Quality of school life and student outcomes in Europe

Quality of school life (QSL) is a multidimensional construct reflecting the attitudinal or emotional climate at school in terms of students’ perceptions of well-being, determined by school-related factors and their experiences gained through their involvement in school life. Research has long suggested that it plays a vital role in improving students’ motivation and effort, engagement with

learning and academic achievement. There is growing evidence that students’ perceptions of the quality of their school experiences could mitigate the influence of contextual factors on academic achievement and students’ propensity to stay in school and to progress in education. Yet, there is little research offering consistent estimates of the quality of school life aspects across EU education systems and analysing their predictive value for different outcomes of schooling. This study aims to fill the existing gap by providing a research model for measuring the subjective quality of school life for EU students based on large-scale international assessments like the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).