Get to know » Students » Self-reflections:
Student well-being
The PILNA student questionnaire collected information about children’s physical health, mental health, relationships, and material circumstances. The intention was to collect a holistic picture of the well-being of the students who participated in PILNA.
Students were given a list of circumstances, as set out in Table STT1.8, and were asked to indicate how often they experienced them. They could respond with ‘Never’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Most of the time’, or ‘Always’. For reporting the results, ‘Most of the time’ and ‘Always’ were combined, as they were considered to be materially similar in terms of student experience.
Well-being experiences
Table STT1.8 shows the proportions of grade five and grade seven students who reported experiencing the associated condition at least ‘Most of the time’.
In Federated States of Micronesia, 42% of grade five students and 45% of grade seven students reported that they had a good day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’, and 45% of grade five students and 46% of grade seven students reported they looked forward to the next day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’.
For frequent negative experiences, about one in five students reported feeling hungry, tired, or upset either ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’. These proportions were found across grade five and grade seven students.
These findings can be compared to the findings from a similar set of items that teachers responded to (Student difficulties reported by the teacher). Not all the same items were given to teachers but there are interesting comparisons that can be made for the items about hunger and tiredness.
Well-being and student performance
A regional scale for student well-being was established, based on the first nine items from Table STT1.8. These items are related to negative well-being experiences, rather than positive well-being experiences. Higher scores on this scale indicate higher, more positive, levels of well-being.
These well-being scale scores were compared with student performance in numeracy and reading. Student performance was grouped into two categories: students who performed at or above the expected level of performance and students who performed below it. There were no comparisons with the writing domain, as the writing proficiency scale is yet to be developed. Figure STF1.6 shows the average well-being scale scores by year level and student performance.
Numeracy
Grade 5
- 199 1.6
- 210 6.5
Grade 7
- 203 1.3
- 217 6.3
Reading
Grade 5
- 199 1.7
- 205 4.4
Grade 7
- 204 1.4
- 213 5.1
- Scale score for students below expected proficiency level
- Scale score for students at or above expected proficiency level
- Statistically significant correlation (p <0.05)
- Standard errors appear in parentheses
The results are surprising. In both numeracy and literacy, grade seven students who performed at or above the expected level of performance had lower well-being scores on average than those who did not meet the expected levels of performance. This means that grade seven students who met the expected levels of performance in numeracy and literacy had lower levels of well-being, based on this PILNA student well-being scale.
With grade five students, those who performed at or above the expected level of proficiency in numeracy and reading also had lower well-being scores on average compared to grade five students who performed below the expected level of performance in reading.
What does this mean?
Less than half the students in Federated States of Micronesia are cheerful, have good days, and look forward to the next day, at least ‘Most of the time’. Many students are regularly experiencing positive well-being but a substantial proportion are not.
Across the region, about one in five students are frequently experiencing challenges to well-being, such as feeling hungry and tired, and one in ten reported frequently feeling sick, not sleeping because of worry or not having enough friends. The results for Federated States of Micronesia differ from those observed regionally. Regionally, there was no clear trajectory regarding the differences in well-being scores against student performance. The equivalent of grade seven students regionally who met the expected performance level had slightly higher average well-being scores, but mixed results were seen with the regional equivalent of grade five students who met the expected level of performance.
Regardless of whether well-being is associated with student performance in any way, the identified well-being challenges need to be addressed by stakeholders.
