Student-teacher relationships that improve over time may help slow or prevent declines in student motivation. In a diverse sample of 1,274 middle and high school students from three schools, this mixed-methods study found that those who improved in developmental relationships with teachers reported greater academic motivation, and more positive perceptions of school climate and instructional quality. Improvements in teacher-student relationships had some positive effects on students’ grade point averages (GPAs) but they varied by school as well as by aspect of the relationship measured. No differences by poverty status were seen in any of these results. Student focus groups yielded additional understanding of the actions and mechanisms through which student-teacher relationships improve. Results of this study suggest that if individual educators and entire school communities focus on strengthening student-teacher relationships, significant improvements can be made in students’ motivation, engagement, and performance.
Comments on an article by Megan M. Julian & Junlei Li (see record 2012-10324-001). Junlei Li and Megan Julian argued that a major and under appreciated factor in the success and failure of interventions intended to improve the lives of children and youth at risk is the degree to which those interventions promote what the authors called . They asserted that "developmental interventions produce desirable outcomes if and only if such interventions enhanced developmental relationships". To illustrate their hypothesis, Li and Julian compared the role of developmental relationships in effective interventions to the role that fluoride plays in toothpaste: it is the active ingredient that directly and most powerfully contributes to the intended outcome. Although inactive ingredients such as those that determine the color and taste of toothpaste add value, it is the active ingredient of fluoride that is essential for fighting cavities. In the context of interventions for youth at risk, Li and Julian argued that rather than focusing on the active ingredient of relationships, strategies too often focus on "inactive ingredients" such as performance incentives, systems for holding employees accountable for performance, and the creation of new curricula. (PsycINFO Database Record
We examined how middle‐school students’ motivation, belonging, school climate, and grade point average (GPA) are affected by students experiencing developmental relationships—those that go beyond teachers being caring (e.g., showing warmth to students) and providing challenge (e.g., high expectations) to also include teachers providing support, sharing power, and expanding students’ sense of possibilities. We also examined variations in those associations by student socioeconomic status (SES). The study included 534 diverse Grades 6–8 students (51% female, 46% non‐White, 33% eligible for free and reduced price meals). Structural equation modeling and regressions showed that students with better developmental relationships with their teachers had better outcomes. Developmental relationships strongly predicted academic motivation at both the beginning and end of the school year, and also directly predicted students’ sense of belonging and school climate. Relationships indirectly predicted GPA, through motivation. Student–teacher relationship quality for low‐SES students was lower and declined more than for other students. The results both reflect current literature in showing the importance of strong student–teacher relationships, and extend it in showing the worsening relationships quality for low‐income students, and in suggesting that strengthening multiple facets of student–teacher developmental relationships may have important effects on motivation and achievement of middle‐school students.
Several recent and important reviews of the research on the science of learning and development extensively discuss the power of developmental relationships, but do not provide readers with information or insight on how to build those relationships. The author describes the effort that Search Institute has underway to fill the gap in both research and practice to identify steps that youth-serving organizations can take to create close connections that help young people be and become their best selves.
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