Student well-being in school can be considered as a condition that enables positive learning outcomes but also as an outcome of successful learning and students’ satisfaction at school (Morinaj & Hascher, 2022). Students’ well-being in school refers to an emotional experience characterized by the prevalence of positive feelings and cognitions towards school, persons in school and the school context over the negative ones towards school life (Hascher, 2003). According to Hascher (2003), it consists of six dimensions, three positive, i.e., positive attitudes to school, enjoyment in school, and positive academic self-concept, and three negative, i.e., worries in school, physical complaints in school, and social problems in school, that can be used as indicators of well-being. 

In Finland, the trends in students’ academic well-being (e.g. Helakorpi & Kivimäki, 2021; Salmela-Aro et al., 2018, 2021) and learning performance (e.g. OECD, 2019; Mullis et al., 2020) have been descending in the last decade. For example, grade 4 students’ performance in mathematics and science has decreased from 2011 to 2019 as evidenced by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Mullis et al., 2020). The performance in mathematics declined by 10 points from 2011 to 2015 and by three points from 2015 to 2019. In science, the decrease from 2011 to 2019 was 15 points. When examining the international mathematics and science benchmarks (Mullis et al., 2020), these declines in learning outcomes mean that the percentage of high achievers has dropped from 49% to 42% in mathematics and from 65% to 56% in science during this period. Meanwhile, the percentage of the students below the low international benchmark has grown from 2% to 5% in mathematics and from 1% to 3% in science. 

Previous research has detected the interrelation between student well-being and learning performance but also the need for examining this relation with possible associated factors in more detail (e.g. Bücker et al., 2018; Nilsen et al., 2022; Pietarinen et al., 2014). For example, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows the relationship between students’ socio-economic status (SES), well-being and achievement (OECD, 2017). Further, the study using TIMSS data by Nilsen, Kaarstein and Lehre (2022) shows that a safe environment, as an aspect of school climate, and student self-concept, both indicating students’ well-being in school, declined from 2015 to 2019 and mediates the changes in mathematics achievement over time in Norway.  

The above statements point out that both students’ well-being in school and academic achievements may have declined in the last decade in Finland. Thus, in this study, we ask the following research questions, using the TIMSS fourth grade assessment data:  

1) How has students’ well-being in school changed, if any, from 2011 to 2019?  

2) What is the relationship between students’ SES, well-being and achievement in mathematics and science? 

The present study is based on the three cycles of curriculum-based TIMSS assessment in Finland. The data includes the 4th graders who participated in TIMSS 2011 (N = 4,638), TIMSS 2015 (N = 5,015) and TIMSS 2019 (N = 4,730). In this study, we use school climate and safety, and students’ attitudes as indicators of well-being. School climate and safety include the scales of Students’ Sense of School Belonging (3 items) and Bullying (6 items). Students’ attitudes include the scales of Students Like Learning Mathematics (5 items) and Science (4 items), and Students Confident in Mathematics (7 items) and Science (6 items). These four-point scales are from TIMSS student questionnaires. From each scale, we selected those items that were the same in all three cycles of TIMSS assessment. As an indicator of students’ SES, we used Home Resources for Learning scale which is scored based on the number of books at home, the number of home study supports, and the parents’ educational level as well as the level of occupation. In TIMSS data, the Home Resources for Learning scale is divided into three categories. In this study, we recoded it into two categories: (1) students with many resources, and (2) students with some or few resources. In addition to the above-mentioned scales, the variables of our study include mathematics and science achievement scores. The analysis was performed in three phases. First, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the validity of the variables that measure well-being. Second, to answer the first research question, we computed mean variables and studied the average changes in students’ well-being from 2011 to 2019 using these mean variables. The values of mean variables ranged from 1 to 4 (the highest value indicating the most positive view). Third, to answer the second research question, we investigated the relationship between students’ SES, well-being and achievement using the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. This analysis was conducted for mathematics and science separately for each of the three TIMSS data sets. Five plausible values representing students’ proficiency in mathematics and science (see Martin et al., 2020) were used in the analyses. A two-stage sampling design used in the TIMSS assessment (Martin et al., 2020) was considered in the analyses.

The results of CFA confirmed the validity of the latent variables (i.e., sense of belonging, bullying, like learning and confidence) that are used to measure students’ well-being in this study. Overall, the students’ well-being was relatively good. Examination of the trends of means showed that there are some changes in students’ well-being from 2011 to 2019. After 2011, students’ sense of belonging increased and bullying decreased slightly. With respect to students’ attitudes, the trends between 2011 and 2019 were not so explicit. Between 2011 and 2015, students liking mathematics grew to some extent, whereas confidence in mathematics remained unchanged. Students liking science, instead, increased from 2011 to 2015 but decreased again from 2015 to 2019. In addition, students’ confidence in science declined between 2015 and 2019. The preliminary results of SEM showed that students’ SES is related both to well-being and achievement. As expected, students with higher SES (i.e., students with many resources for learning) also feel better and achieve higher results in mathematics and science. Students’ SES seemed to be related to achievement not only directly but also indirectly via confidence. However, there was no indirect effect via other well-being variables than confidence. This study supports earlier research on the meaning of students’ well-being for learning. In further studies, we will examine the relationship between student well-being and academic achievement also by PISA and PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) data collected not only before but also after the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected, mostly negatively, students’ schooling, learning and well-being all over the world (e.g. OECD, 2021).

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