Student-Teacher Relationship Scale Research Articles

Student-Teacher Relationship: Its Measurement and Effect on Students' Trait, Performance, and Wellbeing in Private College.

Student–teacher relationships (STRs) have been examined by many studies. However, an omission still exists, the existing scales are not appropriate for studying STRs in private colleges because of the special character of these schools. This paper presents the development and validation of Private-College Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (PCSTRS), the first instrument to evaluate student–teacher relationships (STRs) in private colleges. The PCSTRS has six dimensions: trust, interaction, intimacy, care, approval, and comfort. In our main study, the validity and reliability of the six-factor PCSTRS model were demonstrated. The result of internal consistency coefficient indicated the high reliability of the scale, and the result of concurrent validity indicated the significant correlational relationships between the PCSTRS with other STR measures. In supplementary study, the PCSTRS was administered to 360 participants to confirm the applicability of PCSTRS and investigate the relation of STRs and students’ traits, performance, and wellbeing, as well as the differences between the private school and the public school in this relation; the analyses revealed that there were significant differences in trust, intimacy, and care between private and public colleges; positive correlations were found between STRs and self-esteem, self-efficacy, academic performance, extracurricular activity involvement, and subjective wellbeing. Present research firstly develops the PCSTRS, examined the reliability and validity, and provides the proposed nomological network among related constructs.

Children’s drawings of student-teacher relationship quality: examining change over the first year of school.

ABSTRACT The relationships students form with their teachers are critical to children's early school adjustment and later school success. While previous research has relied on teachers' single-point ratings of student-teacher relationship (STR) quality, this study included data provided by children and teachers at two time-points in the kindergarten year. Children's drawings of themselves and their teacher were coded using Fury, Carlson, and Sroufe's (1997) attachment-based scoring of Relational Negativity. Children's feelings about their teacher were rated on the School Feelings Questionnaire (Bowes et al., 2009). Teachers completed the Student Teacher Relationship Scale (Pianta, 2001) and Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Birch & Ladd, 1997). Results showed that Relational Negativity at the start of school aligned with teachers' STR ratings, but by the end of the year, children's and teachers' ratings had diverged. Children were twice as likely as teachers to express increased negativity. Possible explanations for different perceptions of STR are proposed.

Examining the Reciprocity in Dyadic Teacher-Child Relationships: One-With-Many Multilevel Design

Recent literature has shown the reciprocal influences of teacher-student relationships for both teachers and students in primary school. When it comes to early childhood education, very few studies have examined the level and the nature of agreement between teachers’ and students’ perceptions for their dyadic relationships. Using the one-with-many model (OWM), a dyadic analysis approach, the present study aims to examine the degree of agreement between teachers’ and students’ perceptions about their dyadic relations. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) and the Child Appraisal of the Relationship with the Teacher Scale (CARTS) are used to assess the quality of teacher–student dyadic relationships from teachers’ and students’ perceptions, respectively. The dyadic sample (N = 1,345 teacher-student dyads) is recruited from 168 preschool classrooms in Greece. Results of the OWM analysis showed that teachers and students evaluated their dyadic relationship quality in a different way and there is no reciprocity in their views. Implications of the study’s results are also discussed.

Examining factorial validity of the student–teacher relationship scale in the Iranian educational setting

The Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is widely used to evaluate the quality of student–teacher relationships in terms of Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. The main purpose of this study was to examine factorial validity of the adapted-STRS proposed by Koomen et al. (2012) in the Iranian educational setting. Another purpose was to examine correlations of the Dependency scale with the Closeness and Conflict scales of the adapted-STRS, when applied in a non-western sociocultural context. Results of confirmatory factor analysis, using an item parceling approach, provided evidence for the three-factor structure of the adapted-STRS with scales indicating satisfactory internal consistency. Additionally, the Dependency scale was positively correlated with Closeness but not with Conflict in the Iranian context. These findings call for further examination of sociocultural influences on the nature and interpretation of dependent student–teacher relationships.

Inhibitory Control, Student-Teacher Relationships, and Expulsion Risk in Preschools: An Indirect Effects Path Analysis.

Identifying factors related to expulsion risk is of great need due to the high and disparate rates of young children routinely excluded from preschool classrooms. This study aimed to explore the pathways to expulsion risk among a sample of 88 preschool children from 22 Head Start classrooms. Data were collected on children’s inhibitory control using the Child Behavior Questionnaire, the closeness subscale of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale, and on children’s overall expulsion risk using the Preschool Expulsion Risk Measure. Direct pathways from children’s inhibitory control and student–teacher closeness to expulsion risk were significant. Results indicated that student–teacher closeness mediated the relationship between children’s inhibitory control and expulsion risk, indicating the importance of supporting positive relationships in preschool classrooms to disrupt pathways to expulsion. Implications for practices and future research to prevent expulsion are discussed.

