{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T08:54:53Z","timestamp":1771232093927,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]],"date-time":"2025-06-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1749772800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Educ."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Parents are one of the stakeholders in evaluating schools, and families\u2019 perspectives about schools are increasingly acknowledged as essential to educational decision-making. However, little is known about how parents\u2019 perspectives on school happiness can be assessed. This article proposes a model for evaluating school happiness as perceived by parents\/guardians.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Data were obtained through questionnaires administered to 641 parents. The model was tested using structural equation modeling techniques.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results identified four main components: relationships and teachers\u2019 characteristics (People), teaching practice (Process), learning\/leisure balance (Process), and green school (Place).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The article discusses the development and validation of an instrument that can be used with parents\/caretakers as one of the means of assessing a school\u2019s overall happiness level and identifying key aspects to improve a school\u2019s level of happiness. Implications for future research on the evaluation of happy schools are also discussed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/feduc.2025.1549751","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]],"date-time":"2025-06-13T05:49:48Z","timestamp":1749793788000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessing school happiness: development and validation of a measurement scale for parents\/guardians"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Patr\u00edcia","family":"Gramaxo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"\u00c1lvaro","family":"Dias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Abelha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Georg","family":"Dutschke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Filipa","family":"Seabra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.7821\/naer.2023.1.1166","article-title":"Full-time schools in Portugal: participation and educational achievement","volume":"12","author":"Abrantes","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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