A Longitudinal and Bioecological Approach to Understanding the Contribution of Teacher and Family Relationships to School Outcomes

This dissertation presents two studies exploring key relationships in 4044, children's lives and their contribution to school-related outcomes. Study 1 is a longitudinal investigation into individual and contextual variables which predict children's eventual enrollment in gifted education programs (n = 856). It examined child characteristics and school-and family-related interpersonal variables that are evident and observable in early elementary school. Findings showed that neither teacher-child relationship quality nor children's attentional abilities predicted gifted enrollment by fifth grade, even after considering sociodemographic characteristics or cognitive ability. Frequency of parent-teacher contact in first grade did predict fifth grade gifted enrollment. This finding supports the idea that ecological factors and contexts---specifically the interplay between a child's school and family/home---play a role in shaping school experiences and outcomes. Study 2 is a longitudinal exploration of teacher-student relationships across the middle school transition. This study examined the relation between student-perceived sixth-grade teacher-student relationship quality and student-perceived level of teacher-student bonding in tenth grade. There were no differences in teacher bonding between students who transitioned to middle school earlier and those who transitioned to middle school. Students who had higher Woodcock Johnson cognitive ability scores in fifth grade perceived lower levels of bonding with their tenth grade teacher than those with lower measured cognitive ability. The findings in this study highlight the usefulness of examining student's experience in school from the students' perspective instead of the teachers' perspective. Collectively, these studies highlight the importance of children's social ecologies or predicting their school social and academic experience. Findings offer insight into interventions that hold the potential to facilitate improved experiences for youth in schools.