This study followed a sample of 179 children from kindergarten through eighth grade to examine the extent to which kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students predict a range of school outcomes. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behavior and the quality of the teacher-child relationship. Follow-up data from first through eighth grade were organized by epoch and included academic grades, standardized test scores, work-habit ratings, and discipline records. Relational Negativity in kindergarten, marked by conflict and dependency, was related to academic and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade, particularly for children with high levels of behavior problems in kindergarten and for boys generally. These associations remained significant after controlling for gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings. The results have implications for theories of the determinants of school success, the role of adult-child relationships in development, and a range of early intervention and prevention efforts.

This study examined ways in which children's risk of school failure may be moderated by support from teachers. Participants were 910 children in a national prospective study. Children were identified as at risk at ages 5-6 years on the basis of demographic characteristics and the display of multiple functional (behavioral, attention, academic, social) problems reported by their kindergarten teachers. By the end of first grade, at-risk students placed in first-grade classrooms offering strong instructional and emotional support had achievement scores and student-teacher relationships commensurate with their low-risk peers; at-risk students placed in less supportive classrooms had lower achievement and more conflict with teachers. These findings have implications for understanding the role that classroom experience may play in pathways to positive adaptation.

This study examined development of academic, language, and social skills among 4-year-olds in publicly supported prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in relation to 3 methods of measuring pre-K quality, which are as follows: (a) adherence to 9 standards of quality related to program infrastructure and design, (b) observations of the overall quality of classroom environments, and (c) observations of teachers' emotional and instructional interactions with children in classrooms. Participants were 2,439 children enrolled in 671 pre-K classrooms in 11 states. Adjusting for prior skill levels, child and family characteristics, program characteristics, and state, teachers' instructional interactions predicted academic and language skills and teachers' emotional interactions predicted teacher-reported social skills. Findings suggest that policies, program development, and professional development efforts that improve teacher-child interactions can facilitate children's school readiness.

The authors advance an argument that placing observation of actual teaching as a central feature of accountability frameworks, teacher preparation, and basic science could result in substantial improvements in instruction and related social processes and a science of the production of teaching and teachers. Teachers' behavioral interactions with students can be (a) assessed observationally using standardized protocols, (b) analyzed systematically with regard to sources of error, (c) validated for predicting student learning, and (d) changed (improved) as a function of specific and aligned supports provided to teachers; exposure to such supports is predictive of greater student learning gains. These methods have considerable promise; along with measurement challenges, some of which pertain to psychometrics, efficiency, and costs, they merit attention, rigorous study, and substantial research investments.

This chapter examines the expanding body of research that demonstrates the central role of teacher‐student relationships and its reciprocal effect on students' learning, achievement, and school engagement and teachers' sense of efficacy, job satisfaction and retention in teaching. Pianta and colleagues review current work on teacher‐student relationships that has identified qualitative and quantitative parameters in relational processes between children and adults and the central role of relationships in affecting overall school climate and student performance. In the final section ideas for future research are presented that include, assessments of multi‐level and multi‐system influences such as culture, policy and biological processes on classroom relations and processes.

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As the workforce in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs continues to grow in the United States, the promise of these and other early education opportunities (e.g., Head Start) depends in large part on in-service professional development and training in key instructional and interaction skills. In this paper, we describe effects of MyTeachingPartner (MTP), a web-based system of professional development resources, that include video exemplars and web-mediated consultation on specific dimensions of interactions with children for 113 teachers in a state-funded pre-k program. Teachers assigned to receive on-line consultation and feedback targeted to their interactions showed significantly greater increases in independent ratings of the quality of interactions than did those only receiving access to a website with video clips. The positive effects of consultation were particularly evident in classrooms with higher proportions of children who experienced economic risks. Implications of these findings for models of professional development and widespread needs for teacher access and support are discussed in relation to the effectiveness of early education. KeywordsEarly childhood education; In-service training; Professional development; Consultation; At-scale implementation There is currently widespread agreement that the training and professional development of the early education workforce is a key component for ensuring that early childhood education programs make good on the hopes of policymakers, parents, and educators for improving children's success in school (Bogard & Takanishi, 2005; Zaslow & MartinezBeck, 2005). Enrollment of three-and four-year-olds in early education programs is growing annually (Barnett, Hustedt, Hawkinson, & Robin, 2006; West, Denton, & GerminoHausken, 2000), with estimates indicating that 200,000 teachers will be needed to staff © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert C. Pianta, Ph.D., Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, 350 Old Ivy Way, Suite 100, Charlottesville, VA 22903, rcp4p@virginia.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript universal enrollment programs by 2020 (Clifford & Maxwell, 2002). Consequently, identifying effective, relevant, and scalable approaches to training the early education workforce is of paramount importance. Furthermore, there is credible evidence that teachers' effective implementation of instruction that emphasizes the qual...

This article examines general trends in teacher-reported conflict and closeness among 878 children from kindergarten through sixth grade, and examines early childhood characteristics that predict differences in initial levels and growth of conflict and closeness over time. Results indicated modest stability of teacher-perceived conflict and closeness through sixth grade, with relatively greater stability in perceptions of conflict. Levels of conflict at kindergarten were higher for children who were male, Black, had greater mean hours of childcare, had lower academic achievement scores, and had greater externalizing behavior. Children identified as Black and those with less sensitive mothers were at greater risk for increased conflict with teachers over time. Levels of teacher-reported closeness were lower when children were male, had lower quality home environments, and had lower academic achievement scores. The gap in closeness ratings between males and females increased in the middle-elementary school years. Additional analyses were conduced to explore differences in teacher-ratings of conflict between Black and White students.