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Student Engagement Improvement Guide

REL Northwest
Author(s):
Matt Eide,
Danette Parsley
Publication date:
September 2026

Summary

The Student Engagement Improvement Guide and its companion Practice Briefs, developed by REL Northwest, help school leadership teams strengthen student engagement through a structured, six-phase continuous improvement process—from diagnosing root causes to implementing and reflecting on evidence-based strategies. Paired with real-world examples, these resources equip teams to design solutions tailored to their school's specific needs.

Student Engagement Improvement Guide and Practice Briefs

Student engagement contributes to attendance, behavior, and course performance. Schools can use a focused continuous improvement process to identify school-level factors that affect engagement and develop strategies that respond to their specific needs.

The Student Engagement Improvement Guide provides school leadership teams with practical tools designing and implementing a six-phase improvement cycle: assess, prepare, select strategies, plan for implementation, implement and monitor, and reflect.

Teams can use the guide to identify a student engagement-related problem of practice, examine root causes, set goals, select and define an evidence-based strategy, plan and monitor implementation, analyze outcomes, and determine next steps. Application examples show what it would look like for a school team to use the guide, and companion Practice Briefs provide research-informed approaches and implementation considerations for common student engagement problems of practice.

Student Engagement Improvement Guide add remove
  • Student Engagement Improvement Guide (2.05 MB)
Practice Briefs add remove
  • Zipfile of all Practice Briefs (6.9 MB)
  • Developing Positive Relationships Practice Brief (480.86 KB)
  • Peer-to-Peer Support Groups Practice Brief (289.88 KB)
  • Implementing Student Support Teams Practice Brief (298.04 KB)
  • Using Restorative Practices Practice Brief (368.92 KB)
  • Community Context and Family Partnerships Practice Brief (1.6 MB)
  • Improving Staff Understanding of Adverse Childhood Experiences Practice Brief (333.14 KB)
  • Maintaining a Safe and Welcoming Physical School Environment Practice Brief (432.94 KB)
  • Self-Care Practice Brief (504.31 KB)
  • Using School and District Climate Data to Align Policies and Practices with Student Backgrounds, Lived Experiences, and Community Values Practice Brief (225.79 KB)
  • Cell Phone Policy Practice Brief (308.08 KB)
  • Community-Building Restorative Circles Practice Brief (636.66 KB)
  • Community Partnerships Practice Brief (407.8 KB)
  • Assessing Policies Practice Brief (291.19 KB)
  • Planning and Coordination of Schoolwide Efforts Practice Brief (828.47 KB)
  • Monitoring Implementation Practice Brief (344.83 KB)
  • Advisory Programs Practice Brief (297.93 KB)
  • Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Practice Brief (560.5 KB)

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REL Northwest

Student Engagement Improvement Guide

By: Matt Eide, Danette Parsley
Download Zipfile of all Practice Briefs

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Tags

Data and Assessments, Students

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