The Roles of Teacher Expectations and School Composition on Teacher–Child Relationship Quality

Abstract

Teachers provide emotional and behavioral supports essential for success in the classroom. This study examined the roles of child interpersonal skills, teacher expectations, and school racial and poverty compositions on the quality of relationships formed between teachers and children. A subsample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort 2010–2011 data set was used to fit two-level, multivariate regression models. Findings showed children with higher interpersonal skills had lower conflict and higher closeness with teachers. High teacher expectations were associated with less conflicting relationships. At the school level, the association between teacher expectations and teacher–child conflict was moderated by the Asian and Hispanic student population, and teacher–child closeness was moderated by the Asian student population. In addition, a higher proportion of school poverty and high teacher expectations was associated with lower teacher–child conflict. Overall, findings suggest the importance of investigating teacher–child interpersonal processes within a school context.