School Life Questionnaire
Primary School Version
Although schools express a wide range of goals, school-effects research studies and the evaluations of educational systems often emphasise academic achievement to the neglect of other goals. Yet the experience provided in primary schools is a significant component of the lives of most people and deserves consideration in terms of its quality as well its relationship to academic achievement and longer term outcomes.
Purpose
The ACER School Life questionnaire is intended for use in surveys of schools, for school reviews and school evaluations. It was developed in the belief that it would assist in the examination of outcomes of schooling that are different from the more usual outcome measures, such as student achievement. It would enable an examination of important outcomes such as attitudes towards school in general, towards learning, towards teachers and towards other students. Information on these kinds of `affective' variables can complement the more usual measures of outcomes and be useful in a variety of contexts.
Background
In Australia, work on the quality of school life began with secondary schools. A School Life Questionnaire for use in secondary schools was developed in the early 1980s to find out about students' overall feelings about school and their feelings about specific aspects of school life. Subsequently a primary school version of the School Life Questionnaire was developed to provide for students in the upper primary years.
In developing the primary school version an attempt was made not only to render the language of the instrument appropriate for primary schools but also to consider the appropriateness of the concepts underlying the scales for these younger students. Its development over a series of studies resulted in some features that were different from the secondary school version. Two scales that were different from those in the secondary school version were:
- Social Integration (which reflects a sense of learning about getting along with other people-combining the ideas of the identity and status scales from the secondary versions of the questionnaire), and
- Adventure which represents a sense of self-motivation in learning and that learning is enjoyable for its own sake.
Scope and Content
The ACER School Life Questionnaire (primary school version) consists of 40 statements about school to which students are asked to indicate their level of agreement on a four-point likert scale from agree to disagree. The items encompass a number of different aspects of school life and form seven clusters or scales. The clusters or scales are:
- General Satisfaction that is sometimes called positive affect and reflects favourable feelings about school as whole.
- Negative Affect refers to negative feelings about school.
- Achievement reflects a sense of confidence in ones ability to be successful in school.
- Opportunity represents a belief in the relevance of schooling for the future.
- Teachers refers to a feeling about the adequacy of the interaction between teachers and students.
- Social Integration reflects a sense of learning about getting along with other people.
- Adventure represents a sense of self-motivation in learning and that learning is enjoyable for its own sake.
Sample Items - Primary School
My school is a place where . |
|---|
GENERAL SATISFACTION ITEMS |
I really like to go each day |
I like to be |
OPPORTUNITY ITEMS |
the work is a good preparation for my future. |
the things I learn are important to me |
TEACHERS ITEMS |
my teacher is fair to me |
my teacher takes an interest... |
ACHIEVEMENT ITEMS |
| I am a success as a student |
I know how to cope with the work |
SOCIAL INTEGRATION ITEMS |
I learn to get along with other people |
other students accept me as I am |
ADVENTURE ITEMS |
I like to do extra work |
learning is fun |
NEGATIVE AFFECT ITEMS |
I feel unhappy |
I feel lonely |