Students who feel connected to school are less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, become involved in violence and other risky activities. These students are also less likely to experience emotional problems. Negative teacher-student relationships, however, can be detrimental to students’ academic and social-emotional development.
Second only to family, school is a stable environment in the lives of young people. The school environment provides an opportune setting to foster positive relationships among students, adults and peers. Building positive relationships within the school environment involves certified staff, classified staff, students, community, and family members.
The relationships formed between students and school staff members are at the heart of school connectedness. Students who perceive their teachers and school administrators as creating a caring, well-structured learning environment in which expectations are high, clear and fair are more likely to be connected to school.
Blum, R. (2005). School Connectedness: Improving the Lives of Students. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Baltimore, Maryland.
Cook, C. R., Coco, S., Zhang, Y., Fiat, A. E., Duong, M. T., Renshaw, T. L., . . . Frank, S. (2018). Cultivating Positive Teacher–Student Relationships: Preliminary Evaluation of the Establish–Maintain–Restore (EMR) Method. School Psychology Review, 47(3), 226-243. doi:10.17105/SPR-2017-0025.V47-3
Cook, C. R., Fiat, A., Larson, M., Daikos, C., Slemrod, T., Holland, E. A., Thayer, A. J., & Renshaw, T. (2018). Positive Greetings at the Door: Evaluation of a Low-Cost, High-Yield Proactive Classroom Management Strategy. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 20(3), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300717753831
Kincade, L., Cook, C., & Goerdt, A. (2020). Meta-Analysis and Common Practice Elements of Universal Approaches to Improving Student-Teacher Relationships. Review of Educational Research, 90(5), 710–748. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320946836
Rimm-Kaufman, S & Sandilos, L. (2010). Improving Students’ Relationships with Teachers to Provide Essential Supports for Learning. Accessed at: https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/relationships
