The power of teacher-student relationships in determining student success
Abstract
The purpose of this ethnomethodological exploratory descriptive case study was to
investigate and understand teacher perceptions of the relationships between teachers and
students and how those teachers perceive relationships affect student academic performance
and behavior in a small town elementary school. The relationship between a teacher and a
student is defined as a formalized interpersonal association between an authority figure and a
subordinate who interact on nearly a day to day basis. A cross-case analysis of five individual
case studies of elementary grade classroom teachers teaching in a 500 student preschool
through fifth grade predominately Caucasian middle-income small town school located
approximately an hour from a large Midwestern metropolitan city was used to investigate the
following research questions: (a) What teacher and student behaviors do teachers perceive
contribute most directly to developing and maintaining positive and supportive teacher-student
relationships? (b) To what extent do teachers perceive their interactions with students
influence the academic and behavioral success of students in their classrooms? (c) How do
teachers perceive their interactions with students influence their students' future academic
and behavioral success? (d) How do teachers perceive school culture affects student behavior and academic performance and achievement? Through analysis of teacher interviews,
classroom observations, and participant journals, four predominate themes were determined: (a) relationships; (b) culture; (c) high quality instruction; and (d) behavior management. The
data from this study showed that these teachers believe that there is value in forming and
maintaining positive and supportive relationships with their students in providing for their
students' academic achievement and behavioral success. The data also showed that these
teachers feel the classroom and school culture influences academics and behavior and believe
it is important to understand and respond to individual student cultures. These teachers all
spoke of and wrote about the importance of planning high quality instruction in providing for
academic and behavioral success and high quality instruction was observed in each teacher's
classroom. These teachers felt a system-wide positive behavior management plan and
classroom management procedures that taught students how to behave and supported positive
behavior through student accountability also was important in providing for academic and
behavioral success.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the study -- Literature review -- Methodology -- Results and discussion -- Implications and recommendations -- Appendix A. 2008-2009 building enrollment -- Appendix B. Yearly building enrollment -- Appendix C. Free and reduced lunch eligibility -- Appendix D. Race/ethnicity -- Appendix E. Yearly building attendance - Appendix F. SSIRB approval letter
Degree
Ed.D.