In recent years, research has focused on children's transitions from preschool into kindergarten. Parents, teachers, and schools recognize the importance of the transition from preschool into kindergarten and its possible influence on children's adjustment and long term school success. However, as the philosophies and policies of kindergarten have emerged and evolved, so have the views of parents and teachers regarding children entering kindergarten. Research shows parents and teachers have conflicting views regarding the expectations for children in kindergarten. While the quality of a child's transition to kindergarten is an individual experience, there are some universal factors of influence in any transition. These factors include communication among teachers and parents and establishment of relationships among the three protagonists: child, parent, and teacher. Throughout this thesis, I present data that examines the expectations and concerns for the children entering kindergarten from a parent and educational perspective. I also provide transition activities practiced in the home and school environment. The most important aspect of the transition process involves focusing on the relationships between child and teacher, parents and teacher, child and peers, and child and parent. I include parent and educational perspectives of these relationships and relate how these relationships enhance children's transition into kindergarten. / Master of Science

The student-teacher relationship quality has shown to predict academic and social outcomes (Crosnoe, Johnson, & Elder, 2004), and relatively recent research suggests its protective nature for children who are academically at-risk, such as those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; Ewe, 2019). Unfortunately, children with ADHD often have strained relationships with their teachers (Rogers & Tannock, 2013). Aside from our understanding of this association, little is known about the developmental trajectory of the association, nor other systemic mechanisms that could be contributing to it. Therefore, three related studies were executed to enhance our understanding of the complexities of the student-teacher relationship for children with ADHD. The first study of the three targeted preschool children in the community (n=113) and their daycare providers (n=55), and assessed the association between early ADHD symptoms and concurrent and later student-teacher relationships in kindergarten (n=67). Findings revealed that higher inattention in preschool was associated with more conflict with daycare providers/educators, whereas higher hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in kindergarten children were associated with higher student-teacher conflict. The second study compared the student-teacher relationship of children with clinical diagnoses of ADHD and typically developing peers (n=76). Additionally, family-school relations and communication were investigated as a potential contribution to the student-teacher relationship quality. Non-significant differences of the parent-teacher relationship for children with ADHD versus those without the disorder were identified. However, home-school communication was established as a mediator between both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms and student-teacher conflict. Utilizing the same research methods as study two, study three evaluated the contribution of teacher-level characteristics on the student-teacher relationship for children with clinical diagnoses of ADHD. Teacher stress, self-efficacy, and knowledge of ADHD were assessed as mediators between ADHD symptoms and the student-teacher relationship quality. Significant main findings revealed that teacher stress significantly mediated the relationship between children’s ADHD symptoms and student-teacher conflict, whereas teacher efficacy and knowledge of ADHD did not. As a whole, this dissertation research project established and enhanced our understanding of developmental and systemic mechanisms contributing to the student-teacher relationship quality for children exhibiting ADHD symptomology. Future research directives and practical implications are reviewed.

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This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) with at-risk preschool children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The participants included a total of 23 Head Start teachers and their aides, and children identified by their teachers as exhibiting clinical or borderline levels of externalizing behavior problems. Teacher participants included 22 females and 1 male; demographics were reported as 56% Hispanic ethnicity, 17% Black American, and 22% European American. Child participants included 15 males and 5 females; demographics were reported as 60% Hispanic, 30% Black American, and 10% European American. A 2 by 3 (Group x Repeated Measures) split plot ANOVA was used to analyze the data. According to teacher reports using the Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) and blinded raters’ reports using the Direct Observation Form (DOF) to assess disruptive behaviors, children whose teachers received the CTRT intervention demonstrated statistically significant decreases (p < .05) in externalizing behaviors on the C-TRF and total problems on the DOF from pre- to mid- to post-test, compared to children whose teachers participated in the active control group. The CTRT intervention demonstrated large treatment effects on both measures (C-TRF: ?p2 =.173; DOF: ?p2=.164) when compared to CD, revealing the practical significance of the findings on reducing disruptive behaviors. According to independent raters on the DOF, 90% of children receiving the CTRT intervention moved from clinical levels of behavioral concern to more normative levels of functioning following treatment, establishing the clinical significance of CTRT as an early mental health intervention for preschool children in Head start exhibiting disruptive behavior.

