Student–Teacher Relationships from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade for Latine Students in Dual Language Programs

Abstract

Student–teacher relationships in early education have been investigated widely. The current thesis expands on this literature by exploring these relationships in the unique context of Dual Language Education (DLE) K-3 programs and by examining Latine students. I explore student–teacher relationships as a function of student–teacher ethnicity-matching in Spanish-English, two-way immersion programs across grades K-3, where some students have one teacher and others have two. Participants included 33 teachers and 203 students in kindergarten through 3rd grade in Spanish-English two-way DLE immersion classrooms in North Carolina. Relationships were measured via teacher report with the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS, Pianta, 2001a). The main research questions were: 1) What is the quality of student–teacher relationships for all students, and does this vary by grade (in grades K-3)?, 2) Do student–teacher relationships vary as a function of student ethnicity and teacher ethnicity, and if so, does this vary across different grades?, 3) Do student–teacher relationships vary as a function of ethnic match between student and teacher?, and 4) Specifically for Hispanic students, how much does having a Hispanic teacher influence their student–teacher relationship quality? My hypotheses were that students and teachers that share the same ethnicity, and those in earlier grades, will have higher closeness scores (and lower conflict) than those who do not share the same ethnicity or are in later grades. Additionally, I expected Hispanic students to have closer relationships with their teachers than White students. Results indicate that student–teacher closeness for all students was highest in kindergarten and lower for subsequent grades, with Black students showing particularly high closeness in kindergarten but steeper declines by third grade compared to other students. Boys had more conflictual relationships with their teachers than girls, and Hispanic/Latine English teachers had more closeness with their students than teachers of other ethnicities. Students with two teachers had lower closeness with their teachers than students with only one teacher. Importantly, ethnic match between student and teacher was not associated with teacher closeness or conflict in the current study’s TWI settings. Implications of these findings include ethnic match not being as important as the number of teachers for student–teacher relationship quality, and that, overall, TWI programs are efficient at producing an inclusive environment for families of diverse ethnicities.