A total of 236 kindergarten to eighth grade students and 15 teachers from an elementary school in a northeastern U.S. city provided information about their perceptions of teacher involvement in students' peer relationships. Students provided additional information about classroom social networks. Both students and teachers indicated that they perceive teachers to be important in student peer relationships. None of the teacher characteristics (including teacher education, years of teaching, or ethnicity) were related to teacher perceptions of involvement in students' peer relationships. In lower grade groups (kindergarten to second grade), there were significant sex differences, with boys rating their teachers as more involved than girls; sex differences were not significant in either the middle (third to fifth grade) or upper (sixth to eighth grade) grade groups. As hypothesized, there were significant differences between grade groups, with students in the lower grades rating their teacher as more involved than students in either the middle or upper grade groups, and middle grade groups rating their teachers as more involved than the upper grade groups. Teacher and student perceptions of teacher involvement in students' peer relationships were then analyzed to determine whether these perceptions were related to classroom cohesiveness, as measured by social networks. The results were not significant, indicating that teacher and student perceptions of teacher involvement in students' peer relationships were not related to classroom social networks. This research provides a first look into both teacher and student perceptions into teacher involvement in classroom peer relationships, which school psychologists can use to help teachers construct supportive classroom environments. This research is a case study of one school, and therefore generalization from this sample is difficult. Future research should examine this element in schools of varying climate and region. / School Psychology

The African-American male national on-time graduation rate data are evidence that systemic changes must occur to address the academic failure they experience. A significant gap in achievement exists when compared to the on-time graduation rate of their White male peers. It is possible that some students do not graduate on-time due to retention that may occur after they have entered the ninth grade. The African-American male students in this study failed to graduate on-time because they did not persist to successfully complete their twelfth grade year; instead, they dropped out. While factors associated with societal issues and familial dynamics contribute to this problem, factors associated with public school practices and procedures are the focus of this study. The educational records of 125 African-American male high school dropouts were analyzed to identify school factors that may explain why they did not persist to graduate. These students dropped out from an urban school division in Virginia during the 2009 and 2010 school years.  A mixed methods approach was used to answer the research questions posed in this study. The conceptual framework, a road map for the study, proposes discipline sanctions, curriculum programming, instructional experiences and school relationships as factors for review. Quantitative research methods were used to analyze longitudinal data and qualitative methods were used to analyze survey data on student perception of teacher relationships. Findings from the study will enable school principals, counselors and teachers to make informed instructional decisions that may prevent African-American males from dropping out of one urban school division in Virginia. While not generalizable to all school settings, strategies associated with discipline sanctions, curriculum programming, instructional experiences and school relationships are provided. / Ed. D.

Le processus d’enseignement ne se limite pas à un ensemble de méthodes pédagogiques à appliquer et de contenus programmés à transmettre. Il se déploie également dans la construction par l’enseignant d’une relation pédagogique avec ses élèves. Cette relation est considérée comme étant optimale lorsqu’elle est caractérisée par un niveau élevé de chaleur et un faible niveau de conflits. Plusieurs études démontrent l’existence de liens significatifs entre la qualité de cette relation et les différents indicateurs d’adaptation à l’école. En général, les résultats des études démontrent l’influence positive d’une relation élève-enseignant chaleureuse sur le comportement des élèves, leur réussite scolaire ainsi que sur leurs sentiments et attitudes envers l’école. Certaines recherches soulignent également que l’incidence de la qualité de la relation élève-enseignant est particulièrement importante pour les élèves considérés à risque en raison de présence chez eux des certains facteurs de vulnérabilité tels que la pauvreté (facteurs sociaux), la relation parent-enfant difficile (facteurs familiaux) ou le manque d’habiletés sociales (facteurs individuels). La majorité de recherches ne permet toutefois pas de déterminer quels sont précisément les aspects de cette relation qui influencent significativement la qualité de la relation entre l’enseignant et ses élèves. Souhaitant pallier cette lacune, la présente étude poursuit deux objectifs : 1) examiner le lien entre les perceptions des élèves de niveau secondaire considérés à risque concernant les différents aspects de la qualité de la relation élève-enseignant