Student-teacher relationships (STRs) and socioeconomic status (SES) are two widely studied variables that have been found to predict reading achievement in the early grades. The current study extends the literature by investigating the interaction between STRs, measured using the STR Scale completed by teachers, and SES on reading achievement…

The importance of math achievement in the early grades has been well documented. Two variables that have independently been found to be strong predictors of math achievement are student-teacher relationships (STR) and socioeconomic status (SES). The present study investigates the interaction between STR and SES on student math achievement using…

Viewed through a social justice lens, preschool expulsion is an educational equity issue. This study focused on prior expulsion from preschool and child-care in a longitudinal study of 203 autistic children, ages 4 to 7. By parent report, 16%--one out of six autistic children--had been expelled from a preschool or child-care setting prior to…

Student characteristics, their attitude to school and classroom climate can influence teacher-student relationships and adjustment to school. Poor early school experiences are associated with school avoidance, disruptive behaviour, teacher conflict, and suspension and exclusion. The focus, however, remains on the behaviour of individual children,…

This study investigates potential predictors of teacher-child relationships (i.e., closeness and conflict) focusing on child gender, teacher-child ethnicity match, and teacher education. Additionally, the study explores the possible moderation effect of teacher education on the associations between teacher-child relationships and child gender or…

Young children's temperament was examined as a potential predictor of early adolescent school engagement, with elementary school teacher-child and peer relationships included as potential mediators of these effects. A large national longitudinal dataset (N = 1,032) was used to estimate structural equations models that showed children's social…

Many child care centers temporarily move children and teachers in and out of their assigned classrooms throughout the day. Such practices create frequent discontinuity in children's experiences in child care, including discontinuity in their peer and teacher relationships. This study examined the prevalence and patterns of teacher and child…

The present study examined associations between the quality of teacher-child relationships and behavior problems among elementary school students using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a study of 1,364 children from birth through adolescence. There were two main findings. First, high-quality teacher-child…

Research Findings: The teacher-child relationship can provide an important support to young children who exhibit developmental risk. This research studied the contribution of children's language skills, temperamentally based attributes (shyness, anger), and gender to closeness and conflict in the teacher-child relationship for 133 preschoolers…