A meta-analytic approach was used to investigate the associations between affective qualities of teacher–student relationships (TSRs) and students’ school engagement and achievement. Results were based on 99 studies, including students from preschool to high school. Separate analyses were conducted for positive relationships and engagement ( k = 61 studies, N = 88,417 students), negative relationships and engagement ( k = 18, N = 5,847), positive relationships and achievement ( k = 61, N = 52,718), and negative relationships and achievement ( k = 28, N = 18,944). Overall, associations of both positive and negative relationships with engagement were medium to large, whereas associations with achievement were small to medium. Some of these associations were weaker, but still statistically significant, after correction for methodological biases. Overall, stronger effects were found in the higher grades. Nevertheless, the effects of negative relationships were stronger in primary than in secondary school.
The present study took a meta-analytic approach to investigate whether students' engagement acts as a mediator in the association between affective teacher-student relationships and students' achievement. Furthermore, we examined whether results differed for primary and secondary school and whether similar results were found in a longitudinal subsample. Our sample consisted of 189 studies (249,198 students in total) that included students from preschool to high school. A distinction was made between positive relationship aspects (e.g., closeness) and negative relationship aspects (e.g., conflict). Meta-analytic structural equation modeling showed that, overall, the associations between both positive relationships and achievement and negative relationships and achievement were partially mediated by student engagement. Subsequent analyses revealed that mediation is applicable to both primary and secondary school. Only the direct association between positive relationships and engagement was stronger in secondary school than in primary school. Finally, partial mediation was also found in the longitudinal subsample.
In this short-term longitudinal study, transactional links between teacher-child relationships and behavioral adjustment were investigated in a sample of preschool boys (N = 175) at risk for developing externalizing problems. Teachers (N = 175) reported about the quality of the teacherchild relationship (i.e., Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency) and about children's behavioral adjustment (i.e., Externalizing Behavior, Internalizing Behavior, and Prosocial Behavior) at three occasions within one school year. Cross-lagged path-analytic models showed positive bidirectional associations between Conflict and both Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior from Time 1 to Time 2, but not from Time 2 to Time 3. In addition, there was a transactional sequence with more Conflict at Time 1 leading to less Prosocial Behavior at Time 2 which, in turn, predicted more Conflict at Time 3. Closeness was reciprocally and positively related to Prosocial Behavior over time, and was positively and unidirectionally predicted by Internalizing Behavior. Dependency showed positive reciprocal links with Internalizing Behavior over time, and negatively and unidirectionally predicted Prosocial Behavior. These findings suggest that interventions may be most effective if they adjust their focus and strategy depending on children's specific behavioral and relational needs.
Although involvement and autonomy support partly explained the gender gap in engagement (mediation hypothesis), more support was found for differential effects of autonomy support on boys' versus girls' engagement (differential effects hypothesis).
The present study used a person-centered approach to identify teacher-student relationship trajectories from kindergarten to sixth grade in a Dutch sample (N = 1300). Teachers reported about relationships with individual students (closeness, conflict, and dependency) in kindergarten, grade 3, and grade 6, and about externalizing behaviors in kindergarten. Students were tested for verbal ability in kindergarten, and completed math and reading tests and questionnaires about task motivation and self-efficacy in sixth grade. Latent class growth analyses revealed three trajectories for closeness: high-stable (normative), very high-decreasing, and moderate-increasing. For conflict, low-stable (normative), low-increasing, and high-decreasing trajectories were found. For dependency, a low-decreasing (normative) and a low-increasing trajectory were found. Boys, students with lower levels of verbal ability, and students with more externalizing behavior were overrepresented in non-normative trajectories. Furthermore, students with low-increasing levels of teacher-student dependency scored lower on achievement tests and reported lower motivation in sixth grade compared to students with a normative trajectory.
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