Measuring Preservice Teachers’ Anticipated Teacher–Student Relationship Quality

The current study aimed to develop a measure of anticipated teacher–student relationship quality to be used with preservice teacher populations that is operationally similar to a measure commonly used with inservice teachers (i.e., short-form of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale). To date, teacher–student relationship quality has been a construct studied solely with inservice teacher populations. Two hundred and thirteen preservice teachers participated in the current study. Results suggest that the developed measure of anticipated teacher–student relationship with preservice teachers demonstrated response trends similar to the measure used with inservice teachers except that preservice teachers anticipate more conflict with future students than inservice teachers report with current students. Additionally, results show the developed measure fits the two factor structure of the original scale and exhibits concurrent validity via associations with teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Implications for measuring anticipated teacher–student relationship quality within teacher education programs and future directions for research are discussed.

Teacher-child relationships, self-concept, resilience, and social withdrawal among Chinese left-behind children: A moderated mediation model

This study aims to examine the mediating and moderating roles of self-concept and resilience in the relationship between teacher-child relationships and social withdrawal with a sample of 380 Chinese left-behind children in a rural region in Guangdong Province, China. They were measured by using Children's Social Behavioral Scale-Teacher Form, Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschool (DECA-P2), Children’s Self-Concept Scale, and Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). The results indicated that: (1) Teacher-child relationships, resilience and self-concept are all negatively correlated to social withdrawal; (2) resilience plays a mediating role between the teacher-child relationships and social withdrawal; (3) self-concept moderates the effect of teacher-child relationships on resilience. This study would enhance the early childhood teachers’ understanding of the key factors that affect children’s social behaviours, and thus implement appropriate strategies for supporting left-behind children. It confirms the significant role of teachers in left-behind children’s development, which has implications for policymakers to prioritize teachers’ quality and training in rural preschools.

Development and Validation of a Measure to Assess Early Adolescents’ Perceptions of Caring Student-Teacher Relationships

There is accruing evidence documenting the importance of caring student-teacher relationships in fostering students’ social and emotional competence (SEC), well-being, and school success, particularly during early adolescence. However, few studies have investigated dimensions of caring student-teacher relationships from the perspective of early adolescents. This study describes the development and validation of the Caring Student-Teacher Relationship (CSTR) scale. Participants included 222 sixth and seventh grade middle school students who completed the CSTR and self-report measures of classroom supportiveness, prosociality, well-being, and school functioning. Students also assessed their teachers’ SEC. Classroom teachers (n = 14) completed self-report measures of mindfulness in teaching and burnout, reported on closeness and conflict in their relationships with students, and rated students’ SECs and academic success. Results from an Exploratory Factory Analysis (EFA) indicated high internal consistency of the CSTR and a two-factor solution: Teacher Support and Attunement and Caring Teacher Qualities. Further analyses revealed that the two factors of the CSTR were related in expected directions to measures of teacher support (e.g., academic and personal) and SEC, and to students’ reports of classroom supportiveness, prosociality, well-being, and school functioning. Positive associations of the two CSTR factors to teacher reports of students’ SEC and academic success were also found. The two factors of the CSTR were positively associated with teachers’ reports of mindfulness in teaching and negatively associated with teachers’ burnout. These findings have implications for understanding the role that students’ perceptions of student-teacher relationships may play in promoting their positive adaptation and success in school.

The impact of a relationship-building strategy on teachers’ perceptions of preschooler behavior: a 2 X 10 approach

ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of the 2 × 10 relationship-building strategy (consisting of a two-minute conversation with a child once a day for 10 days). Participants were four preschool teachers and eight preschool children from a university-based lab school. Teachers completed pre- and post-intervention scales (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Student Teacher Relationship Scale) as well as journal entries for each interaction and six follow-up questions. Results showed a statistically significant change in teachers’ closeness to their students and a decrease in difficult behaviors that was not statistically significant. Additionally, teacher perceptions were positive regarding the development of relationships using this brief intervention.

