Are student-teacher relationships critical to early childhood education? A new study suggests there may be long-term benefits.
The United States has roughly 33 million students enrolled in public elementary school education (National Center for Education Statistics 2022). Arya Ansari, associate professor of human development and family science, and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania saw an acute need to more comprehensively understand how children’s development can be promoted through student-teacher relationships.
“The topic of student-teacher relationships has received a great deal of attention in developmental and educational research,” said Ansari, also a faculty associate with the college’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy. “Despite this attention, there has been no nationally representative investigation into the cumulative, timing-specific and enduring outcomes of these relationships.”
Ansari pointed out that previous research has often overlooked the patterns that emerge across different grade levels. Also overlooked is analysis of the importance of these relationships and how they may vary among different populations.
To fill those knowledge gaps, Ansari and his colleagues analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011. It contains a nationally representative sample of approximately 14,370 children in the United States. They looked specifically at student-teacher relationships between kindergarten and third grade.
“The findings show that the quality of relationships during this period have a significant benefit for children’s overall early learning and development,” Ansari said. “We also found evidence that these relationships matter across the early elementary school years and have cumulative effects over time.”
“All of the children benefited from a close rapport with their teachers. The most surprising finding, though, is the consistency with which student-teacher relationships mattered for a broad range of outcomes across different student populations, both in the short and long term.”
“These early connections significantly influence not only academic achievement, but also absenteeism, social, emotional and behavioral development and executive functioning skills, which are critical for educational success,” he said.
“We were also surprised that relationships formed as early as kindergarten matter for development not only in that year, but through the end of third grade.
The study was published in the Society for Research in Child Development’s journal Child Development.
Using results: For teachers, school administrators, families, researchers
Ansari elaborated on how the results of the study have several potential implications for various audiences.
For teachers, he said the findings underscore the importance of developing strong connections with students across the early elementary school years. “By recognizing the importance of a close and conflict-free relationship, teachers can better support student success.”
The findings show that girls tended to fare worse socially than boys when faced with conflict and less closeness in their teacher relationships. Young girls, in particular, rely on this close relationship to support their social development.
Ansari named several ways that teachers can strengthen their relationships with young children. “They should try to create an environment of open communication and active listening to their students,” he said. “Additionally, they can help build stronger connections by showing empathy and understanding by validating emotions, encouraging collaboration and personalizing interactions based on individual student interests.”
At the same time, however, he emphasized that it is important that schools provide teachers with the support needed to allow them to develop these stronger and more individualized relationships.
“For school administrators, our findings highlight the importance of supporting teachers so that they have the time and space to cultivate stronger relationships with students,” Ansari said.
“For families, our findings highlight the importance of collaborating with teachers to better support their children.”
“Finally, for researchers, our findings provide a basis for continued exploration into the different aspects of relationships that shape student learning,” he said, “and how these relationships may vary across populations and contexts.”
Background about the longitudinal study
The researchers analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 (ECLS-K), which is collected by the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
“The ECLS-K is one of the few longitudinal and nationally representative samples of children in the United States,” Ansari said. “It provides much needed insight into the home and school experiences of young children between kindergarten and the fifth grade.”
“This makes it a critical resource for understanding the role of student-teacher relationships in the early learning and development of young children. By providing regular information on children’s relationships and outcomes, it can be used to pinpoint effective points of intervention that can enhance relationships among students and teachers.”
The population in this study was 51% Male, 51% white, 14% Black, 25% Hispanic, 4% Asian and 6% other.
The researchers focused on kindergarten through third grade because teachers in fourth and fifth grade did not report on their relationships with students in the ECLS-K.
What’s next in this field of research?
“We need more information on what contributes to closer and less conflictual relationships between students and teachers,” Ansari said. “We want to know how that drives student achievement and social-emotional development.”
“Identifying these factors is critical so we can develop more targeted interventions and strategies that address the unique needs of different student groups.”
M. Nicole Buckley, a PhD student researcher in the college, was one of Ansari’s co-authors of the journal article in Child Development, “The Cumulative, Timing-Specific, and Enduring Associations Between Student-Teacher Relationships and Early Elementary Outcomes.” She is majoring in human development and family science and conducts research with Ansari at the college’s Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy.
Their co-authors of the article were Michael Gottfried, professor and chair of the Division of Policy, Organizations, Leadership and Systems, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, and PhD student S. Colby Woods.
Jessica Efstathiou is the PR consultant for the Society for Research in Child Development.
