The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student engagement and factors such as attitudes toward school, preparedness, gender, ethnicity, and first language spoken. The study employed a quantitative correlational design to examine secondary data from the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009 which was conducted by the National Center of Educational Statistics. The information collected was obtained from ninth graders across the United States. The sample size was approximately 15,530 adolescents.

The study's findings revealed that student attitudes towards school and levels of school preparedness are determining factors for student engagement levels. Also, the study concluded that student engagement varies according to gender, ethnicity, and first language spoken. The findings may help to develop interventions that address student attitudes towards school and school preparedness, which will in turn cause higher student engagement levels. This will lead to a reduction in high school dropout rates.