et les problèmes de comportement extériorisés ; 2) vérifier si ce lien évolue avec le temps. Afin d’atteindre ces objectifs, nous avons pris en considération deux dimensions qui permettent de qualifier les profils de la relation élève-enseignant, soit la chaleur et les conflits (Pianta, 1992). La classification de ces deux dimensions en fonction de leur pôle positif et négatif permet de distinguer quatre profils relationnels que l’élève est susceptible d’établir avec ses enseignants soient le profil dit chaleureux, controversé, négligent ou conflictuel. II Cette étude repose sur un devis longitudinal grâce aux données recueillies dans le cadre de l’évaluation de la stratégie d’intervention Agir Autrement réalisée entre 2002 et 2008 (SIAA). Il s’agit donc ici d’analyses secondaires menées sur un échantillon aléatoire tiré de cette vaste recherche. Un échantillon de 563 élèves de 1re secondaire incluant 273 filles et 290 garçons a été constitué. Les analyses ont été effectuées auprès de ces élèves alors qu’ils étaient en premier et en cinquième année de secondaire ce qui a permis d’observer les changements dans le comportement des élèves à risque en fonction de la qualité de la relation élève-enseignant. De façon générale, les résultats obtenus montrent que les liens entre les différents profils de la relation élève-enseignant et les problèmes de comportement extériorisés sont fort complexes et loin d’être univoques. En particulier, ces résultats permettent de constater que le profil chaleureux représente le profil relationnel le moins associé aux problèmes de comportement extériorisés chez les élèves à risque et ce, autant en première qu’en cinquième secondaire. Selon nos résultats, les profils conflictuel et controversé sont significativement liés aux problèmes de comportement extériorisés chez les élèves à risque de 1re secondaire et de 5e secondaire. En ce qui a trait au profil négligent, les résultats de la présente recherche montrent l’existence d’un lien corrélationnel entre ce profil relationnel et les problèmes de comportement extériorisés. Toutefois, la force de l’association s’est avérée plus significative pour les élèves à risque en 5e secondaire secondaire comparativement aux mêmes élèves alors qu’ils étaient en 1re secondaire. Finalement, l’ensemble de résultats obtenus montre que les profils relationnels restent relativement stables dans le temps, tandis que la fréquence de comportements problématiques tels que le vol grave et la consommation de psychotropes augmentent d’une manière significative. De plus, les résultats que nous avons obtenus montrent l’existence d’un lien entre la dimension de conflits de la relation élève-enseignant et la consommation de substances psychotropes chez les élèves de notre échantillon. La présente recherche permet de constater que la dimension de conflits est aussi importante dans la relation élève-enseignant que la dimension de la chaleur, car les III conflits agiraient comme facteurs de risque pouvant augmenter la fréquence de problèmes de comportement extériorisés chez les élèves de secondaire considérés à risque. Ainsi, la réduction de niveau de conflits dans la relation entre les élèves et leurs enseignants peut jouer un rôle important en termes de prévention de ce type de problèmes chez les élèves de niveau secondaire. / Appling pedagogical methods and transmitting programmed material is not sufficient to define the complexity of teaching. The pedagogical relationship built by the teacher with his or her students is another important and necessary component. This relationship is considered optimal when it has a high level of warmth and a low level of conflicts. Previous studies demonstrate significant links between the quality of this relationship and different indicators of school-adaptations. In general, the reports reveal that a warm student-teacher relationship has a positive impact on student behaviour, academic success as well as feelings and attitudes toward school. Furthermore, the quality of student-teacher relationship has an even greater effect on students considered at risk. This student category is characterised by the presence of vulnerability factors such as poverty (social factors), difficult parent-child relationship (family factors) or a lack of social skills (individual factors). Majority of research done on student-teacher relationship does not specify which aspects in particular have a significant influence on its overall quality. In order to address this issue, two goals are aimed by the present study: 1) examine the relationship between perceptions of high school students considered at risk for various aspects of the quality of the student-teacher relationship and externalizing behavior problems; 2) verification if this link evolves over time. In our work, the type of student-teacher relationship is categorized by two dimensions: the warmth and the conflicts (Pianta, 1992). The classification according to the positive or negative pole of each dimension enables to distinguish between four types of relations the student is prone to establish with his or her teachers: either warm, controversial, negligent or conflict. A random sample of the data collected in 2002-2008 during the evaluation of intervention strategy Agir Autrement (Act Differently) (SIAA) is used in the present longitudinal study. It is composed of 563 high school students: 273 girls and 290 boys. V Secondary analyses are made on the data collected on the same students during their first and fifth year. This