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The power of teacher‐toddler relationships and stability of care for language development
Abstract
The value of positive teacher‐child relationships for child development is well established for preschool‐ and school‐age children, but little is known regarding children under the age of 3. The current study examined the links between teacher‐child relationship, stability of care, and toddlers’ expressive vocabulary. It also examined whether the associations between the expressive language and the teacher‐child relationship differ depending on the stability of care. Participants of the study were 212 toddlers (50.9% boys) and 36 teachers. Expressive vocabulary skills were assessed individually across two waves, and relationship quality was reported by teachers in the second wave. Results suggested that closeness was associated positively with expressive vocabulary, whereas neither conflict nor dependency were associated with vocabulary. Prior expressive vocabulary also positively predicted closeness, particularly for children with less stable relationships with teachers. Moreover, children who stayed with the same teacher were more likely to have closer, more dependent, and less conflictual relationships with them.
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This article synthesizes knowledge on the role of relationships and key macroand micro-contexts - poverty, racism, families, communities, schools, and peers - in supporting and/or undermining the healthy development of children and youth, using a relational developmental systems framework. Relationships with parents, siblings, peers, caregivers, and teachers are explored in the context of early care and childhood settings, schools, classrooms, and school-based interventions. Additional contextual factors include; chronic stress, institutionalized racism, stereotype threat, and racial identity. A companion article focuses on how the human brain develops, and the major constructs that define human development, the constructive nature of development, and the opportunities for resilience. Human development occurs through reciprocal coactions between the individual and their contexts and culture, with relationships as the key drivers. Relationships and contexts, along with how children appraise and interpret them, can be risks and assets for healthy learning and development, and their influence can be seen across generations and can produce intra- as well as intergenerational assets and risks. This knowledge about the individual’s responsiveness to context and experience has both positive and negative implications across early childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. Sensitive periods for brain growth and development are considered within the contextual factors that influence development including; parental responsiveness and attunement, intentional skill development, mindfulness, reciprocal interactions, adversity, trauma, and enriching opportunities. The accumulated knowledge on human development and the power of context and culture can inform child-serving systems that support positive adaptations, resilience, learning, health, and well-being.
This review of research on relationship-based care practices outlines considerations for implementing these practices in Early Head Start and childcare centers serving infants and toddlers.
The report emphasizes two specific relationship based care supports – primary caregiving and continuity of care – and includes considerations at the center level, for parents and families, and for staff. The brief also discusses federal and state policies related to adopting these practices. Additionally the brief discusses how licensing, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, and Early Head Start performance standards relate to implementing these practices.
Members of the Network of Infant/Toddler Researchers and the Quality Initiatives Research and Evaluation Consortium, jointly wrote this brief.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/nitr_inquire_may_2016_070616_b508compliant.pdf
We use a longitudinal design to examine associations for 2,120 16-30 months old children between early expressive vocabulary and later reading and math outcomes in the 6th Grade based on a large and diverse sample of Danish children. Educational outcomes, in particular decoding and reading comprehension, can be predicted from an early vocabulary measure as early as 16 months with effect sizes (in proportion of variance accounted for) comparable to one year’s mean growth in reading scores. The findings confirm in a relatively large population based study that late talkers are at risk for later educational attainment as the majority of children experiencing early language delay obtain scores below average in measures of reading in the 6th Grade. Low scores have the greatest predictive power indicating that children with early delays have elevated risk for later reading problems.
Research Findings: Continuity of care is a recommended practice in child care intended to promote secure and supportive relationships between infants and toddlers and their caregivers. Toddlers (N = 115) between 12 and 24 months were observed in 30 continuity and 29 noncontinuity classrooms. The average duration of care for toddlers with caregivers was 14 months in the continuity rooms and 5 months in noncontinuity rooms. Toddlers observed in continuity rooms experienced higher levels of interactive involvement with their caregivers and were rated by their caregivers as having fewer problem behaviors compared with the toddlers in noncontinuity rooms. Toddlers in rooms with higher staff–child ratios also experienced more involved caregiving. We did not find evidence that the level of involved caregiving mediated the association between continuity of care and toddlers’ social competence or problem behaviors. Practice or Policy: Continuity of care may be a promising practice for programs that strive to provide high-quality care for infants and toddlers.
Data were analyzed from a population-based, longitudinal sample of 8,650 U.S. children to (a) identify factors associated with or predictive of oral vocabulary size at 24 months of age and (b) evaluate whether oral vocabulary size is uniquely predictive of academic and behavioral functioning at kindergarten entry. Children from higher socioeconomic status households, females, and those experiencing higher quality parenting had larger oral vocabularies. Children born with very low birth weight or from households where the mother had health problems had smaller oral vocabularies. Even after extensive covariate adjustment, 24-month-old children with larger oral vocabularies displayed greater reading and mathematics achievement, increased behavioral self-regulation, and fewer externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors at kindergarten entry.
