Engagement in the Secondary Setting Toolkit

Engagement in the Secondary Setting Toolkit

Discover the Engagement in the Secondary Setting Toolkit, your comprehensive, research-backed resource for designing secondary classrooms where students are behaviorally on task, cognitively challenged, and emotionally connected to their learning every day.

ADAC’s Engagement in the Secondary Setting Toolkit is designed to support secondary educators in moving beyond compliance and toward genuine, sustained student engagement. Grounded in Elizabeth Barkley’s research-based definition of engagement as the product of motivation and active learning, this toolkit unpacks three distinct dimensions of engagement,  behavioral, cognitive, and emotional, and provides nine practical, ready-to-use strategies educators can implement across any content area or grade level. Each strategy is presented with a clear description, timing guidance, and suggestions for differentiation, making implementation accessible to both new and experienced teachers.

This toolkit also goes beyond individual strategies to show how engagement and classroom management are deeply connected. Rather than treating behavior as a discipline problem to react to, it reframes off-task behavior as a signal, and equips teachers with the structures, routines, and lesson designs to prevent disengagement before it starts. Two complete 90-minute lesson structure options give secondary teachers a practical framework they can adapt to any unit or topic immediately.

Key Features:

1. Defining Engagement Framework: A clear, research-grounded introduction to what engagement is, and is not, including a three-part breakdown of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement drawn from McDowell (2024), a side-by-side “is/is not” guide, and a foundational quote from Elizabeth Barkley that anchors the toolkit’s philosophy: engagement doesn’t happen without both motivation and active learning.
2. Behavioral Engagement Strategy Set: Three practical strategies for keeping students actively on task and participating: Response Signals (hand signals, whiteboards, polls, and digital tools for quick checks for understanding), Equity Sticks (a random call system that ensures all students are expected to contribute), and Stand-Sit-Move / Four Corners (a physical response strategy for kinesthetic engagement during instruction). Each strategy includes guidance on timing, materials, and differentiation.
3. Cognitive Engagement Strategy Set: Three strategies that push students to think deeply and embrace challenge: Error Analysis (students examine worked examples containing mistakes and explain the error), Concept Sort (students categorize terms or ideas and justify their reasoning), and Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (students construct an argument supported by evidence, a powerful tool for any content area). Each strategy includes guidance on timing, materials, and differentiation.
4. Emotional Engagement Strategy Set: Three strategies that build students’ sense of belonging, relevance, and ownership: Real World Connection Prompts (students link content to their lived experience or current events), Affirmation and Feedback Loops (teachers provide specific, strengths-based feedback during learning), and Choice Boards (students select from multiple pathways to demonstrate their understanding). Each strategy includes guidance on timing, materials, and differentiation.
5. Two 90-Minute Sample Lesson Structures: A side-by-side comparison of two complete lesson structure options designed for the longer class periods common in secondary settings. Option 1 (Direct Instruction) walks through a six-stage model from Launch through Reflection and Closure, ideal for introducing new or complex content. Option 2 (Discussion-Driven) presents a six-stage seminar model from Warm Up through Exit Reflection, ideal for building student voice, reasoning, and academic discourse around complex texts or issues.
6. Classroom Management Supports: A dedicated section reframing engagement as a proactive management tool, with a research-backed reminder that off-task behavior is often a sign of confusion, boredom, or disconnection, not defiance. Includes a Prevention > Reaction framework and a practical Routines & Transitions guide covering opening, participation, work-time, and exit/closing routines specifically designed for the secondary setting.
7. NSBECS Alignment Quick Reference: A ready-to-use alignment page connecting the toolkit directly to NSBECS Standard 7 and Benchmarks 7.3, 7.4, and 7.8, with two targeted reflection questions designed to anchor individual reflection and professional learning community conversations around secondary engagement practices.

Perfect for high school teachers across all content areas who want to design lessons where every student is expected, and equipped, to participate, think, and connect. Download the Engagement in the Secondary Setting Toolkit today and start building the kind of classroom energy that makes learning impossible to ignore.