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School choice has been an issue in the education systems where parents are given the autonomy to select schools for their children. Previous research suggests that parental decisions are affected by demographic, financial, and value-related factors. This study investigated variables including: demographic and socio-economic background, motivation, quality of school curriculum, quality of school life, and classroom environment as factors contributing to secondary students' choice of schools for their own children. The sample comprised 8,265 secondary students from 70 Catholic schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analysis of variance and logistic regression were used to identify contributing factors of school choice. Findings suggested that students' expectations of schools, quality of school curriculum, quality of school life, and the classroom environments they experienced all contributed to their intention to send their own children to the same schools, after controlling for their background differences. On the other hand, students' intentions were not affected by their gender, socio-economic backgrounds, or country of birth. (Contains 5 figures and 6 tables.)

Background: Prior cross-cultural research with students in different national contexts (Australia and China) has shown consistency in the extent to which individual personal best (PB) goals are associated with engagement at school. Aims: This study extends this work to a multicultural context, assessing perceived PB goal structure in school and individual PB goals among Chinese- and English-speaking background Australian high school students attending the same schools. Sample: A sample of 450 students (N = 225 Chinese-speaking background Australian students; N = 225 matched English-speaking background Australian students) from 20 schools. Method: We conducted multigroup path modelling to examine the following process model: Perceived PB goal structure in school ? individual PB goals ? school engagement ? academic achievement. Results: Findings showed that for both groups, perceived PB goal structure in school is associated with an individual's PB goals (and engagement), individual PB goals are associated with engagement, and engagement is associated with achievement. The indirect effects of perceived PB goal structure in school to achievement (via individual PB goals and engagement) and individual PB goals to achievement (via engagement) were also significant. Notably, there was no significant difference in parameters between Chinese- and English-speaking background students, suggesting generality of the effects of perceived PB goal structure in school and individual PB goals in the engagement and achievement process. Conclusion: Findings hold implications for educators teaching to culturally diverse classrooms and seeking to optimize students' academic growth within these contexts.

Established the longitudinal factorial construct validity of the Quality of Life Scale designed originally to measure the well-being of students in Australian high schools. Results for 5,932 secondary students (1993) and 8,269 students (1999) support the factorial construct validity of the measure. (SLD)

Analyzed data from 1,467 Australian high school students for the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) to determine the degree to which ICEQ scores measure aspects of classroom climate as opposed to individual student attitude. Results support the use of the ICEQ as a measure of classroom climate. (SLD)

Examines the effect of Catholic school culture on academic achievement in the Higher School Certificate Examination. Attempts to model achievement as the outcome of a Catholic school culture that is the result of variables operating at both the individual and school levels. Develops and tests the model. Discusses the findings in detail. (CMK)

Background Prior cross-cultural research with students in different national contexts ( Australia and China) has shown consistency in the extent to which individual personal best ( PB) goals are associated with engagement at school. Aims This study extends this work to a multicultural context, assessing perceived PB goal structure in school and individual PB goals among Chinese- and English-speaking background Australian high school students attending the same schools. Sample A sample of 450 students ( N = 225 Chinese-speaking background Australian students; N = 225 matched English-speaking background Australian students) from 20 schools. Method We conducted multigroup path modelling to examine the following process model: Perceived PB goal structure in school → individual PB goals → school engagement → academic achievement. Results Findings showed that for both groups, perceived PB goal structure in school is associated with an individual's PB goals (and engagement), individual PB goals are associated with engagement, and engagement is associated with achievement. The indirect effects of perceived PB goal structure in school to achievement (via individual PB goals and engagement) and individual PB goals to achievement (via engagement) were also significant. Notably, there was no significant difference in parameters between Chinese- and English-speaking background students, suggesting generality of the effects of perceived PB goal structure in school and individual PB goals in the engagement and achievement process. Conclusion Findings hold implications for educators teaching to culturally diverse classrooms and seeking to optimize students' academic growth within these contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined factors contributing to the quality of school life of secondary school students. A path model, expressing interrelationships between students' background characteristics, their expectations of schools, the perceived quality of both the formal and the informal school curriculum, the classroom environment and students' quality of school life, was developed and tested. The sample comprised 8265 Grade 12 students from 70 schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analysis indicated that, after controlling for other variables in the model, students' experience of the classroom environment was the single most important factor explaining their quality of school life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]