Positive student-teacher relationships and exclusionary discipline practices

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Sociology of Education
• School Discipline

Background:

• Teacher-student relationships are crucial for student development, particularly during middle school.
• School suspensions negatively impact educational trajectories, disproportionately affecting marginalized students.
• Understanding factors influencing suspensions is vital for equitable educational practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between teacher-student relationship quality and student suspensions (in-school and out-of-school).
• To investigate how these relationships and suspensions evolve throughout the academic year.
• To explore the predictive power of both teacher and student perceptions of the relationship.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study involving 541 students and 51 teachers in two urban Midwest school districts.
• Data collected in fall and spring of the academic year.
• Analysis of teacher and student reports on relationship quality and correlation with suspension data.

Main Results:

• Teachers' positive fall relationship perceptions predicted lower odds of both in-school suspension (ISS) and out-of-school suspension (OSS).
• Student reports of relationships were linked to ISS but not OSS.
• Student-reported relationship quality declined over the year, while teacher-reported quality slightly improved; changes in student reports predicted suspensions.

Conclusions:

• Both teacher and student perceptions of relationships are associated with disciplinary actions, highlighting the need for a dual perspective.
• Interventions focused on developing, maintaining, and repairing teacher-student relationships are necessary to mitigate harsh discipline.
• Addressing relationship dynamics is critical for supporting positive student outcomes and equitable educational experiences.