This research aims to explore the latent effect of elementary student engagement in a Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (SVVR) environment for a school-based course on higher level competence development. Student engagement and higher level competence development were investigated using a valid sample of 324 students from five elementary schools in China. Factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data. The fitness of the items for each scale of the student engagement survey and higher level competence development survey indicated a sufficient fit and also confirmed the questionnaire's structure. The relevant factors of student engagement promote their higher level competence development in the model. The SEM analysis shows that student engagement has a significant positive impact on higher level competence development. The findings could be a good reference for those who intend to develop a specific topic of school-based courses on technology for fostering students' higher level competence development.