Introduction In addition to academic results, schools are increasingly mandated with promoting student happiness, contributing to their well-being, instilling a sense of belonging, and fostering the development of social and emotional skills. Thus, it is essential to have validated instruments to assess the overall happiness of schools. This article proposes a scale that assesses school happiness, as perceived by students. Methods Data was obtained through questionnaires administered to 2,452 students (for the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), data were collected from 1,242 respondents, while a separate sample of 1,210 participated in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The model was tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Results The results made it possible to identify three main components: Supportive Relationships and School Climate (People), Learning Processes and School Experience (Process), Learning Environments and Inclusion (Place). Discussion The article discusses the development and validation of an instrument that can be applied to students as one of the means of assessing a school's general happiness level and identifying key aspects to improve to increase a school's level of happiness. Implications for future research on happy school evaluation are discussed, since schools will now have at their disposal tools that enable them to assess a happy school from the perspective of teachers, parents, and pupils.
Gramaxo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.