© 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.
The present study examined the quality of teacher-child relationships in a collectivist and individualist country, specifically, Portugal and Belgium. Two relationship dimensions were examined the following: conflict and closeness. Participants were 158 Portuguese and 197 Belgian children and their teachers. In both countries, teachers completed the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). Measurement invariance was tested through multiple-group analysis. The results supported configural and metric invariance across countries, but not full scalar equivalence, suggesting that the STRS is robust across countries. Some associations differed between the samples. Specifically, teachers’ perceptions of closeness were negatively related to conflict in Belgium, but not in Portugal. Teachers described boys and girls as having similar levels of both conflict and closeness in Portugal, while in Belgium girls are likely to have closer relationships with their teachers. Moreover, observed emotional climate was positively associated with closeness in Belgium (but not Portugal), indicating that Belgian teachers in classrooms with more warm and positive interactions were likely to have closer individual relationships with their students.
This longitudinal study examined developmental links between closeness in teacher-child relationships and children's receptive language ability from the end of the preschool years into the early elementary years, while controlling for changes in peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. The sample included children and their parents and teachers (N = 4,983) participating in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) at ages 4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years (3 waves). Teachers reported on levels of closeness in relationships with individual children. Independent assessments of receptive language were employed. Parents and teachers reported on peer interaction problems and child conduct problems. Results indicated reciprocal associations between close teacher-child relationships and receptive language development above and beyond associations with peer interaction quality and child behavioral functioning. However, the effects were only modest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Introduction Most children develop speech and language skills effortlessly, but some are slow to develop these skills and then go on to struggle with literacy and academic skills throughout their schooling. It is the first few years of life that are critical to their subsequent performance. This project looks at what we know about the early communication environment in a child's first two years of life, and the role this plays in preparing children for school using data from a large longitudinal survey of young people (ALSPAC -the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children). It examines the characteristics of the environment in which children learn to communicate (such as activities undertaken with children, the mother's attitude towards her baby, and the wider support available to the family) and the extent to which this affects a child's readiness for school entry (defined as their early language, reading, writing, and maths skills that they need in school). Key Findings • There is a strong association between a child's social background and their readiness for school as measured by their scores on school entry assessments covering language, reading, maths and writing. • Language development at the age of 2 years predicts children's performance on entry to primary school. Children's understanding and use of vocabulary and their use of two or three word sentences at 2 years is very strongly associated with their performance on entering primary school. • The children's communication environment influences language development. The number of books available to the child, the frequency of visits to the library, parents teaching a range of activities, the number of toys available, and attendance at pre-school, are all important predictors of the child's expressive vocabulary at 2 years. The amount of television on in the home is also a predictor; as this time increased, so the child's score at school entry decreased. • The communication environment is a more dominant predictor of early language than social background. In the early stages of language development, it is the particular aspects of a child's communication environment that are associated with language acquisition rather than the broader socio-economic context of the family. • The child's language and their communication environment influence the child's performance at school entry in addition to their social background. Children's success at school is governed not only by their social background; the child's communication environment before their second birthday and their language at the age of two years also have a strong influence.
Given theoretical and empirical support for the importance of peer play within the preschool classroom to early learning, the present study tested the hypothesis that associations between teacher-reported problem behavior and academic skills were mediated by difficulties in peer play (disruptive and disconnected play), for a representative sample (N = 507 children across 46 classrooms) enrolled in a large urban Head Start program. The study also tested whether mediation was moderated by child sex (e.g., whether the mechanism through which problem behavior was associated with learning differed for boys and girls) controlling for the multilevel nature of these data. Findings from structural equation models provided evidence for partial mediation, whereby associations between internalizing behavior and academic skills were partially explained through their effects on disconnected play; however, mediation was present for girls only. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed as they support low-income children's social and academic development through the context of peer play.