Catching sight of children with internalizing symptoms in upper elementary classrooms

Teachers play a crucial role in the assessment of children's internalizing symptoms but may not always succeed in accurately identifying such symptoms in class. Using a multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) approach, this study aimed to explore teacher and child characteristics that may explain measurement bias in teachers' ratings of internalizing symptoms at the between- and within-teacher level. Upper elementary school teachers (N = 92, 74.9% female) filled out the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Student-Teacher Relationship Scale, and Student-Specific Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale for randomly selected children (N = 690, 50.5% girls, Grades 3–6) from their classrooms. Participating teachers and children also responded to several background questions. Multilevel SEMs suggested that teachers' self-efficacy beliefs toward, relationship experiences with, and externalizing symptom ratings of individual children affected their ratings of these children's internalizing symptoms at the within-teacher level. Specifically, given equal levels of internalizing behavior, teachers were likely to systematically under-identify symptoms of anxiety and over-identify bullying for children with more externalizing behavior and conflictual relationships, or in circumstances where teachers had lower self-efficacy. Children with high levels of closeness received systematically higher ratings on somatic complaints and lower ratings on solitary behavior and peer problems. At the between-teacher level, less experienced teachers were more likely to over-identify symptoms of worries than were more experienced teachers, given equal levels of internalizing symptoms. As such, these findings extend the limited body of evidence on children's internalizing symptoms in upper elementary school.

Teachers’ Relationships with Children in the Finnish Early Childhood Education Context: A Validation Study

This study examined the factorial validity and measurement invariance of the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale–Short Form (STRS-SF), modified by Whitaker et al. (2015) , in the Finnish Early Childhood Education (ECE) context. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the two-factor model of Closeness and Conflict after some item modifications and partial strong measurement invariance across ECE student teachers and two qualified ECE teacher groups. In general, the participants perceived high levels of closeness and low levels of conflicts with children. The qualified teachers who voluntarily enrolled in training to improve their professional competence perceived their relationships with children as more conflictual, reported less working experience, and had younger children in their classrooms, compared to the other qualified teachers. The student teachers perceived less closeness than the teachers but reported fewerconflicts than the teachers enrolled in training. This study extended the application of the STRS-SF in teacher education and research to a Nordic cultural context.

Early Childhood Educators\u2019 Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The importance of Early Childhood (EC) educators’ wellbeing has been brought into sharp focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, as educators have navigated numerous additional stressors while providing education and care services for some children and ongoing support for many others learning at home. This study aimed to explore the impact of the pandemic on EC educators’ wellbeing and educator-child relationships, as growing evidence shows the influence of these factors on children’s developmental outcomes.In July 2020, members of a Research Network of EC Professionals—who previously identified educator wellbeing as a priority issue—were invited to participate in an online survey. The survey included two published, validated scales: the Early Childhood Professional Wellbeing scale (ECPW) and the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (modified). Survey items about educators’ experiences during the pandemic were also included. Two hundred and thirty-two EC educators from across Australia completed the survey, mostly from Victoria where lockdowns were most severe. Linear regression analysis demonstrated stronger professional wellbeing was associated with less conflict in educator-child relationships and lower risk of staff turnover. This was more likely to be experienced by senior or more experienced staff. Although a negative impact of COVID-19 was reported, ECPW scores were relatively high, and organizational structures supporting professional wellbeing were most strongly associated with lower risk of turnover (r = 0.63, p < 0.001). Findings highlight that supporting EC educators’ wellbeing is essential for workforce retention, and for promoting quality educator-child relationships which are central to young children’s learning and development.

The role of student-teacher relationship to teacher subjective well-being as moderated by teaching experience

A good relationship between teachers and students can positively influence the subjective well-being of teachers. However, in the context of middle school setting, a good relationship with students was considered as an effortful attempt for teacher to maintain which was related to the teacher well-being too. It was said that the more teaching experience the teacher has, the easier for them to navigate their relationship with students. Therefore, this study aimed to test whether the teaching experience moderate the impact of the teacher-student relationship to the teacher subjective well-being. The teacher-student relationship was measured using the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS), while the teacher subjective well-being was measured by the Teacher Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire (TSWQ). Respondents in this study were 289 teachers at the middle school level from both junior high school and senior high school or equivalent. The analysis technique used was a simple moderation analysis. The result showed that there was a positive relationship between the teacher-student relationship, the teacher subjective well-being, and teacher experience. However, this study indicated that there was no moderation role of the teaching experience in weakening or strengthening the close teacher-student relationship impact on the teacher well-being.

