Or drug use, over psychological attributes such as school belongingness. Given the detrimental effects of adolescents dropping out from school prematurely [65,71], schools and communities face the challenge of not only ensuring that students continue to `belong in school’, but also of `trying to reconnect’ those who feel disconnected from school [37,72]. The majority of large scale investigations on school belongingness have excluded students with disabilities [65,66] and are limited to school students in the United States of America (US) [1]. More research is needed to substantiate the role of school belongingness in inclusive education practices [73?5], and to validate current research findings in other countries. ByPLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0123353 April 15,2 /School Belongingness among Primary School Studentsunderstanding factors associated with school belongingness, education leaders and purchase PX-478 teachers can facilitate the inclusiveness of school environments. Drawing on the existing ABT-737 site knowledge base, the current study aims to bridge the gap in the literature about the factors associated with primary school belongingness, and present the most influential personal and contextual factors, using a non US sample of primary school students with, and without disability.Methods Aims and objectivesThe current study describes the most significant personal and contextual contributors of school belongingness, using a sample of 12–year old primary school students, enrolled in the final year of study at mainstream primary schools. The study is part of a larger longitudinal study investigating the factors associated with student adjustment in the transition from primary to secondary school [76,77]. In the current paper, cross-sectional data from 395 students, parents and teachers enrolled in the final year of primary school were used. All students were enrolled in a regular school in the educational districts of metropolitan Perth or other major city centres of WA. Students were categorised into the disability group if they were reported by a primary caregiver to have a medical diagnosis or a chronic ill health condition that impacted on their functioning, and attended over 80 of the school hours per week in a regular setting; with support provided as required. Ethics approval was obtained from Curtin University Health Research Ethics Committee in Western Australia (WA) (HR 194/2005). At all times, informed written consent was obtained from school principals, parents, teachers, and written assent was acquired from students.Data collection procedureSurvey questionnaires were administered to all participants, in the second semester (Terms 3 and 4) of the final year in primary school (classes 6 or 7). Administration guidelines were developed to minimise bias.Data collection instrumentsTables 1, 2 and 3 present an overview of the instruments used to measure the key factors identified in the literature as being associated with school belongingness, including covariates, student personal factors, and contextual factors (family and school context).Sample size estimationSample size was estimated based on the assumption that there would be approximately 15 independent variables in the final regression model. In order to have power of. 90 ( = 0.1) and value of. 05 (Type I error), a sample size of 215 was adequate to detect a small to moderate effect size of 0.1 (Sample Size Program: PASS) [78]. A sample size of 69 children with disabilities in the compa.Or drug use, over psychological attributes such as school belongingness. Given the detrimental effects of adolescents dropping out from school prematurely [65,71], schools and communities face the challenge of not only ensuring that students continue to `belong in school’, but also of `trying to reconnect’ those who feel disconnected from school [37,72]. The majority of large scale investigations on school belongingness have excluded students with disabilities [65,66] and are limited to school students in the United States of America (US) [1]. More research is needed to substantiate the role of school belongingness in inclusive education practices [73?5], and to validate current research findings in other countries. ByPLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0123353 April 15,2 /School Belongingness among Primary School Studentsunderstanding factors associated with school belongingness, education leaders and teachers can facilitate the inclusiveness of school environments. Drawing on the existing knowledge base, the current study aims to bridge the gap in the literature about the factors associated with primary school belongingness, and present the most influential personal and contextual factors, using a non US sample of primary school students with, and without disability.Methods Aims and objectivesThe current study describes the most significant personal and contextual contributors of school belongingness, using a sample of 12–year old primary school students, enrolled in the final year of study at mainstream primary schools. The study is part of a larger longitudinal study investigating the factors associated with student adjustment in the transition from primary to secondary school [76,77]. In the current paper, cross-sectional data from 395 students, parents and teachers enrolled in the final year of primary school were used. All students were enrolled in a regular school in the educational districts of metropolitan Perth or other major city centres of WA. Students were categorised into the disability group if they were reported by a primary caregiver to have a medical diagnosis or a chronic ill health condition that impacted on their functioning, and attended over 80 of the school hours per week in a regular setting; with support provided as required. Ethics approval was obtained from Curtin University Health Research Ethics Committee in Western Australia (WA) (HR 194/2005). At all times, informed written consent was obtained from school principals, parents, teachers, and written assent was acquired from students.Data collection procedureSurvey questionnaires were administered to all participants, in the second semester (Terms 3 and 4) of the final year in primary school (classes 6 or 7). Administration guidelines were developed to minimise bias.Data collection instrumentsTables 1, 2 and 3 present an overview of the instruments used to measure the key factors identified in the literature as being associated with school belongingness, including covariates, student personal factors, and contextual factors (family and school context).Sample size estimationSample size was estimated based on the assumption that there would be approximately 15 independent variables in the final regression model. In order to have power of. 90 ( = 0.1) and value of. 05 (Type I error), a sample size of 215 was adequate to detect a small to moderate effect size of 0.1 (Sample Size Program: PASS) [78]. A sample size of 69 children with disabilities in the compa.
