Multi-Faceted School Readiness and the Teacher-Student Relationship

Introduction: An important domain of school readiness involves the ability to comply with the behavioral and social demands of the classroom, and to form positive relationships with teachers (Blair, 2002). Considerable research documents the value of supportive student-teacher relationships during the early elementary years, which are associated with school liking,  productive learning engagement, and academic achievement (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Doumen et al., 2012; O’Connor & McCartney, 2007; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001).  However, less is known about the child skills that contribute to the quality of student-teacher relationships formed at school entry.  In recent years, an increasing body of research has focused on the importance of children’s developing executive function (EF) skills during the preschool years, based upon the hypothesis that these skills play a unique role in supporting the behavioral and social school adjustment of young children, as well as their academic learning in elementary school (Blair, 2002). The current study examined this hypothesis directly, evaluating the unique role of pre-kindergarten EF skills as predictors of the quality of teacher student relationships in the early elementary years, while simultaneously accounting for children’s disruptive behavior problems.  

Methods: Using a longitudinal design, 356 Head Start attendees (17% Hispanic, 25% African American, 42 % European American; 54% girls) were followed from the fall of the pre-kindergarten year through the spring of the second grade year. In the fall of the pre-kindergarten year, children’s EF skills (Peg Tapping, Dimensional Change Card Sort) were assessed directly and teachers rated their disruptive behavior. Teacher ratings of the student-teacher relationship were collected from pre-kindergarten through second grade, and averaged in a composite score.   

Results: In the fall of pre-kindergarten, child EF and disruptive behaviors were significantly negatively correlated (r = -0.21). Each was significantly correlated with student-teacher relationships across the early school years (r = 0.21 and r= -0.58, respectively). Regression analyses revealed unique associations of prekindergarten EF and disruptive behavior with elementary school student-teacher relationship quality, when entered together, β = .10 and β = -0.53, respectively.

Conclusions: Although these are developmental associations and hence may not be causal, they suggest that children’s EF skill development during the preschool years plays a unique role in their behavioral and social school readiness, contributing to high-quality student-teacher relationships in ways that are independent of the impact of disruptive behaviors.