This study assessed 562 four-year-old children at the beginning and end of their prekindergarten (pre-k) year and followed them to the end of kindergarten. At each time point children were assessed on 6 measures of executive function (EF) and 5 subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson III academic achievement battery. Exploratory factor analyses yielded EF and achievement factor scores. We examined the longitudinal bidirectional associations between these domains as well as the bidirectional associations among the separate content areas and the EF factor. In the pre-k year, strong bidirectional associations were found for EF skills and mathematics and oral comprehension skills but not for literacy skills. After controlling for pre-k gains in both EF and achievement, EF skills continued to be strong predictors of gains in mathematics in kindergarten and a more moderate predictor of kindergarten language gains. These results provide important information on the interrelationship of the developmental domains of EF and achievement as well as support for efforts to determine effective pre-k activities and/or curricula that can improve children's EF skills. They also suggest that mathematics activities may be a possible avenue for improving EF skills in young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
This study investigated factors related to the quality of early‐childhood practitioners’ interactions with infants in play and routine contexts. Participants were 24 practitioners working with 9–20‐month‐old infants in long day‐care infant programmes. Video‐recordings of their interactions with a nominated infant during play and in routine contexts were rated for levels of sensitivity and stimulation. Practitioners were asked to interpret extracts of this video footage and these interpretations were rated according to the complexity of the interpretive narrative. Results indicated relationships between practitioner qualification, their levels of interpretive complexity and the quality of their interactions. The quality of play interactions was significantly higher than that of routine interaction. The implications of these findings in relation to the provision of high‐quality infant day‐care programmes are discussed.
What is the role of oral language in reading competence during the transition to school? Is oral language in preschool best conceptualized as vocabulary knowledge or as more comprehensive language including grammar, vocabulary, and semantics? These questions were examined longitudinally using 1,137 children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Children were followed from age 3 through 3rd grade, and the results suggest that oral language conceptualized broadly plays both a direct and an indirect role in word recognition during the transition to school and serves as a better foundation for early reading skill than does vocabulary alone. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of both theoretical models of early reading and practical implications for policy and assessment.
A meta-analytic approach was used to investigate the associations between
affective qualities of teacher–student relationships (TSRs) and students’
school engagement and achievement. Results were based on 99 studies,
including students from preschool to high school. Separate analyses were
conducted for positive relationships and engagement (k = 61 studies, N = 88,417
students), negative relationships and engagement (k = 18, N = 5,847), positive
relationships and achievement (k = 61, N = 52,718), and negative relationships
and achievement (k = 28, N = 18,944). Overall, associations of
both positive and negative relationships with engagement were medium to
large, whereas associations with achievement were small to medium. Some
of these associations were weaker, but still statistically significant, after correction
for methodological biases. Overall, stronger effects were found in the
higher grades. Nevertheless, the effects of negative relationships were stronger
in primary than in secondary school.
Human activity is both organized and highly variable. Analysis of the variation illuminates the dynamic order in development, learning, and emotional change. Action is nowhere near as stable as the static conceptions of psychology predict. Dynamic structural analysis provides a framework and tools for analyzing the variation and detecting the order in it – the dynamic organization of self-constructed, socially embedded skills and activities (actions, thoughts, and emotions). Key discoveries and tools include: (1) the emergence of a series of cognitive abilities that form a universal scale for development and learning, (2) methods for analyzing microdevelopment and learning pathways, (3) tools for depicting emotional development, including affective splitting and cultural shaping, and (4) a model connecting cognitive growth with brain development.
Keywords:
brain development;
cognition;
dynamic structuralism;
emotion;
microdevelopment;
skill theory;
variation
Theoretical and empirical work on relationships between teachers and children relies on developmental systems theory as the foundational conceptual model, drawing heavily from basic work in attachment as well as research on social development. Recently, the focus on relational processes in effort to support children's development in the classroom has proliferated, with multiple disciplines and fields engaging in research on teacher-child relationship quality to understand and improve the experiences and learning of students. This paper updates the conceptual framework and continues the necessary integration between disciplines by exploring three areas of research: (1) concordance between children's relationships with teachers and parents; (2) the moderating role of teacher-child relationships for the development of at-risk children; and (3) training teachers from a relational perspective. Each of the three areas of research on teacher-child relationships is examined in light of recent findings and considers implications for understanding the nature and impact of relationships between teachers and children.
Research Findings: This study examined whether teacher-child interaction quality varied as a function of type of activity in toddler classrooms in four European countries (Finland, Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal). It also investigated whether specific activity settings, namely levels of adult involvement, use of whole group, and children’s engagement with materials, explained differences in teacher-child interaction quality across activities. Participants were 129 toddler classrooms and their lead teachers, specifically, 28 in the Netherlands, 40 in Finland, 31 in Portugal, and 30 in Poland. Process quality was measured with the CLASS Toddler (La Paro et al., 2012) and the Activity Setting Measure was used to characterize adult levels of involvement, group organization, and children’s engagement with materials. Findings indicated that there were important variations across activities in all countries. Positive associations were found between higher levels of adult facilitation and both Emotional and Educational Support. Other activity settings partially explained differences across activities in interaction quality, although patterns varied by country. Practice or Policy: CLASS scores were conditional on the content and format of the activities. Greater attention to activity types and settings may be a means to increase the precision of quality assessment.
