White privilege and teacher perceptions of teacher-child relationship quality

Using critical race mixed methodology to study multiply marginalized youth of color in schools

Multiply marginalized youth of color (MMYOC) often experience a barrage of discrimination within schools due to their intersectional identities. In the school psychology field, there is a frequent failure among researchers to employ methodological tools that adequately capture the complexity of their varied intersectional marginalizations. Anti-oppressive approaches that center on race while addressing intersectional systems of oppression, such as Critical Race Mixed Methodology (CRMM), provide a useful approach to interrogating this complexity. Focusing on MMYOC, we explicate the application of CRMM to foster the advancement of socially just and anti-racist research methodologies in school psychology. It includes a discussion of the theoretical foundations of Critical Race Theory and elaborates on the various elements of a CRMM study. Implications for the application of CRMM in the current anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion climate are also considered.

The cumulative, timing-specific, and enduring associations between student-teacher relationships and early elementary outcomes

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 14,370; 51% Male; 51% White; 14% Black; 25% Hispanic; 4% Asian; and 6% Other), this study examined the cumulative, timing-specific, and enduring associations between student-teacher relationships in the United States and a broad range of student outcomes. Student-teacher conflict and closeness were consistently associated with outcomes between kindergarten and third grade, both contemporaneously and over time. The main exception was for student absenteeism, where there were less consistent associations with student-teacher conflict. Cumulative models underscore the significance of the overall experiences of high-quality relationships over time. Despite little evidence of variability, girls fared less well socially due to more conflictual and less close relationships with their teachers than boys.

Measuring social-emotional development in schoolchildren: A national-level analysis of ECLS-B cohort data

The present study examined the social-emotional development items assessed by kindergarten teachers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort to determine the optimal factor structure underlying the items as well as the reliability and validity of the resulting factors. This study identified an empirically derived factor structure for teacher-reported social development, investigated whether there was evidence of bias in teacher assessments of social-emotional constructs, examined factor invariance across demographic characteristics (i.e., race and ethnicity, sex, and poverty status), and examined the external validity of the derived factors by determining the extent to which they were associated with well-established measures of early childhood competencies. Findings suggested a 4-factor solution was optimal, consisting of (a) Interpersonal Skills, (b) Externalizing Behavior, (c) Approaches to Learning, and (d) Perspective Taking. Findings offer suggestive evidence of teacher biases in assessments and some, although not conclusive, support for the invariance of social-emotional dimension across demographic characteristics. Results provide a useful next step toward documenting reliable and valid social-emotional measures for use in early childhood research and challenges users of national datasets to think critically about the use of "scales" without a priori attention to important psychometric properties.

The longitudinal associations among student externalizing behaviors, teacher-student relationships, and classroom engagement

Personal characteristics and classroom environment features both play important roles in predicting students' levels of classroom engagement. The present study took a person-environment transaction perspective to investigate how factors at both the personal (i.e., student externalizing behaviors) and relational (i.e., teacher-student relationships) levels jointly predict the development of classroom engagement behaviors in a sample of 784 elementary school students. Using a longitudinal cross-lagged model spanning across Grade 3 to Grade 5, we found a negative reciprocal association between teacher-student relationships and externalizing behaviors, such that a more positive teacher-student relationship predicted fewer externalizing behaviors in the subsequent academic year, and fewer externalizing behaviors predicted a more positive teacher-student relationship 1 year later. In addition, externalizing behaviors directly negatively predicted subsequent classroom engagement, whereas teacher-student relationships indirectly predicted subsequent classroom engagement by way of externalizing behaviors. Overall, students with more externalizing behaviors experienced more conflicts with and received less support from their teachers, which predicted the development of more externalizing behaviors and lower subsequent classroom engagement.

The Cultural Humility Scale for Students: Development and initial validation among adolescents

Designed for middle and high school students to rate the cultural humility levels among their teachers, this two-study article reports on the development and initial validation of the Cultural Humility Scale for Students (CHS-S), which was adapted from the original Cultural Humility Scale used in psychotherapy. Having cultural humility may facilitate positive teacher-student relationships by preventing or responding to cultural differences when they occur. Study 1 validated the scale's use with a sample of middle school students (N = 1522). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor structure (positive factor and negative factor) with 11 total items. Scalar measurement invariance was supported for gender comparisons. Partial scalar models were supported for race/ethnicity and grade comparisons. Compared with boys, girls reported that their teachers displayed significantly higher levels of positive cultural humility (estimate = 0.19, Cohen's d = 0.16, p = .005). Study 2 extended this work to examine high school students (N = 1612) and provided evidence that teacher cultural humility was predictive of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ). Results indicated that Black students who rated their teachers as having high cultural humility also reported having significantly more trust in their teachers compared to their White peers (p < .001). In terms of gender, boys who rated their teachers as having lower cultural humility had significantly less trust in their teachers and felt more alienated from their teachers compared to girls (p < .001). Results provide initial evidence that the CHS-S may be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring middle and high school students' perceptions regarding their teachers' cultural humility. Additionally, results suggest that perceived teacher cultural humility is significantly associated with TSRQ (p-values ranged from 0.05 to 0.001 in the areas of Trust, Communication, and Alienation) and could be used to complement evaluations of school climate. Limitations and future directions for research and practice are discussed.