Students’ engagement in schools is perceived as a crucial variable for school success. During the last years interesting research was published focusing on the assessment (Veiga, 2012; Lam et al., 2012) and determinants and consequences of school-engagement. Additionally, the interplay of contextual and personal factors emerged as an important research objective. The aim of this research project is to conduct a long-term evaluation of a social-emotional learning program SEL Lions-Quest in an Austrian province. This multicomponent program targets students in grades 5 to 8 and is conducted by certified teachers as a classroom curriculum. The sample consists of 419 pupils (9 to 15 years). Scales are administered to assess school-engagement, the perception of learning climate, well-being and motivation. The scale to assess school-engagement SES (Veiga et al. 2010) was translated from English into German. Test-statistical analysis are indicating rather good coefficients regarding internal consistency (Cronbach Alpha = .75). In general, girls show significant higher school-engagement scores than boys, a result that is consistent with other studies (Lam et al., 2012). Results of variance and regression analysis are presented regarding predictors of school-engagement. Statistical analyses of the longitudinal data indicate that at least a moderate level of SEL-implementation is necessary to foster the programs aims, such as decreasing behavioral problems resp. increasing individual well-being. Students in the Lions-Quest-group score significant higher in school-engagement than the control group. This means, that SEL-programs are showing positive effects; this can be especially observed for boys. These results are discussed with respect to key factors fostering students’ engagement on the contextual and the personal level as well as the important contribution of systematic SEL-programs in this process.

Veiga, F. H. (2012). Proposal to the PISA of a new scale of Students’ engagement in school. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 1224-1231. Lam, S.-F. et al. (2012). Do girls and boys perceive themselves as equally engaged in school? The results of an international study from 12 countries. Journal of School Psychology, 50, 77-94.