Prior research suggests that positive teacher-child relationships support children's engagement in the classroom and their language skills. This short-term longitudinal study explored whether profiles of preschool children's engagement in the classroom (winter) mediated the association between teacher-child relationships (fall) and children's language skills (spring). The analytic sample included 708 children. Children's engagement was measured using a direct observational measure called the inCLASS. A latent profile analysis revealed six profiles of children's engagement: (1) highly engaged with tasks and peers; (2) engaged; (3) low engagement; (4) mild conflict; (5) high conflict, but positive engagement with teachers; and (6) extreme conflict. Using the low engagement profile as the reference group, mediation analyses revealed 3 indirect effects: (a) close-teacher-child relationship (as reported by teachers using the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale) was positively related to children's growth in expressive vocabulary (EV) skills (Woodcock-Johnson III Picture Vocabulary subscale) by spring through membership in the engaged rather than the low engagement profile; (b) a close relationship with a teacher was negatively related to children's EV skills through membership in the mild conflict profile with teachers and peers, and (c) a conflictual relationship with a teacher was negatively related to children's EV skills through membership in the mild conflict profile. Poor teacher-student relationships can lead children to become unengaged or negatively engaged in the classroom. Improving close teacher-child relationships can support more optimal patterns of engagement in the classroom, with positive implications for their EV development.
This study considered the quality and stability of infant and toddler nonparental child care from 6 to 36 months in relation to language, social, and academic skills measured proximally at 36 months and distally at kindergarten. Quality was measured separately as caregiver–child verbal interactions and caregiver sensitivity, and stability was measured as having fewer sequential child‐care caregivers. This longitudinal examination involved a subsample (N = 1,055) from the Family Life Project, a representative sample of families living in rural counties in the United States. Structural equation modeling revealed that children who experienced more positive caregiver–child verbal interactions had higher 36‐month language skills, which indirectly led to higher kindergarten academic and social skills. Children who experienced more caregiver stability had higher kindergarten social skills.
This study examined the dynamic association between teacher–child relationship quality and Chinese toddlers’ developmental functioning. The participants, located in Hong Kong, consisted of 82 Chinese toddlers and their teachers. With a two-wave longitudinal design, teachers rated the children’s developmental functioning and their own relationships with each child. The results showed that the relations between teacher-child relationships and developmental functioning differed across aspects of child development. Specifically, teacher–child relationship quality predicted and was predicted by toddlers’ comprehension and personal-social skills; teacher-child relationship quality predicted but was not predicted by motor and self-help skills; finally, expressive language skills predicted but were not predicted by teacher-child relationship quality. Follow-up analyses suggested that the observed relations operated similarly for boys and girls, but differently between younger and older age groups. We conclude by discussing the study’s limitations and offering suggestions for promoting developmentally appropriate childcare experience for toddlers.
Dependency is a scarcely investigated dimension of teacher-child (T-C)
relationships that can reflect a lack of security and obstruct children’s
autonomous exploration in the school context. We examined the
within- and cross-time associations between T-C dependency, closeness, and conflict, and children’s effortful control, an ability related to
children’s self-regulation. Data were collected during the preschool
period at two time-points (T1 and T2) 1-year apart. Participants were
199 children (44% girls, M age = 47.47) attending 46 middle-class
preschool classrooms. Results from path analyses indicated that,
though marginally significant, there was a positive association
between T-C dependency and conflict at T1. At T2, dependency was
positively related to both conflict and closeness. Dependency at T1
positively predicted children’s effortful control at T2. This study clarifies
the interconnection between T-C dependency, closeness and conflict,
and the unique contribution of dependency on children’s effortful
control. Findings are discussed considering the socio-cultural meaning
of dependency.
This study examines teachers' and children's perceptions of dependency , and their linkages with other relationship dimensions, in a cultural context with a more collectivistic orientation. Additionally, it examines the factorial validity and reliability of the Greek version of the Child Appraisal of Relationship with Teacher Scale (CARTS) and teacher-child perceptions' convergence of relationship quality. Participants were 348 kindergarten students and 35 teachers from Greek kindergarten classrooms. The measures used were the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) and CARTS. Results verified the factorial validity and internal consistency of the Greek CARTS. Results replicated previous findings suggesting a positive association between Closeness and Dependency in both teachers' and children's perceptions. The finding about the positive association between closeness and dependency in a cultural context with a more collectivistic orientation, challenges the cultural universality of the construct of dependency and highlights the need for a more in-depth examination of the construct of dependency.
