Social context effects on pupils' perception of school

In this study we test the effects of three social contexts of learning on the affective outcomes of schooling, in this case pupils' perception of their primary school. The concept of pupils' school perception is measured using a reliable scale. This scale contains items to measure pupils' perception towards: general school life, teachers, peers, school organization and building. The data-set consists of 2023 pupils from 103 representative primary schools in the Netherlands. The findings show that pupils' perception of school differs between sectors. Pupils' school perception is lowest in private Protestant schools and highest in private non-religious private schools, while Catholic and public schools are intermediate. Multilevel analysis shows the three social contexts explaining variance in pupils' school perception (class context 8%, school 12% and governance 8%). Details of the nature of these social contexts are discussed, as well as their influence on pupils' school perception. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.