Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)


Blue Prefunction (Omni Shoreham)

Direct, Mediated, and Moderated Effects of Teacher Support and Academic Press on School Outcomes

Michael E. Woolley, PhD, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Purpose: Social relationships with adults across key microsystems (home, school, neighborhood) influence school outcomes for youth. A critical relationship is that between students and teachers. However, the student-teacher relationship is complex including multiple factors. Among identified factors impacting academic outcomes are teacher academic press—teachers pushing students to achieve—and teacher support—teachers engaging in socially supportive interactions with students. However, we have much to learn about how those factors interact within the student-teacher relationship, and very little is known about how those factors impact academic outcomes indirectly by influencing intervening school outcomes such as school behaviors and attitudes.

Method: The current study utilized data from the School Success Profile, as described in the symposium abstract, to examine the impact of teacher press and support on three school outcomes: school behavior (measured by avoidance of problem behaviors), school coherence (measured by looking forward to and enjoying school), and academic performance (measured by grades). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationships between those student-teacher factors and school outcomes in the context of gender, race/ethnicity, and SES. Specifically, it was anticipated that (1) the impact of student-teacher interactions on academic performance would be mediated through their influence on school behaviors and coherence and (2) the impact of teacher press would be moderated by levels of teacher support, such that high levels of press, with low levels of support, may create negative effects.

Results: Teacher press and support had direct effects on grades, school behaviors, and school coherence. An SEM modeling all those direct effects had good fit with the data (NFI=.935, CFI=.938, RMSEA=.044), and revealed that boys, African Americans, students reporting lunch program eligibility, or previously held back a grade all reported lower teacher press, support, and lower grades. Latino students reported poorer grades, but reported similar levels of press and support as White students. Looking further at the relationships between press, support and the three school outcomes, it was revealed that the influence of student-teacher factors on grades was fully mediated through their impact on school behavior and coherence. This was supported by no reduction in fit with the data from a fully mediated SEM model, from a model including direct effects pathways to grades. Additionally, a model limited to the impact of press and support on behavior and coherence, revealed excellent fit (NFI=.956, CFI=.960, RMSEA=.037), and a moderating effect was found in that high levels of press combined with low levels of support reversed the positive effect of press for some groups of students by race/ethnicity, gender, and SES, with press then predicting increased problem behaviors.

Implications: Mounting evidence supports the potential positive influence of the student-teacher relationship. The current findings further that evidence and can inform specifics in the design of prevention programs to train teachers to build student-teacher relationships that effectively promote student success, and also can inform school social work practice by guiding collaborative efforts with teachers focused on creating promotive teacher relationships for students at risk of school failure.


See more of [Pov/C] Social Environment Influences on the Academic Success of Middle and High School Students: the School Success Profile
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