The purpose of this commentary is to situate the findings from the studies in this special issue within the broader child-teacher relationship literature, with particular focus on the complex nature of child-teacher dependency. First, I briefly describe and review each of the compelling papers in this special issue. Second, I weave the studies to each other by linking their methods and results, and by identifying similar findings from the extant literature. Third, I provide some thoughts about future directions and implications for the study of child-teacher dependency from my perspective as a researcher in this field.
The present study considered the ways in which interactional quality in the classroom and teacher–child relationships independently and synergistically shaped the early academic, social‐behavioral, and executive function outcomes of 1,498 preschoolers from low‐income families from a large, culturally, and linguistically diverse county. The findings revealed that children who had closer and less conflictual relationships with their teachers demonstrated greater improvements in all domains of school readiness across the preschool year. Moreover, preschool attendees did not reap the maximum academic benefits from high quality classroom environments unless they also had high‐quality individual relationships with their teachers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
Shy children are less likely to interact with peers and teachers, ask questions, and participate in classroom activities. Children low in attention and inhibitory control also perform worse academically. Although research indicates children’s relationships with teachers may be protective for children at risk for academic difficulties, less is known about the role of dependent teacher-child relationships and the consequences for learning. This study examines the interplay of inhibitory control, attention, shyness, and dependency as predictors of preschoolers’ expressive- and receptive-language skills. The sample is 104 children in 22 classrooms. Research Findings: Multilevel models revealed four findings. First, both parent and teacher ratings of children’s attention were positively associated with language skills. Second, the association between teacher ratings of shyness and children’s language skills was contingent on the level of teacher-child dependency. Third, teacher-child dependency was positively linked to more expressive-language skills in the teacher-report model. Fourth, dependency and inhibitory control worked synergistically in the parent-report model to predict expressive language. Results suggest that dependency may have protective aspects for some children in early childhood but could also be negative for other children. Practice and Policy: Teachers can organize their relationship style depending on child’stemperament to provide nurturing environment for children’s language skills.
Research Findings: This study examined whether children’s outcomes at age 3 were predicted by their experiences in Early Head Start (EHS), focusing on 2 key features of infant and toddler care: (a) stability of care and (b) teacher–child interactions. This study further explored potential interaction effects between stability of care and teacher–child interactions in predicting child outcomes. Three main results were found from secondary analyses of the recently released EHS longitudinal data set the EHS Family and Child Experiences Study (Vogel & Boller, 2009–2012). First, children who had stability of care (no teacher change) were rated as having fewer behavior problems and higher social competence. Second, children were rated as demonstrating better orientation/engagement and emotional regulation when they were in EHS classrooms observed to have higher emotional and behavioral support. Third, teacher–child interactions that are emotionally and behaviorally supportive may mitigate the potential drawbacks of experiencing instability of care on early social-emotional development. Study implications are discussed. Practice or Policy: Both stability and quality teacher–child interactions are important in center-based infant and toddler care, and ensuring quality teacher–child interactions is particularly important for children who experience teacher changes during their infant and toddler years.
The current study examined the effects of parent–child and teacher–child relationships on behavior regulation of children at risk. In particular, the amplifying or attenuating effect of one context (i.e., teacher–child relationships) for another context (i.e., parent–child relationship) on children's behavior regulation was examined. Participants were 291 children (159 boys) ages 37–70 months (M = 53.88 months, SD = 6.44 months) from three different preschools serving low-income children in two Midwestern cities. Parents and teachers reported on their relationships with children during fall. Behavior regulation was assessed via structured tasks during spring and summer. After controlling for demographic variables, results showed that parent–child closeness and teacher–child conflict were related to children's behavior regulation. Interaction models showed that when children experienced a combination of low parent–child closeness and high teacher–child conflict, they had lower levels of behavior regulation. Findings highlight the importance of parent–child and teacher–child relationships, both independently and together, for low-income children's behavior regulation.
Using data from the Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 Cohort (n = 1073), this study considered the implications of mixed-age education for young children's academic achievement when they experienced continuity and/or changes in classroom age composition across two years in Head Start (at age 3 and age 4). Results from these analyses revealed that children in classrooms with a greater number of younger children during their second year in Head Start exhibited fewer gains in mathematics and language and literacy. Additionally, children who transitioned from being in classrooms with largely older classmates during year one to classrooms with largely same-age peers during year two exhibited greater gains in academics than children who experienced two years of mixed-age classrooms. Stability in children's teachers, one of the hallmarks of mixed-age programming, was not associated with children's academic achievement nor did it attenuate the negative consequences of mixed-age classrooms.
