No investigation has directly conceptualized or measured student engagement in secondary schools. Rather it must be inferred elliptically from other investigations of students who disengage, dropout, or are alienated. Engagement has been defined as existing when students are participating in the activities offered as a part of the school program; disengagement as the extent to which students refrain from participating in school activities. A conceptual framework of engagement includes the following: (1) engagement is the attitude leading to and participation in the school's programs; (2) engagement has multiple interactive determinants; (3) engagement will have an impact on many student and school outcomes including achievement, academic knowledge, and social behavior; and (4) research on engagement should be longitudinal rather than cross-sectional. Psychological characteristics of the student, family characteristics, school characteristics, and teacher characteristics affect student engagement. Engagement has no real theory, direct assessment tools, nor systematic research. Clearly a student's engagement in his schooling can be a complex state of perception or a way of acting. Many of its antecedents are deeply rooted in the larger society, the family, and in the school and classroom. In this sense much of engagement seems immutable. Yet, there are identifiable characteristics of schooling that, if varied, can result in enhanced participation. (ABL)