approach gives the opportunity to observe the changes in student behaviour as function of student-teacher relationship quality. In general, our results show a high complexity of links between different types of student-teacher relationship and the exteriorized behaviour problems. More specifically, we conclude that a warm type relation is less likely to be associated with exteriorized behaviour problems of students at risk, and that as much in 1st year of high school as in the 5th. According to our results, conflict and controversial relationship types are significantly linked to exteriorized behaviour problems of students at risk in the 1st and the 5th year of high school. In the case of the negligent relationship, the results demonstrate the existence of a correlation between this bond type and exteriorized behaviour problems. However, the strength of this correlation is higher for the students at risk in the 5th year of high school as compared to the same students when they were in their 1st year. Finally, when all the results are taken together, they reveal the relative stability of the relationship type over time and on the other hand, a significant increase in the frequency of problematic behaviour such as serious stealing and psychotropic consumption. Furthermore, the obtained results show the existence of a link between the conflict dimension of the student-teacher relationship and the psychotropic consumption of students accounted by our sample. The present study demonstrates that since conflicts act as risk factors capable of increasing the frequency of exteriorized behaviour problems of high school students considered at risk, the conflict dimension is equally important in the student-teacher relationship as the warmth dimension. A relationship between students and their teachers with a reduced level of conflicts can play an important role in the prevention of this type of problems experienced by high school students.

Le processus d’enseignement ne se limite pas à un ensemble de méthodes pédagogiques à appliquer et de contenus programmés à transmettre. Il se déploie également dans la construction par l’enseignant d’une relation pédagogique avec ses élèves. Cette relation est considérée comme étant optimale lorsqu’elle est caractérisée par un niveau élevé de chaleur et un faible niveau de conflits. Plusieurs études démontrent l’existence de liens significatifs entre la qualité de cette relation et les différents indicateurs d’adaptation à l’école. En général, les résultats des études démontrent l’influence positive d’une relation élève-enseignant chaleureuse sur le comportement des élèves, leur réussite scolaire ainsi que sur leurs sentiments et attitudes envers l’école. Certaines recherches soulignent également que l’incidence de la qualité de la relation élève-enseignant est particulièrement importante pour les élèves considérés à risque en raison de présence chez eux des certains facteurs de vulnérabilité tels que la pauvreté (facteurs sociaux), la relation parent-enfant difficile (facteurs familiaux) ou le manque d’habiletés sociales (facteurs individuels). La majorité de recherches ne permet toutefois pas de déterminer quels sont précisément les aspects de cette relation qui influencent significativement la qualité de la relation entre l’enseignant et ses élèves. Souhaitant pallier cette lacune, la présente étude poursuit deux objectifs : 1) examiner le lien entre les perceptions des élèves de niveau secondaire considérés à risque concernant les différents aspects de la qualité de la relation élève-enseignant et les problèmes de comportement extériorisés ; 2) vérifier si ce lien évolue avec le temps. Afin d’atteindre ces objectifs, nous avons pris en considération deux dimensions qui permettent de qualifier les profils de la relation élève-enseignant, soit la chaleur et les conflits (Pianta, 1992). La classification de ces deux dimensions en fonction de leur pôle positif et négatif permet de distinguer quatre profils relationnels que l’élève est susceptible d’établir avec ses enseignants soient le profil dit chaleureux, controversé, négligent ou conflictuel. II Cette étude repose sur un devis longitudinal grâce aux données recueillies dans le cadre de l’évaluation de la stratégie d’intervention Agir Autrement réalisée entre 2002 et 2008 (SIAA). Il s’agit donc ici d’analyses secondaires menées sur un échantillon aléatoire tiré de cette vaste recherche. Un échantillon de 563 élèves de 1re secondaire incluant 273 filles et 290 garçons a été constitué. Les analyses ont été effectuées auprès de ces élèves alors qu’ils étaient en premier et en cinquième année de secondaire ce qui a permis d’observer les changements dans le comportement des élèves à risque en fonction de la qualité de la relation élève-enseignant. De façon générale, les résultats obtenus montrent que les liens entre les différents profils de la relation élève-enseignant et les problèmes de comportement extériorisés sont fort complexes et loin d’être univoques. En particulier, ces résultats permettent de constater que le profil chaleureux représente le profil relationnel le moins associé aux problèmes de comportement extériorisés chez les élèves à risque et ce, autant en première qu’en cinquième secondaire. Selon nos résultats, les profils conflictuel et controversé sont significativement liés aux problèmes de comportement extériorisés chez les élèves à risque de 1re secondaire et de 5e secondaire. En ce qui a trait au profil négligent, les résultats de la présente recherche