In the present study, we examine the bidirectional associations between child vocabulary and self-regulation and their interplay with two relational dimensions, teacher–child closeness and autonomy support in preschool. Participants were 208 young children (50% boys; M = 4 years and 11 months, SD = 0.71) from socially disadvantaged areas in Portugal. Self-regulation and vocabulary were assessed at the beginning and end of the year. Teachers reported on levels of teacher–child closeness and autonomy support. A series of path analyses were conducted and tests of direct and indirect effects were included in the models. Results showed bidirectional effects between self-regulation and vocabulary, such that self-regulation at the beginning of preschool was a significant predictor of expressive vocabulary at the end of preschool year, and receptive vocabulary skills at the beginning of preschool year predicted self-regulation at the end of preschool year, controlling for earlier receptive vocabulary and self-regulation skills. In addition, teacher–child closeness uniquely predicted expressive vocabulary, whereas teacher autonomy support uniquely predicted self-regulation.
The current study explored the possible reciprocal associations between Chinese preschool children's social skills and teacher-child relationships by testing three cross-lagged models in 656 children: the child-driven model, the relationship-driven model, and the reciprocal model. These children were assessed at three time points during the 2nd and 3rd preschool years. Parents rated preschooler's social skills and teachers reported teacher-child relationships. The results showed that the child-driven effect was generally significant in the associations between teacher-child relationships and preschoolers’ social skills. These findings contributed to the understanding of dynamic associations between teacher-child relationships and children's social skills during preschool years. Implications for educational practices were discussed followed by the limitations of the study.
Ensuring that young children, especially infants and toddlers, experience consistency in child care providers over time is a practice endorsed by multiple professional organizations. This practice, commonly referred to as continuity of care (CoC), is recommended for center-based group settings to provide infants and toddlers with the sensitive, responsive care needed to promote early development. Despite widespread endorsement, there has been limited empirical examination of CoC. This study examines the extent to which CoC experienced in infant-toddler center-based care is associated with social-emotional and language development. Associations of CoC with children's social-emotional development during the infant-toddler period and with later social-emotional and language outcomes at age 3 were investigated in a large sample of children attending high-quality early childhood programs designed for young children growing up in poverty. During the infant-toddler years, CoC was related to higher teacher ratings of self-control, initiative, and attachment, and lower ratings of behavior concerns. In addition, a classroom quality × CoC interaction indicated that CoC differences were larger in higher, than lower, quality infant-toddler classrooms. In contrast, CoC in infant-toddler classrooms was not related to rates of change in teacher ratings of social skills during the infant-toddler years nor to children's vocabulary development or ratings of social skills after they transitioned to preschool. Neither were there quality × CoC interactions at preschool. These findings do not provide clear support for the current widespread recommendations for CoC, but suggest a need for additional research. The need for future research to more fully understand associations with child outcomes as well as to examine potential impacts of CoC on teachers, families, and peers is highlighted.
The aim of this study was to determine how children’s temperament and language skills predict the effects of teacher–child relationships in preschool. Parents and preschool teachers completed three questionnaires: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale, the Marmara Development Scale and the Short Temperament Scale for Children. The relational survey method was used in this study. The sample consisted of 195 preschool children. According to the results, a negative significant relationship was found between the teacher-child relationships scores and the reactivity sub-dimension of temperament. Also, there are positive significant relationships between teacher-child relationship scores and language skills. In addition, both the reactivity sub dimension of temperament and language skills demonstrate a predictor effect on the teacher-child relationships. Reactivity was the most important temperament trait factor affecting relationships.
Infants and toddlers who experience physical abuse and/or neglect are at a severe risk for disruptions to emotion regulation. Recent prevention and treatment efforts have highlighted center-based child care as an important setting for providing support to the needs of these children, as child care centers are already an existing point of entry for reaching high-risk families. Guided by ecological theory, this review draws on the maltreatment and child care literatures to consider the opportunity for child care centers, specifically teacher-child interactions within the classroom, to support the unique regulatory needs of maltreated infants and toddlers. Existing research on the effects of child care for children facing other types of risk, as well as research with maltreated preschool children, provides a foundation for considering the role child care may play for infants and toddlers, whose emotion regulation skills are just emerging. More research is needed regarding teachers' roles in facilitating effective emotional experiences in the classroom that meet the unique needs of maltreated children. Additionally, early childhood teacher training that focuses on infant/toddler mental health and a trauma-informed perspective of care, as well as structuring child care centers as communities of support for high risk families, all may aid child care centers in better serving this vulnerable population.
