There is sufficient evidence to support the importance of adaptive student engagement with respect to improved school behavior, academic achievement, and high school completion rates. Students who are more engaged exhibit high levels of adaptive attention, cognition, and behaviour as well as create social, physical, and intellectual resources (i.e., Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008; Fredrickson, 2001) . A three-year study designed to investigate and track student engagement and academic

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... hievement with Grade 9 and 10 students has demonstrated that 21 st century instructional practices have the potential to improve students' perceptions of community, orientation to school, and in particular, their academic strategies. Theories regarding student engagement have proliferated over the past 25 years when it was recognized that while high school enrollment can be mandated, it is impossible to legislate academic, behavioural, cognitive, and psychological involvement in school (e.g., Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008) . The importance of this understanding is due to the fact that student engagement is the primary theoretical orientation when addressing high school completion (Christenson, Reschly, Appleton, Berman, Spanjers, & Varro, 2008) . By attending to more adaptive student engagement levels, the risks associated with early school dropout may be mediated and in turn reduced. In the meantime, student engagement undergirds adaptive psychological, cognitive, behavioural, and academic success in school. How to best improve student engagement is debatable. While many of the studies conducted thus far have focused upon academic and environmental factors within the school context, fewer have included personal variables (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004) . However, as discussed by Reschly, Huebner, Appleton, and Antaramian (2008) , positive psychological factors may be the most important as they lead to adaptive emotions for coping and resiliency. Specifically, students need to feel positive connections with their school and its members. The higher the level of psychological connection a student perceives, the greater the impact in regard to affective components and in turn, academic outcomes (e.g., Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Reschly, et al, 2008) . Therefore, it appears that student engagement levels may be best elevated where there is a strong commitment to school community and elevated levels of communication. Given the importance of 21 st century learning approaches in the personal and academic lives of contemporary youth, it is possible that students may become more engaged in school should instructional practices reflect these conditions. Hence, this article is based upon outcomes from a three-year study designed to improve student engagement using 21 st century instructional approaches and practices (i.e., the usage of advanced communication technologies, more differentiated instruction, and greater frequency of assessment for learning). Student Engagement Despite the regularity of student engagement discussions within the literature, it is difficult to define given inconsistencies regarding its conceptual basis