montrent l’existence d’un lien corrélationnel entre ce profil relationnel et les problèmes de comportement extériorisés. Toutefois, la force de l’association s’est avérée plus significative pour les élèves à risque en 5e secondaire secondaire comparativement aux mêmes élèves alors qu’ils étaient en 1re secondaire. Finalement, l’ensemble de résultats obtenus montre que les profils relationnels restent relativement stables dans le temps, tandis que la fréquence de comportements problématiques tels que le vol grave et la consommation de psychotropes augmentent d’une manière significative. De plus, les résultats que nous avons obtenus montrent l’existence d’un lien entre la dimension de conflits de la relation élève-enseignant et la consommation de substances psychotropes chez les élèves de notre échantillon. La présente recherche permet de constater que la dimension de conflits est aussi importante dans la relation élève-enseignant que la dimension de la chaleur, car les III conflits agiraient comme facteurs de risque pouvant augmenter la fréquence de problèmes de comportement extériorisés chez les élèves de secondaire considérés à risque. Ainsi, la réduction de niveau de conflits dans la relation entre les élèves et leurs enseignants peut jouer un rôle important en termes de prévention de ce type de problèmes chez les élèves de niveau secondaire. / Appling pedagogical methods and transmitting programmed material is not sufficient to define the complexity of teaching. The pedagogical relationship built by the teacher with his or her students is another important and necessary component. This relationship is considered optimal when it has a high level of warmth and a low level of conflicts. Previous studies demonstrate significant links between the quality of this relationship and different indicators of school-adaptations. In general, the reports reveal that a warm student-teacher relationship has a positive impact on student behaviour, academic success as well as feelings and attitudes toward school. Furthermore, the quality of student-teacher relationship has an even greater effect on students considered at risk. This student category is characterised by the presence of vulnerability factors such as poverty (social factors), difficult parent-child relationship (family factors) or a lack of social skills (individual factors). Majority of research done on student-teacher relationship does not specify which aspects in particular have a significant influence on its overall quality. In order to address this issue, two goals are aimed by the present study: 1) examine the relationship between perceptions of high school students considered at risk for various aspects of the quality of the student-teacher relationship and externalizing behavior problems; 2) verification if this link evolves over time. In our work, the type of student-teacher relationship is categorized by two dimensions: the warmth and the conflicts (Pianta, 1992). The classification according to the positive or negative pole of each dimension enables to distinguish between four types of relations the student is prone to establish with his or her teachers: either warm, controversial, negligent or conflict. A random sample of the data collected in 2002-2008 during the evaluation of intervention strategy Agir Autrement (Act Differently) (SIAA) is used in the present longitudinal study. It is composed of 563 high school students: 273 girls and 290 boys. V Secondary analyses are made on the data collected on the same students during their first and fifth year. This approach gives the opportunity to observe the changes in student behaviour as function of student-teacher relationship quality. In general, our results show a high complexity of links between different types of student-teacher relationship and the exteriorized behaviour problems. More specifically, we conclude that a warm type relation is less likely to be associated with exteriorized behaviour problems of students at risk, and that as much in 1st year of high school as in the 5th. According to our results, conflict and controversial relationship types are significantly linked to exteriorized behaviour problems of students at risk in the 1st and the 5th year of high school. In the case of the negligent relationship, the results demonstrate the existence of a correlation between this bond type and exteriorized behaviour problems. However, the strength of this correlation is higher for the students at risk in the 5th year of high school as compared to the same students when they were in their 1st year. Finally, when all the results are taken together, they reveal the relative stability of the relationship type over time and on the other hand, a significant increase in the frequency of problematic behaviour such as serious stealing and psychotropic consumption. Furthermore, the obtained results show the existence of a link between the conflict dimension of the student-teacher relationship and the psychotropic consumption of students accounted by our sample. The present study demonstrates that since conflicts act as risk factors capable of increasing the frequency of exteriorized behaviour problems of high school students considered at risk, the conflict dimension is equally important in the student-teacher relationship as the warmth dimension. A relationship between students and their teachers with a reduced level of conflicts can play an important role in the prevention of this type of problems experienced by high school students.