This study examined three models testing directional associations between children's adjustment problems (internalizing and externalizing problems) and teacher-child relationship quality (closeness, conflict, and dependency) over one school term. The relationship-driven model tested the hypothesis that teacher-child relationship quality contributes to prospective levels of adjustment problems. The child-driven model tested the hypothesis that children's adjustment problems contribute to prospective relationship quality. The transactional model tested the hypothesis that adjustment problems and relationship quality are reciprocally related over time. These models were tested with a sample of low-income, ethnically diverse children in kindergarten to grade 3 who were assessed at three time points over one school term (winter, early spring, and late spring). Overall, the child-driven model best explained the directional associations between adjustment problems and conflictual and dependent teacher-child relationships. When children showed higher levels of externalizing problems, they subsequently experienced more conflict in their relationships with their teachers. When children showed more internalizing problems they experienced more prospective dependency in their relationships with their teachers. Adjustment problems and teacher-child closeness were modestly related within time but not across time.
A Monte Carlo simulation examined the performance of a recently available full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimator in a multiple regression model with missing data. The effects of four independent variables were examined (missing data technique, missing data rate, sample size, and correlation magnitude) on three outcome measures regression coefficient bias, R-2 bias, and regression coefficient sampling variability. Three missing data patterns were examined based on Rubin's missing data theory: missing completely at random, missing at random, and a nonrandom. pattern. Results indicated that FIML estimation was superior to the three ad hoc techniques (listwise deletion, pairwise deletion, and mean imputatiom) across the conditions studied, FM parameter estimates generally had less bias and less sampling variability than the three ad hoc methods.
Learning outcomes:
Readers will be able to highlight causal factors on child language development that have been studied over the past decade in CSD and recognize additional influences worthy of consideration. In addition, readers will become familiar with basic tenets of developmental systems theory, including the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors that shapes child development.
This exploratory study investigated the nature of teacher-infant social dialogue in a high-quality education and care centre in New Zealand. Employing dialogic methodology (Bakhtin, 1986), interactions between infants and teachers were analysed in terms of the language forms used in the social event. Polyphonic video footage of two infants' social experiences and subsequent teacher interviews were coded to identify forms of language that occurred in dialogues and their interpreted pedagogical significance to teachers. The results revealed four central features of teacher-infant social exchange: (i) infants were more likely to respond to teachers interaction initiations when teachers used verbal and non-verbal language form combinations; (ii) when initiations were verbal and non-verbal combinations, both teachers' and infants' responses were significantly more likely to be also combinations of verbal and non-verbal language forms; (iii) both infants and teachers altered their responses to the language forms used by the initiator regardless of whether that was an infant or a teacher; and (iv) when teachers did not respond, they had a pedagogical rationale. Results highlight the multi-voiced and synchronous nature of teacher-infant interactions, the complex nature of communication in a formal out-of-home setting, and the pedagogical nature of teacher dialogue with infants. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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Using an epidemiological sample (N = 1,117) and a prospective longitudinal design, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of preverbal and verbal communication (15 months to 3 years) on executive function (EF) at age 4 years. Results indicated that whereas gestures (15 months), as well as language (2 and 3 years), were correlated with later EF (φs ≥ .44), the effect was entirely mediated through later language. In contrast, language had significant direct and indirect effects on later EF. Exploratory analyses indicated that the pattern of results was comparable for low- and not-low-income families. The results were consistent with theoretical accounts of language as a precursor of EF ability, and highlighted gesture as an early indicator of EF.
This article explores how teachers can foster an environment that facilitates social problem solving when toddlers experience conflict, emotional dysregulation, and aggression. This article examines differences in child development and self-regulation outcomes when teachers engage in problem solving for toddlers and problem solving with toddlers. It also reviews teacher practices aimed at preventing problems. The article suggests a paradigm shift from perceiving social challenges as toddler problems to viewing such situations as problem solving opportunities. The article concludes by applying these principles to an actual classroom dispute among toddlers.
The sociallbehavioral characteristics of 63 preschool children with low and high language abilities were observed for 60 min during teacher-directed structured activities and 60 min during child-directed unstructured activities in Head Start classrooms. Children with low language were observed to have significantly higher rates of disruptive behavior and negative responses, fewer initiations to peer interactions, and shorter durations of engagement than children with high language. Boys with low language abilities were more likely to be disruptive than girls with either low or high language abilities. Teachers praised children with low language significantly less often than children with high language. These findings suggest that children with lower language abilities are at greater risk for problem behaviors and poor social skills than children with higher language abilities.
