionnaires, focus groups, educator reflections, and classroom observations.

The first phase focused on professional discourse and sharing current practices across classrooms and the district. It gathered baseline data on educator beliefs and engagement practices through questionnaires and district data. The second phase built on those findings through professional learning that explored generational differences and the changing societal context of teaching and learning.

Findings showed that educators initially viewed engagement as behavioral but began to see it as relational and systemic through shared reflection and learning. They emphasized empathy, coherence, and adult practice as central to improvement and recognized that system conditions, more than individual student traits, shape engagement outcomes. The process also deepened educator awareness of generational shifts in learning and motivation.

The study concludes that lasting improvement depends on coherent structures, shared understanding, and alignment between educator learning, district priorities, and classroom practice. Engagement is not a student trait to fix but a system outcome to design.

Recommended Citation

Hunter Freeman, A. (2025). Exploring student engagement in urban public high schools: An improvement science study [Doctoral dissertation, Sacred Heart University]. https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/edd/70/

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