Students’ academic success is the ultimate goal of school education. Hence, students’ view and attitudes towards school are always studied to reflect how well a school is gonging. It is believed that the students’ view of the quality of school life should be emphasized if the quality of school education is to be enhanced because students’ quality of school life was strongly related to the intentions of further education (Ainley, Goldman, & Reed, 1990; Epstein, 1981; Ramsay & Clark, 1990; William & Batten, 1981). In addition to achievement goals, the positive attitude towards learning is also regarded as an index of educational outcomes. Research had indicated that classroom cultures such as group attitudes and behaviors towards learning could strongly predict the educational values and formal learning outcomes (Cavanagh & Waugh, 2004). It is generally accepted that students’ engagement including sense of belonging to school and participation in school and class are strongly related to the fulfillment of the achievement goals. Researches consistently indicated that students with better sense of belonging were intended to have more positive attitudes towards schools, teachers and peers and to engage in learning with high motivation (e.g., Anderson, Manoogian, & Reznick, 1976; Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Osterman, 2000; Watson, Battistich, & Solomon, 1997). Conditions in the classroom and school as well as the instructional policies and practices were found influencing the students’ sense of belonging and participation (Osterman, 2000). Based on the above analysis, the present study proposed a theoretical model to explore the relationship between the quality of school life, group attitude and behaviors towards learning, and the students’ sense of belonging and participation in school and class.

  The present research proposed a model to investigate the how the quality of school life and group attitude and behavior towards learning influence the students’ sense of belonging, general satisfaction for school life, sense of achievement, and participation in school and class. The following questions were mainly answered in the study.

1. How quality of school life influence the students’ group attitude and behavior towards learning, general satisfaction, sense of achievement, and school engagement including sense of belonging and participation?
2. Do and how the students’ group attitude and behavior towards learning affect students’ general satisfaction of school life, sense of achievement, and school engagement?
3. Can sense of belonging positively predict the students’ sense of achievement and participation?

Ainley, J., Reed, R., & Miller, H. (1986). School organisation and the quality of schooling. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research. Ainley, J., Goldman J., & Reed, R. (1990). Primary schooling in Victoria: A study of students’ attitude and achievements in Years 5 and 6 of government primary schools. ACER Monograph No. 37. Hawthorn, Victoria: Australian Council for Education Research. Anderson, R., Manoogian, S. T., & Reznick, J. S. (1976). The undermining and enhancing of intrinsic motivation in preschool children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 915-922. Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529. Cavanagh, R. F., & Waugh, R. F. (2004). Secondary school renewal: The effect of classroom learning culture on educational outcomes. Learning Environment Research, 7, 245-269. Epstein, J. L. (Ed.). (1981). The quality of school life. Lexington: D. C. Heath and Company. Jöreskog, K.G. & Sörbom, D. (2004). LISREL 8.7 for Windows [Computer software]. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc. Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70, 323-367. Ramsay, W., & Clark, E. E. (1990). New ideas for effective school improvement: Vision, social capital and evaluation. London: The Falmer Press. Watson, M., Battistich, V., & Solomon, D. (1997). Enhancing students’ social and ethnical development in school: An intervention program and its effects. International Journal of Educational Research, 27, 571-586. Waugh, R.F. & Cavanagh, R.F. (2002). Measuring parent receptivity towards the classroom environment using a Rasch measurement model. Learning Environments Research, 5, 329-352. Williams, T., & Batten, M. (1981). The quality of school life. ACER Research Monograph No. 12. Hawthorn, Victoria: ACER. Willms, J. D. (2000). Student engagement at school: A sense of belonging and participation – result from PISA 2000. OECD.