Teacher-Student Relationships

Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M., Spilt, J. L., & Oort, F. J. (2011). The influence of affective teacher–student relationships on students’ school engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic approach. Review of educational research, 81(4), 493-529.

• Meta-analysis, 99 studies, 88,417 students, grades preschool to high school. 
• Positive associations found between positive teacher-student relationships and both engagement and achievement; negative associations found between negative relationships and both engagement and achievement. 
• These associations were strongest for at-risk students.

Suldo, S. M., McMahan, M. M., Chappel, A. M., & Bateman, L. P. (2014). Evaluation of the teacher–student relationship inventory in American high school students. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 32(1), 3-14.

• In terms of psychological functioning, higher quality teacher–student relationships predict lower levels of later aggression (Hughes et al., 1999) and co-occur with greater subjective well-being (Suldo et al., 2009) and more adaptive emotional functioning (Reddy, Rhodes, & Mulhall, 2003).
• For elementary school students, validated measures have been developed to assess relationship quality from the teacher’s perspective (e.g., the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale [STRS; Pianta, 2001]).
• Ang (2005) developed the 14-item TSRI to assess teachers’ perceptions of the quality of interactions with students in three dimensions that yielded separate associations with academic and behavioral outcomes in previous studies with secondary students. Instrumental help refers to how willing a teacher perceives a student is to seek advice, sympathy, or help from him or her. Satisfaction involves feelings of contentment with the relationship and positive regard for the student. Conflict refers to negative feelings in the relationship (e.g., frustration), which may manifest in a desire for limited interactions with the student. Ang (2005) reported that TSRI items were adapted from existing teacher-report measures that captured an affective quality of the teacher–student relationship.
• Research support for validity and reliability of TSRI. 

Student-Teacher Relationship Inventory (STRI): Ages 4-8.

TSRI: grade 4 through junior high.