This study investigated the impact of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers’ ability to provide emotional support in the classroom, teachers’ use of relationship-building skills, and teachers’ level of stress related to the student-child relationship. Teachers and aides from one Head Start school were randomly assigned to the experimental group CTRT (n = 11) or an active control Conscious Discipline group (CD; n = 12). Overall, 21 females, 11 (CTRT) and 11 (CD), and one male (CD) participated in the study. Participating teachers and aides identified themselves as the following: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 Black American, and 5 European American. Teachers and aides identified children with clinical levels of disruptive behavior problems for the purpose of selecting children of focus for the study. The children’s mean age was 3.63 for CTRT group and 3.36 for CD group. Overall, 9 females, 2 (CTRT) and 7 (CD), and 10 males, 6 (CTRT) and 4 (CD) participated in the study. Teachers reported children’s ethnicity: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 African American, and 1 other. A two-factor (Treatment x Group) repeated measures split plot ANOVA was utilized to analyze the data with an alpha level of .05. According to objective raters blinded to the study using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Child Teacher Relationship Skills Checklist (CTRT-SC) and teacher reports using Index of Teaching Stress (ITS), results revealed a statistically significant interaction effect for the experimental teachers’ use of child-teacher relationship skills (CTRT-SC: p = .036), a non-statistically significant interaction effect for the experimental teachers’ ability to provide emotional support (CLASS: p = .50), and a non-statistically significant interaction effect on teacher stress (ITS: p = .997). Partial eta squared effect sizes were calculated to determine the practical significance of the findings. Compared to the active control, CTRT demonstrated large treatment effects over time on the CTRT-SC (?p2 = .19) and the CLASS (?p2 = .16). Study findings provide support for CTRT as an effective intervention for increasing Head Start teachers’ ability to provide emotional and relational support to at-risk students.

It is undeniable that schools and classrooms must function according to some conception of authority, but contemporary educational theory often overlooks this concept. This ‘forgetting’ of authority can lead to misconceptions about the concept itself or to conflating it with other concepts such as autonomy, agency, self-regulation, or power. In turn, these misconceptions can then diminish the role that students play in education by ignoring or overlooking any authoritative aspect of it. The authority relationship between student and teacher in educational theory—and in classrooms—then often defaults to an unbalanced binary structure in which teachers hold authority but students do not. To rectify this problem, authority and its importance in the classroom must be remembered and reconsidered. This thesis undertakes a critical analysis of authority to state its complex features clearly. Moreover, this analysis will show how authority is distinct from importantly related concepts like autonomy, agency, self-regulation, and power. The analysis then moves to examine the education models of Peters, Dewey, and Neill, with the purpose of highlighting the prevalence and importance of authority in education. With these distinctions and boundaries drawn, the final section of this thesis will describe the strengths of an authoritative student role in epistemic, political, and moral realms, positioning student-held authority alongside the socio-critical theory of Freire, Apple, and Giroux. / Graduate

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Immigrant students are targets of ethnic harassment in school context in their host country. Prior studies demonstrated that being victim of ethnic harassment has consequences for the psychological, behavioral, and school adjustment of youths with immigrant background. The purpose of this study was to examine if a positive teacher relationship moderated the school adjustment of ethnically harassed immigrant students. Data was gathered from ethnically harassed students in 7th and 8th grade in seven schools of a midsized town in Sweden. In addition to univariate and bivariate correlation analyses, a series of moderated regression analyses were conducted. Significant moderation effects of relationship with teachers were found for two of the school adjustment measures. The results suggested a positive relationship with teachers could play a buffering role for school liking and truancy of students who experience ethnic harassment from their peers. Implications of the findings were discussed in relation to both research and practice. / Invandrarelever utsätts för etniska trakasserier i skolan i sina nya värdland. Tidigare studier har demonstrerat att ungdomar med invandrarbakgrund som faller offer för etniska trakasserier får en negativ påverkan på sitt psykologiska välmående, sina beteenden, och skolanpassning. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om en positiv relation med en lärare modererade skolanpassningen hos etniskt trakasserade invandrarelever. Data inhämtades från etniskt trakasserade invandrarelever i 7:e och 8:e klass från sju skolor i en mellanstor stad i Sverige. Utöver univariata och bivariata korrelationsanalyser, utfärdades en serie modererande regressionsanalyser. I två av studiens variabler fanns det statistiskt signifikanta modererande effekter av att ha en positiv relation med en lärare. Resultatet föreslår att en positiv relation med lärare kan ha spelat en skyddande roll for elevens positiva attityd till skolan och för skolkning hos elever som upplever en låg mängd etniska trakasserier från sina klasskamrater. Studiens resultat diskuterades både i relation till forskning och tillämpning i samhället.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the artistic identity of high school females and the relationships they have with their art teachers. The research compiled my own experience as a high school student with the reflections of five participants who graduated from high school within the past five years. Each participant was interviewed about her time in high school related to art, including relationships and events in and outside of the art classroom. The themes that emerged from each participant's experience brought about the conclusion that the high school artistic identity is comprised of action, product, space, and perception. Uncovering the artistic identity of the high school student highlights the importance of the art teacher and the physical and emotional space they create in the art room.