A Rasch Model Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale among Middle School Students

&lt;p style="text-align:justify"&gt;The current study investigated Student-Teacher Relationship Measure (STRM) psychometric properties using Rasch analysis in a sample of middle school female students (N = 995). Rasch Principal Components Analysis revealed psychometric support of two subscales (i.e., Academic and Social Relations). Summary statistics showed good psychometric properties. The category structure and individual statistics (i.e., items and person infit and outfit) were not ideal. Category structure showed that the distances between adjacent thresholds were lower than optimal criteria. Even though findings indicated that items mean square statistics (MNSQ) were optimal, standardized fit statistics (i.e., ZSTD) reflected many misfit persons and items in each subscale. After eliminating the misfit persons and items, the two subscales met the Rasch optimal criteria. The updated short 22-item scale had good psychometric properties, high item and person separation, and good item and person reliability for the two subscales and can be used as a reliable and valid scale.&lt;/p&gt;

Preschool teacher-child relationships and children's expressive vocabulary skills: The potential mediating role of profiles of children's engagement in the classroom

Prior research suggests that positive teacher-child relationships support children's engagement in the classroom and their language skills. This short-term longitudinal study explored whether profiles of preschool children's engagement in the classroom (winter) mediated the association between teacher-child relationships (fall) and children's language skills (spring). The analytic sample included 708 children. Children's engagement was measured using a direct observational measure called the inCLASS. A latent profile analysis revealed six profiles of children's engagement: (1) highly engaged with tasks and peers; (2) engaged; (3) low engagement; (4) mild conflict; (5) high conflict, but positive engagement with teachers; and (6) extreme conflict. Using the low engagement profile as the reference group, mediation analyses revealed 3 indirect effects: (a) close-teacher-child relationship (as reported by teachers using the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) was positively related to children's growth in expressive vocabulary (EV) skills (Woodcock-Johnson III Picture Vocabulary subscale) by spring through membership in the engaged rather than the low engagement profile; (b) a close relationship with a teacher was negatively related to children's EV skills through membership in the mild conflict profile with teachers and peers, and (c) a conflictual relationship with a teacher was negatively related to children's EV skills through membership in the mild conflict profile. Poor teacher-student relationships can lead children to become unengaged or negatively engaged in the classroom. Improving close teacher-child relationships can support more optimal patterns of engagement in the classroom, with positive implications for their EV development.

Children’s Pictorial Representation of Their Interactions with Teachers

espanolEn este articulo se utilizaron dibujos de ninos para descubrir que interaccion alumno-maestro se representa como positiva o negativa por ninos y ninas de diferentes niveles educativos. Ademas, exploramos si existia correspondencia entre las representaciones graficas de los alumnos y la evaluacion realizada por los profesores de su relacion con los alumnos. Los participantes fueron 245 alumnos de primaria (2o a 5o de primaria, 7-11 anos) y sus maestros. Cada nino elaboro dos dibujos (P y N, situacion positiva y negativa) de el o ella con su maestro. Los profesores compilaron la version italiana de la Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). Las cuatro categorias identificadas en los dibujos fueron analizadas con pruebas no parametricas. Los resultados del STRS se sometieron a un analisis de varianza en el cual las variables independientes eran las categorias de los dibujos. Los resultados de este estudio confirman la utilidad de los dibujos para entender el punto de vista de los alumnos sobre su interaccion con el maestro, demostrando, a su vez, la confluencia de las representaciones graficas de los ninos con el punto de vista de los profesores. EnglishIn this article we use children’s drawings to discover which pupil-teacher interactions are represented as positive or negative by boys and girls of different school grades. We also explore whether there is a correspondence between these representations and teachers’ evaluation of the relationship with their pupils. Participants were 245 primary school pupils (from 2nd to 5th grade, 7-11 years of age) and their teachers. Each child did two drawings (P and N, positive and negative situations) of him/herself with their teacher. Teachers compiled the Italian version of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). The four categories identified in the drawings were subjected to non-parametric tests. Scores in the STRS were subjected to analyses of variance, in which the independent variables were the drawings categories. The results confirm the usefulness of drawing to access the point of view of pupils about their interactions with teachers, and demonstrate some convergence with teachers’ point of view.

Promoting Higher Quality Teacher-Child Relationships: The INSIGHTS Intervention in Rural Schools.

