TY - JOUR
T1 - Early elementary student-teacher relationship trajectories predict girls’ math and boys’ reading achievement
AU - Valiente, Carlos
AU - Parker, Julia H.
AU - Swanson, Jodi
AU - Bradley, Robert H.
AU - Groh, Brittany M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded, in part, by National Science Foundation Grant BCS-0546096 awarded to Carlos Valiente. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation. We would like to thank the participants and school districts that made this study possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Our goal was to identify trajectories in students’ relationships with their kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers, and to test whether the trajectories predict students’ achievement. To address this goal, each year, as students (N = 291) progressed from kindergarten to second grade, we assessed teachers’ reports on student-teacher-relationship closeness and conflict. We assessed achievement in second grade. We used latent class growth analyses to identify separate distinct trajectory classes of change for boys and girls in closeness and conflict. Boys were classified into 4 classes (stable-moderate, high-decreasing, decreasers, or increasers) for closeness and into 4 similar classes for conflict. Girls were classified into 3 classes (stable-high, decreasers, and increasers) for closeness, whereas only 2 classes (stable-low and decreasers) emerged for conflict. In general, girls benefited academically from a close student-teacher relationship in kindergarten, whereas boys benefited academically when they moved into a close, and away from a conflictual, relationship across kindergarten to second grade. The findings have implications for teacher trainings and programs designed to help children succeed in school.
AB - Our goal was to identify trajectories in students’ relationships with their kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers, and to test whether the trajectories predict students’ achievement. To address this goal, each year, as students (N = 291) progressed from kindergarten to second grade, we assessed teachers’ reports on student-teacher-relationship closeness and conflict. We assessed achievement in second grade. We used latent class growth analyses to identify separate distinct trajectory classes of change for boys and girls in closeness and conflict. Boys were classified into 4 classes (stable-moderate, high-decreasing, decreasers, or increasers) for closeness and into 4 similar classes for conflict. Girls were classified into 3 classes (stable-high, decreasers, and increasers) for closeness, whereas only 2 classes (stable-low and decreasers) emerged for conflict. In general, girls benefited academically from a close student-teacher relationship in kindergarten, whereas boys benefited academically when they moved into a close, and away from a conflictual, relationship across kindergarten to second grade. The findings have implications for teacher trainings and programs designed to help children succeed in school.
KW - Achievement
KW - Early elementary school
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Student-teacher relationship
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.05.001
DO - 10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.05.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85069738031
SN - 0885-2006
VL - 49
SP - 109
EP - 121
JO - Early Childhood Research Quarterly
JF - Early Childhood Research Quarterly
ER -