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Abstract.This work examines associations between closeness and conflict in teacher-child relationships and children's social and academic skills in first grade in a sample of 490 children. Assessments of teacher-child relationships were obtained in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Results demonstrate moderate correlations among teachers' ratings of conflict and slightly lower correlations among teachers' ratings of closeness across years. Hierarchical regression analyses predicted children's skills in first grade from teacher-child relationship quality. Child gender, socioeconomic status, and preschool estimates of outcomes of interest were controlled statistically. Although preschool assessments of social and academic skills were closely associated with individual skill differences at first grade, teacher-child relationship quality also was associated with changes in skill levels. Findings generally confirm that teacher-child relationships play a role in children's ability to acquire the skills necessary for success in school.
Concerns about children lacking the skills necessary for success in early elementary school classrooms have moved to the fore in recent years, as the number of children encountering difficulties in this setting has increased (National Education Goals Panel, 1997). Several major research initiatives have explored how to facilitate school success; many have concluded that key components include the development of strong pre-academic, social, and behavioral skills early in children's school careers (Lyon, 2002; NICHD ECCRN, 2002a; National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 1999; Ramey, Ramey, & Phillips, 1996). Emerging from this research is the impression that early and subsequent school functioning hinges on two related sets of competencies: those pertaining to early literacy and language development and those associated with relationships and self-regulation (Entwisle & Alexander, 1999; Ladd, Birch, & Buhs, 1999; Ladd & Burgess, 1999). Both of these competencies show great variation in national studies (NCES, 1999). The present study focuses on the extent to which the quality of children's relationships with three different early school teachers represents a unique source of variation in their early school adjustment, and predicts their social and academic functioning at first grade.
The quality of children's relationships with their early school teachers is increasingly recognized as a contributor to school adaptation (Birch & Ladd, 1997, 1998; Howes, Hamilton, & Matheson, 1994; Howes & Matheson, 1992; Pianta, Steinberg, & Rollins, 1995). Similar to parent-child relationships, teacher-child relationships appear to serve a regulatory function...