The association between teacher-to-teacher relationships and student achievement: a meta-analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this meta-analysis, we investigated the association between teacher-to-teacher relationships and student achievement. We specifically explicated (a) the association between a teacher’s individual relationship with other teachers and student achievement; (b) the association between teacher-to-teacher relationships at the organisational level (i.e. school or grade team) and student achievement; and (c) how three frequently used theoretical frameworks in studying teacher-to-teacher relationships – teacher network, teacher collaboration, and professional learning community (PLC), at either individual or organisational level – were associated with student achievement. Key findings included (a) teachers’ individual relationships were not associated with student achievement; (b) the relationships in schools or grade teams were significantly positively associated with student mathematics and reading achievement; and (c) at the organisational level, all three theoretical frameworks had small, positive associations with maths achievement (r = 0.191 for teacher collaboration, r = 0.202 for teacher network, r = 0.189 for PLC), but the positive associations with reading achievement decreased from teacher network (r = 0.290) to teacher collaboration (r = 0.163) and to PLC (r = 0.078). The implications of the findings are discussed.