Background: It is generally accepted that well-established classroom rules prevent problem behaviour, while also supporting students' achievement gains. Yet, there might be considerable variability in students' underlying motives to comply or refrain from complying with classroom rules, with some students adhering to them because they fully accept…

Background: National ranking from the triennial Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) often serves as a barometer of national performance and human capital. Though excessive student- and school-level covariates (n > 700) may prove intractable for traditional least-squares estimate procedures, shrinkage methods may be more…

Background: School safety and corresponding feelings of both pupils and school staff are beginning to receive more and more attention. The social cohesion characteristics of a school may be useful in promoting feelings of safety, particularly in pupils. Aims: To conceptualize theoretically, and check empirically a two-level model of social…

Interviews with pupils and parents showed that persistent absentees were living in multiply disadvantaged circumstances compared with regular attendees. Absentees who had been referred for specialist advice tended to present more behavior problems and were more socially isolated outside the home than nonreferred absentees and reqular attenders.…

Background: This paper presents results from the first wave of a longitudinal study examining the effects of various psychosocial variables on scholastic achievement and behaviour at school. Aims: The main aim is to investigate the nature and strength of the effects of major individual difference dimensions on important outcome variables at school…