Student Engagement, Student Success and Self-report: Validating the Community College Survey of Student Engagement

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) is a national benchmarking tool for the purpose of reporting on student experience as a measure of institutional quality.This research sought to evaluate the validity of the CCSSE at the level of a single two-year institution by examining the accuracy of self-report data, determining the similarities or differences between students who provided identifying information and by replicating aspects of previous validation research.The study finds support for the accuracy of self-report when considering the proportion of participants who accurately report their academic and demographic characteristics for dichotomous variables, but also raises concerns about self-enhancement in reporting measures of academic achievement.Exploratory regression analyses highlight the influence of selfreport accuracy and academic characteristics on the efficacy with which the 5 CCSSE scales can be used to predict academic success in the form of GPA.A comparison of regression models supports concerns about the nature of self-report research more generally in providing some evidence for shared method variance when self-report data is used as both a predictor and a criterion.Participants who included their identification number on the survey differed from those who did not in only a few ways in regards to membership in particular groups of interest.Differences in engagement levels between PREFACE "Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know" -Daniel J. Boorstin