Multilevel Predictors of School Satisfaction Among Elementary Students in Gyeonggi Province: The Role of School Safety

This study examined factors associated with elementary students’ school satisfaction in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, with an emphasis on school safety. Using data from the 2023 Gyeonggi School Education Survey, multilevel modeling was conducted on responses from 5,238 students nested within 176 schools. Student-level predictors included gender, peer and teacher relationships, classroom attitudes, classroom activity experiences, and perceived school safety. School-level predictors included school size, school-wide efforts to promote safety, teachers’ perceptions of teacher–student relationships, school violence incidence, and the level of school safety education programs. The results indicated meaningful between-school differences in school satisfaction. At the student level, relationship factors, classroom experiences, and perceived school safety were positively associated with school satisfaction, with classroom activity experiences and perceived safety showing relatively strong associations. At the school level, aggregated student perceptions of school safety were the only significant predictor of school satisfaction, whereas structural indicators such as school size and school violence incidence were not significant. These findings suggest that students’ school satisfaction reflects both individual experiences and the broader school environment. Interventions aimed at improving school satisfaction should therefore address relational and instructional experiences while also strengthening school conditions that enhance students’ sense of safety and support.