Children’s relationships with teachers in kindergarten are crucial for academic and social success. Research shows that teacher–child relationships are predicated, in part, on children’s temperament. The “INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament” intervention was intended to improve children’s and teachers’ understanding of their and others’ temperament, and has been shown to improve children’s social skills and self-regulation in urban, under-resourced schools. The current study is part of a replication of the effects of INSIGHTS with a sample in rural schools. The purpose was to test the effectiveness of INSIGHTS for promoting positive relationships between teachers and children in kindergarten. Two cohorts of kindergarten students (N = 127) and teachers (N = 30) were randomized into INSIGHTS or control conditions by school. Teachers reported on the quality of the teacher–child relationship before and after the INSIGHTS intervention (Time 1 and 2) using the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale: Short Form and provided a rating of children’s temperament with the Teacher School-Age Temperament Inventory at Time 1. Data were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling. Two significant findings emerged. First, INSIGHTS promoted more closeness between teachers and children, regardless of temperament. Second, the INSIGHTS intervention was protective against the development of conflictual teacher–child relationships for children with negative reactivity.

The student-teacher relationship scale in a Greek sample of preadolescents: reliability and validity data

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A Model of Intervention and Implementation of Quality Building and Quality Control in Childcare Centers to Strengthen the Mental Health and Development of 1-3-Year Olds: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Thrive by Three.

BackgroundUniversal, high-quality childcare offers a unique opportunity to prevent developmental trajectories leading to mental health problems. Yet, growing evidence has shown that the process quality of Norwegian childcare centers varies considerably, and that research-based models for quality building are significantly lacking.ObjectiveTo examine whether a model for quality building in childcare centers, Thrive by Three, increases the quality of child–caregiver interactions, and promotes child development, well-being, and mental health.MethodsThe Thrive by Three study is a clustered randomized controlled trial involving 187 toddler groups in childcare centers across 7 municipalities within southern and central Norway. Each center is randomly allocated to the intervention or wait-list control group. Data are collected at 4 points: preintervention (T1), midway (T2), postintervention (T3), and 1-year postintervention (T4). Primary outcomes are changes in childcare quality measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System toddler version (CLASS), Student–Teacher Relationship Scale, Short Form (STRS-SF), and Life in Early Childhood Programs (LECP), as well as child development and mental health measured by The Brief Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA, parent and teacher report), the Caregiver–Teacher Report Form (C-TRF), and Child Behavior Checklist (parent report) from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) from 1.5 to 5 years, and child well-being measured by the Leiden Inventory for Child’s Well-Being in Day Care (LICW-D). Secondary outcomes are child cortisol levels, assessed in a subsample of 372 children.ResultsAs of August 2020, a total of 1531 children and 769 staff from 187 toddler groups were recruited. Because of turnover, the recruitment of staff will be ongoing until August 2020. As of January 2020, the intervention group has been working with Thrive by Three for 1.5 years. Data at T1, T2, and T3 from both the intervention and control groups have been completed and T4 will be completed in August 2020.ConclusionsThis study makes an important contribution to the field of quality building in childcare centers. The results will provide greater insight into how high quality can be obtained and the effects of high-quality early childcare on child mental health. This in turn will be significant for policymakers and to the Norwegian society at large.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03879733; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03879733 and Norwegian Research Council 260624/H10; https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/#/project/NFR/260624/Sprak=enInternational Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/17726

School adjustment in children who stutter: The quality of the student-teacher relationship, peer relationships, and children’s academic and behavioral competence

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the student-teacher relationship, peer relationship, emotional and behavioral outcomes and academic performance in school adjustment of children who stutter. MethodsThe convenience sample consisted of 536 children – 62 affected by stuttering and 474 in the control group – and 36 prevalent teachers from six primary and secondary schools in Northwest Italy. Children were assessed with a sociometric questionnaire. Teacher evaluations were also used to assess their perception of their relationships with the student (Student-Teacher Relationship Scale), children’ behavior (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), and children’s academic competence. Chi-squared tests, t tests, bivariate correlations, and Multivariate Analysis of Variances (MANOVAs) controlling for the students’ social status in the peer group were used to analyze the data. ResultsThe chi-squared test showed that children who stutter were more unpopular and rejected by peers than expected. The results of several MANOVA 2 (presence of stuttering in children) × 5 (students’ social status in the peer group) tests performed on study variables showed greater difficulty on the teacher’s part to establish a relationship based on affective closeness with mainstream students that are unpopular and rejected by classmates, but not with children who stutters. Children who stutter also showed high levels in Hyperactivity and low academic outcomes. ConclusionsFindings suggest to teachers the need to meditate on school well-being of children who stutter in order improve their social inclusion in the classmates group, and provide researchers with an in-depth knowledge about the effect of stuttering on children’s school adjustment.