Hygeia Public Health 2016, 51(2): 194-201pl

Student perception of junior high school´s social and educational environment depending on results of comprehensive external evaluation

Joanna Mazur ^1/, Agnieszka Małkowska-Szkutnik ^1,2/, Dorota Zawadzka ^1/

1/ Instytut Matki i Dziecka w Warszawie
2/ Wydział Pedagogiczny, Uniwersytet Warszawski

Summary
Introduction. Selected school characteristics may directly or indirectly affect the well-being in adolescence. Academic standards should be included in the analysis of organizational school factors assessing the school social environment.
Aim. To present the relationship between the students´ perception of school social environment and quality of school.
Material & method. The questionnaire "School and Health" was administered at the end of school year 2014/15 in 70 junior high schools in all provinces (n=4085 students). An objective index of school quality was calculated for all schools that had undergone a comprehensive external evaluation. The schools were divided into three categories related to the level of implementation of state-required standards. The students described: support from peers creating a coherent scale with the feeling of belonging to the school, motivation and support from the teachers creating a coherent scale with the grade system and perception of their academic competences. General linear models (GLM) were estimated.
Results. On the average the schools achieved 68.1% of possible points, with respectively: 48.4%, 69.6% and 82.1% in worse, average and better ones. The quality of school is an essential factor connected with the feeling of belonging to school and support from peers (p<0.001), even when adjusted for age and gender. The relationship with self-perceived competences was weaker but still significant in GLM (p=0.049). The quality of school did not influence the students´ opinions about teachers. However, there was a significant interaction between the school quality and students´ age. In worse schools in younger classes a critical evaluation of teachers occurred.
Conclusion. In research on the relationship between school factors and health or health behaviors both the subjective assessment of school and its characteristics as contextual factor should be taken into consideration.

Key words:  educational inequalities, contextual variables, general linear model, interaction effect, adolescents