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

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.