Observed Quality and Consistency of Fifth Graders’ Teacher–Student Interactions: Associations With Feelings, Engagement, and Performance in School

Authors

Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch, University of VirginiaFollow
Faiza Jamil, Clemson UniversityFollow
Robert C. Pianta, University of VirginiaFollow
Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Jamie DeCoster, University of VirginiaFollow

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

SAGE Open July-September 2018: 1– 11

DOI: 10.1177/2158244018794774

Comments

© The Author(s) 2018. Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Abstract

This study examined how overall quality and within-day consistency in fifth graders’ teacher-student interactions related to feelings about, engagement, and academic performance in school. Participants were 956 children in a national study. Students who experienced higher quality interactions reported more positive feelings about school, were more engaged, performed better in math and reading, and had more closeness and less conflict with teachers. Independent of overall interaction quality, students who experienced less consistency in their interactions with teachers, whether it was with the same teacher or across teachers, were less engaged and had more teacher-reported conflict. Findings emphasize the separate contributions of both high quality and consistency of teacher–student interactions to students’ success.