No description available.

abstract: I examined the role of children's or teacher's effortful control (EC) in children's academic functioning in early elementary school in two separate studies. In Study 1, I tested longitudinal relations between parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions in kindergarten, children's EC in first grade, and children's reading or math achievement in second grade (N = 291). In the fall of each school year, parents reported their positive or negative reactions and parents and teachers reported on children's EC. Standardized achievement tests assessed achievement each spring. Results from autoregressive panel mediation models demonstrated that constructs exhibited consistency across study years. In addition, first-grade EC mediated relations between parents' reactions (i.e., a difference composite of positive minus negative reactions) at kindergarten and second-grade math, but not reading, achievement. Findings suggest that one method of promoting math achievement in early school is through the socialization of children's EC. In Study 2, I examined relations between teachers' EC, teachers' reactions to children's negative emotions, the student-teacher relationship (STR), and children's externalizing behaviors or achievement among 289 second-graders and their 116 teachers. Results from mixed-model regressions showed that negative reactions and teacher-reported STR mediated relations between teachers' EC and math achievement. In addition, teacher-reported STR mediated links between teachers' EC and externalizing problems across reporters and between teachers' EC and reading achievement. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that a high-quality STR was negatively associated with externalizing problems and high levels of teachers' negative reactions were negatively related to math achievement only for students low in EC. In tests of moderation by social competence, teachers' reports of high-quality STRs tended to be negatively associated with externalizing problems, but relations were strongest for students not high in social competence. For students low in social competence only, children's reports of a high-quality STR was related to lower reading achievement. These results highlight the utility of considering whether and how teachers' own intrinsic characteristics influence classroom dynamics and students' academic functioning outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2011

In Swedish schools, teachers are expected to aid their students through feedback to help them develop their different abilities. The feedback itself can be provided differently depending on several different factors in and out of teachers’ control. Most commonly, teachers provide input either through written or oral feedback. Today, with the fast progression of digital tools, teachers also have the opportunity to provide feedback digitally. Therefore, it was of interest to conduct a study examining what feedback methods Swedish teachers of English choose and the reason for their choice. It was also of interest to examine if the teachers’ methods could be backed up by current research. To understand the teachers’ perceptions and experiences, a qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with five Swedish upper secondary school teachers who currently teach English. The results showed that the teachers work in different ways regarding feedback on students’ written production. While all respondents work digitally with written comments for shorter assignments, some respondents also print out students’ text to mark by hand regarding confidential essays. Further, results showed that all respondents provide written feedback. However, one teacher provides oral feedback through one-to-one conferences as routine, and an additional three teachers give their students the option to receive oral feedback if needed. Moreover, the most common reasons for the teachers’ methods were student appreciation, gaining a positive student-teacher relationship, and available time. All teachers’ methods could be backed up by current research. What can be concluded from this study is that all methods for feedback are more or less efficient and that efficiency sometimes has to do with factors other than the method. Further, Swedish teachers seem to lack time for feedback, especially oral feedback. / I svenska skolor förväntas lärare att vägleda sina studenter genom återkoppling för att hjälpa dem utveckla sina olika färdigheter. Återkopplingen kan ges på olika sätt beroende på flera olika faktorer inom och utom lärares kontroll. Vanligast är att lärare ger kommentarer genom antingen skriftlig eller muntlig återkoppling. Idag, med den fortlöpande utvecklingen av digitala verktyg, har lärare även möjlighet