The role of class-level composition and schools´ contextual characteristics for school-aged children´s life satisfaction: a three-level multilevel analysis

• Published in: International journal of adolescence and youth Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 12 - 24
• Main Authors: Rathmann, Katharina, Herke, Max, Richter, Matthias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 31.12.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Ambition; Children; class composition; Classmates; Classrooms; Disengagement; Helplessness; Individual differences; Infrastructure; Learning environment; Life satisfaction; Longitudinal studies; Multilevel analysis; multilevel modeling; National Educational Panel Study (NEPS); school context; Schools; Secondary schools; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Socioeconomics; Students; Teachers; Youth
• ISSN: 0267-3843; 2164-4527
• DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2019.1573743

Aim of this study is to examine the role of individual, class-level composition and school-level contextual features on school-aged children´s life satisfaction. Methods: Data from students in ninth grade (n = 10,715), in 745 classes within 406 secondary schools of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) were used. Bivariate and three-level logistic multilevel analyses were conducted including individual-level, class-level composition (school performance, school disengagement, ambition and academic effort, level of helplessness in major subjects), teacher assessments of class composition, and school-level features (funding, socio-economic status, school infrastructure). At Results show, that at class-level, level of ambitious classmates was associated with higher life satisfaction. Students placed in classrooms with higher shares of classmates expecting academic effort revealed lower life satisfaction. Class- and school-level features were not significantly related to students' life satisfaction. Conclusions: ApartIt can be concluded, that apart from contextual features, the composition of the overall learning environment in class is partially related to young people´s life satisfaction.