Journal of Educare

Academic outcomes; Classroom climate; English achievement; Mediation; Student engagement.

Student engagement is widely recognized as a fundamental element of academic achievement, encompassing both emotional and cognitive dimensions. However, observations suggest a decline in student engagement within numerous government-sponsored schools in India. This research investigates the mediating role of student engagement in the relationship between classroom climate and English language proficiency among secondary school students. Utilizing a quantitative approach, the study collected data from 700 students attending government-sponsored schools in West Bengal, employing validated instruments to assess classroom climate, student engagement, and English achievement. The analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analyses performed using SPSS, followed by a formal mediation analysis conducted in R with 5,000 bootstrap simulations. Findings indicated robust positive correlations across all three variables. Regression results demonstrated that while classroom climate significantly predicted English achievement, its predictive power decreased considerably when student engagement was introduced into the model, thereby suggesting a mediating effect. The mediation analysis confirmed a significant indirect effect (ACME = 0.1313, 95% CI [0.1118, 0.15], p < .001), revealing that approximately 66% of the total effect was transmitted via student engagement. These results underscore that student engagement is not merely an outcome but a crucial psychological mechanism through which the classroom environment impacts academic performance. Consequently, this study offers practical implications for educators and policymakers, suggesting that cultivating engaging and emotionally supportive classroom settings can significantly enhance English learning outcomes in under-resourced government schools.