att ge återkoppling digitalt. Därav var det av intresse att utföra en studie som utforskar vilka metoder för återkoppling svenska engelsklärare väljer att jobba med, och anledningarna till deras val. Det var även av intresse att utforska ifall lärarnas metoder kunde stödjas av relevant forskning. För att förstå lärarnas perspektiv och erfarenheter genomfördes en kvalitativ studie genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem svenska gymnasielärare som nuvarande undervisar i engelska. Resultaten visade att lärarna arbetar olika gällande återkoppling på elevers skriftliga produktion. Medan alla deltagare arbetar digitalt med skriftlig återkoppling för kortare uppgifter, så skriver även vissa deltagare ut elevernas texter och markerar dem för hand när det gäller konfidentiella arbeten. Vidare visade resultaten att samtliga lärare arbetar med skriftlig återkoppling. Dessutom ger en lärare muntlig återkoppling genom individuella samtal som rutin, och ytterligare tre lärare ger sina elever möjligheten att få muntlig återkoppling om så behövs. Vidare var de vanligaste anledningarna till lärarnas metoder elevuppskattning, att bilda en positiv relation mellan elev och lärare, och tillgänglig tid. Samtliga lärares metoder kunde stödjas av relevant forskning. Vad föreliggande studie visar är att alla metoder för återkoppling är mer eller mindre effektiva, och att effektiviteten ibland har att göra med andra faktorer än metoden. Vidare tolkas det som att svenska lärare har brist på tid för att genomföra återkoppling, speciellt muntlig återkoppling.

School engagement has garnered interest in the academic research as a protective factor from many undesirable academic outcomes in high school. Maladaptive engagement patterns may begin to form as early as elementary school, therefore examining early predictors may be helpful in trying to identify and remedy early patterns of disengagement. The current study investigated the significance of early school motivation, academic self-concept and the student-teacher relationship in predicting student-reported school engagement at the age of 15 after controlling for race, gender, socioeconomic status, previous attendance, and previous achievement. This study included participants from the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care (SECC) a comprehensive research database. It was hypothesized that student reported motivation in grade 5 would predict student reported school engagement at age 15, and that English self-concept and math self-concept in grade 6 and at age 15 would mediate this relationship. Findings from the data supported these hypotheses, establishing a relationship between early motivation and later engagement. Additionally, self-concept in both English and math was found to mediate that relationship. Self-concept in English and math at both grade 6 and age 15 had mediating effects on the relationship between motivation and engagement. It was hypothesized that the student-teacher relationship in grade 6 and at age 15 would moderate the relationship between motivation and engagement. The data did not support this hypothesis. Limitations and suggestions for future research on motivation, engagement, and the student-teacher are discussed.

Early childhood adversity, particularly poverty, can be a source of chronic stress that contributes to emotion dysregulation at the start of formal schooling. Children’s reactivity to novel challenges in the classroom is associated with externalizing behavior and subsequent difficulties developing academic and social emotional skills (Blair & Raver, 2015; Hackman, Farah & Meaney, 2010). Research grounded in the “science of feeling safe” (Porges, 2011) and attachment theory demonstrates that sensitive, empathic teachers can foster the development of emotion regulation in at-risk children, leading to more adaptive classroom behaviors (Pianta, Belsky, Vandergrift et al., 2008). This study was designed to help explain the associations between student-teacher relationship quality and externalizing behavior, self-regulation and executive function, and then examine if these associations are moderated by poverty. The results of a multilevel analysis highlight significant correlations both within and between classrooms for closeness/conflict and externalizing behavior and teacher-rated self-regulation. Classroom-level SES was observed to moderate the association of relationship closeness with externalizing behavior. In the discussion of these findings, the needs for more nuanced measures of student stress and teacher sensitivity are examined. Professional development opportunities are also presented for teachers to learn stress management techniques and to build social regulation skills. / Educational Psychology

No description available.