Children's perceptions of the classroom environment and social and academic performance: a longitudinal analysis of the contribution of the Responsive Classroom approach.

This study examines the contribution of the Responsive Classroom (RC) Approach, a set of teaching practices that integrate social and academic learning, to children's perceptions of their classroom, and children's academic and social performance over time. Three questions emerge: (a) What is the concurrent and cumulative relation between children's perceptions of the classroom and social and academic outcomes over time? (b) What is the contribution of teacher's use of RC practices to children's perceptions and social and academic outcomes? (c) Do children's perceptions of the classroom mediate the relation between RC teacher practices and child outcomes? Cross-lagged autoregressive structural equation models were used to analyze teacher and child-report questionnaire data, along with standardized test scores collected over 3 years from a sample of 520 children in grades 3-5. Results indicate a significant positive relation between RC teacher practices and child perceptions and outcomes over time. Further, children's perceptions partially mediated the relation between RC teacher practices and social competence. However, the models did not demonstrate that child perceptions mediated the relation between RC practices and achievement outcomes. Results are explained in terms of the contribution of teacher practices to children's perceptions and student performance.

[1]  V. Battistich,et al.  Effects of an Elementary School Intervention on Students' “Connectedness” to School and Social Adjustment During Middle School , 2003, Journal of Primary Prevention.

[2]  Tracy L. Spinrad,et al.  Relation of emotion-related regulation to children's social competence: a longitudinal study. , 2006, Emotion.

[3]  J. Reeve,et al.  What teachers say and do to support students' autonomy during a learning activity. , 2006 .

[4]  Richard E. Tremblay,et al.  Preventing antisocial behavior: Interventions from birth through adolescence. , 1993 .

[5]  D. Vandell,et al.  Experiences in after-school programs and children's adjustment in first-grade classrooms. , 1999, Child development.

[6]  A. Winsor,et al.  Schools as Caring Communities: A Relational Approach to School Reform. , 1997 .

[7]  E. Deci,et al.  Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[8]  Melissa B. Wakely,et al.  Classification of teachers’ interaction behaviors in early childhood classrooms☆ , 2000 .

[9]  Sara Battin-Pearson,et al.  Long-Term Effects of the Seattle Social Development Intervention on School Bonding Trajectories , 2001, Applied developmental science.

[10]  Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman,et al.  PROMOTING SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC COMPETENCE IN THE CLASSROOM: AN INTERVENTION STUDY EXAMINING THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM APPROACH , 2007 .

[11]  A. Vazsonyi,et al.  The role of aggression and social competence in children's perceptions of the child–teacher relationship , 2002 .

[12]  R. Ryan,et al.  PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Origins and Pawns in the Classroom: Self-Report and Projective Assessments of Individual Differences in Children's Perceptions , 1986 .

[13]  M. Montague,et al.  Classroom Dynamics and Children at Risk: A Followup , 2001 .

[14]  Geoffrey D. Borman,et al.  Comprehensive School Reform and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis , 2003 .

[15]  K. Wentzel.  Social Relationships and Motivation in Middle School: The Role of Parents, Teachers, and Peers , 1998 .

[16]  J. H. Steiger.  Statistically based tests for the number of common factors , 1980 .

[17]  J. Meece,et al.  Socialization of Achievement Attitudes and Beliefs: Classroom Influences. , 1982 .

[18]  Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman,et al.  Primary-Grade Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Attitudes toward Teaching, and Discipline and Teaching Practice Priorities in Relation to the "Responsive Classroom" Approach , 2004, The Elementary School Journal.

[19]  Howard J. Doueck,et al.  Changing Teaching Practices in Mainstream Classrooms to Improve Bonding and Behavior of Low Achievers , 1988 .

[20]  Herbert J. Walberg,et al.  Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? , 2004 .

[21]  R. Abbott,et al.  The Seattle Social Development Project: Effects of the first four years on protective factors and problem behaviors. , 1992 .

[22]  Chi-Ming Kam,et al.  Sustained Effects of the PATHS Curriculum on the Social and Psychological Adjustment of Children in Special Education , 2004 .

[23]  M. Browne,et al.  Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit , 1992 .

[24]  L. A. Kurdek,et al.  Psychological, Family, and Peer Predictors of Academic Outcomes in First- through Fifth-Grade Children. , 2000 .

[25]  Katherine Irwin,et al.  Blueprints for Violence Prevention , 2003 .

[26]  J. Connell,et al.  Competence, autonomy, and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes. , 1991 .

[27]  Bonnie Knoke,et al.  A Day in Third Grade: A Large‐Scale Study of Classroom Quality and Teacher and Student Behavior , 2005, The Elementary School Journal.

[28]  Geoffrey B. Saxe,et al.  The Value (and Convergence) of Practices Suggested by Motivation Research and Promoted by Mathematics Education Reformers. , 1998 .

[29]  Jodie B. Ullman,et al.  Classroom social experiences as predictors of academic performance. , 2005, Developmental psychology.

[30]  V. Battistich,et al.  Teacher practices associated with students' sense of the classroom as a community , 1996 .

[31]  R. Abbott,et al.  Predicting serious delinquency and substance use among aggressive boys. , 1995, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[32]  R Kosterman,et al.  Changing teaching practices to promote achievement and bonding to school. , 1998, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[33]  Allan Wigfield,et al.  Academic and Social Motivational Influences on Students' Academic Performance , 1998 .

[34]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Classroom experience and children's self-perceptions of ability, effort and conduct , 1985 .

[35]  Joseph E. Zins,et al.  Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. , 2003, The American psychologist.

[36]  B. Hamre,et al.  Can instructional and emotional support in the first-grade classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure? , 2005, Child development.

[37]  Andrea Starkweather Matheson,et al.  Training Teachers to Give Effective Commands: Effects on Student Compliance and Academic Behaviors , 2005 .

[38]  M. Greenberg,et al.  Children's Relationship with Teachers and Bonds with School An Investigation of Patterns and Correlates in Middle Childhood , 2000 .

[39]  Daniel Solomon,et al.  Caring school communities , 1997 .

[40]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  Opportunities to Learn in America's Elementary Classrooms , 2007, Science.

[41]  J. S. Long,et al.  Testing Structural Equation Models , 1993 .

[42]  B. Hamre,et al.  Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade. , 2001, Child development.