Primary school students’ socio-emotional experiences of school: relations with students’ intellectual ability and school achievement

Abstract

High-achieving students mostly experience school more positively than lower achieving students do. For students with different intellectual abilities, findings are inconclusive. In this study, the socio-emotional experiences of school were considered through the four dimensions of classroom climate, attitude towards school, social integration, and feeling of being accepted by the teacher. It was investigated whether 1411 third- and fourth-grade elementary school children differed in their socio-emotional experiences of school depending on their intellectual ability (intelligence) and school achievement (Grade Point Average). Results of structural equation modeling showed that differently able children experience school comparably with respect to the dimensions studied, whereas higher-achieving children experience school more positively than lower-achieving children do—independent of their intellectual ability or gender. Interaction analyses further revealed that for children with above-average intellectual ability, the socio-emotional experiences of school depend even more on their school achievement than for children with average or below-average intellectual ability. Practical implications are discussed.