The aim of the questionnaire is to identify and describe the characteristics of pupils enrolled in secondary VET in Spain, and is one of the instruments of a longitudinal study aimed at describing the dropout and successful itineraries of the students enrolled in this training. The questionnaire is part of the research activities of the project "Success and dropout pathways in vocational training educational system levels 1 and 2" focused on providing evidences on a scientific basis and intervention guides and resources, that contribute to improving knowledge of the VET in Spain and, more specifically, to prevent and correct the serious problem of school dropouts at these levels.

In order to collect the information within the first phase of the study, we developed a questionnaire that identifies, according to a global model, the dropouts and educational success cases, the characteristics and the student engagement between Spanish students enrolled in secondary VET programs.

The purpose of this paper is to present a measuring instrument where specific categories and variables define a higher or lower school engagement in different areas and therefore, a greater or lesser risk of dropping out in the short or long term.

The concept of student engagement, developed from the 80s to understand the problem of school dropouts and to design interventions to prevent this from happening, underlies and provides the theoretical framework to the instrument.

According to Reschly & Christenson (2012), the notion of student engagement is understood as a concept that requires four areas/perspectives of analysis: emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and academic. According to these authors, the first area consists on affection (on positive and negative) related to interactions between students and teachers, peers and the school in general. The second is based in personal investment, understood as: personal performance, cognitive or intellectual capital, cognitive self-regulation and/or learning and effort to acquire a good level of cognitive domain (expertise). The third and fourth are defined by participation in academic, social or extracurricular activities linked to their studies.
The four areas of student engagement are characterized as being susceptible to the effects of intervention, being heavily influenced by the various contexts (family, peers, school and community). The emotional and cognitive areas focus on the perceptions of students and precede the behavioural and academic areas, which refer to observable behaviours and results. Each of these four dimensions includes several variables or indicators.

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