Definitions of school readiness tend to focus on social and academic competencies that children are presumed to need to start school ready to learn. However, a child-focused definition of school readiness is limited because it neither identifies processes that lead children to acquire these competencies, nor does it recognize children's dependence on opportunities within settings that support development of these competencies. The model of school readiness presented in this article broadly defines school readiness as a function of an organized system of interactions and transactions among people (children, teachers, parents, and other caregivers), settings (home, school, and child care), and institutions (communities, neighborhoods, and governments). We propose that the primary mechanisms through which children acquire readiness-related competencies are social relationships children form with peers, parents, and teachers. This perspective on school readiness, emphasizing the mediating role of relational processes, offers guidance for designing interventions to improve school readiness through strengthening relationships between parents and children, parents and teachers, and teachers and children.
Given large numbers of children attending center-based child care and considerable teacher and child mobility, it is important to study correlates and outcomes of children experiencing a change in their primary teacher/caregiver and/or a change to a different child care center. The present study investigated teacher and center stability in a group of 3238 urban, ethnically diverse, low-income, four-year-olds receiving subsidies to attend center-based child care. Children were individually assessed for cognitive and language development at the beginning and end of the pre-kindergarten year. Parents and teachers rated children on their socio-emotional skills and behavior at both time points. Children who experienced a change in their primary caregiver from the beginning to the end of the school year (41% of the sample) showed less growth in initiative for learning and attachment/closeness with adults over time, and scored lower on most indices of school readiness compared to those that had a stable caregiver. Children who moved to a different center during the year scored lower on teacher-reported initiative and attachment. African American children who switched centers were particularly at-risk for poorer outcomes, and boys who experienced a change in primary teacher, in particular, showed slower growth in cognitive development.
In this article we study the approximately unbiased multi-level pseudo maximum likelihood (MPML) estimation method for general multi-level modeling with sampling weights. We conduct a simulation study to determine the effect various factors have on the estimation method. The factors we included in this study are scaling method, size of clusters, invariance of selection, informativeness of selection, intraclass correlation, and variability of standardized weights. The scaling method is an indicator of how the weights are normalized on each level. The invariance of the selection is an indicator of whether or not the same selection mechanism is applied across clusters. The informativeness of the selection is an indicator of how biased the selection is. We summarize our findings and recommend a multi-stage procedure based on the MPML method that can be used in practical applications.
Research Findings: The teacher–child relationship can provide an important support to young children who exhibit developmental risk. This research studied the contribution of children's language skills, temperamentally based attributes (shyness, anger), and gender to closeness and conflict in the teacher–child relationship for 133 preschoolers attending programs serving at-risk children. The results showed that both language comprehension (positive predictor) and shyness (negative predictor) were significantly linked to closeness in the teacher–child relationship. An additional result was that children who displayed greater anger within the classroom had relationships with their teachers characterized by higher levels of conflict, and both gender and language expression served as moderators for the relationship between anger and teacher–child conflict. Practice or Policy: These findings are important for considering how various skills and attributes of preschool children may contribute to their formation of trusting and secure relationships with their classroom teachers.
Many preschoolers from low socioeconomic-status (SES) backgrounds demonstrate lags in their language development, and preschool participation is viewed as an important means for mitigating these lags. In this study, we investigated how teacher-child relationship quality and children's behavior regulation within preschool classrooms were associated with grammar gain for low-SES preschoolers. Direct child measures and indirect teacher reports were used to assess child language gain, teacher-child relationship quality, and behavior regulation for 173 preschool children enrolled in targeted-enrollment preschool classrooms. Hierarchical linear modeling showed a positive link between close teacher-child relationships and preschoolers' grammar gain during the school year. Interestingly, a significant interaction between conflicted teacher-child relationships and children's behavior regulation indicated that multiple factors are associated with children's language development in the area of grammar. Nurturing classroom environments and strong behavior regulation abilities may act as protective mechanisms for preschoolers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This article examines the adequacy of the “rules of thumb” conventional cutoff criteria and several new alternatives for various fit indexes used to evaluate model fit in practice. Using a 2‐index presentation strategy, which includes using the maximum likelihood (ML)‐based standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) and supplementing it with either Tucker‐Lewis Index (TLI), Bollen's (1989) Fit Index (BL89), Relative Noncentrality Index (RNI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Gamma Hat, McDonald's Centrality Index (Mc), or root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA), various combinations of cutoff values from selected ranges of cutoff criteria for the ML‐based SRMR and a given supplemental fit index were used to calculate rejection rates for various types of true‐population and misspecified models; that is, models with misspecified factor covariance(s) and models with misspecified factor loading(s). The results suggest that, for the ML method, a cutoff value close to .95 for TLI, BL89, CFI, RNI, and Gamma Hat; a cutoff value close to .90 for Mc; a cutoff value close to .08 for SRMR; and a cutoff value close to .06 for RMSEA are needed before we can conclude that there is a relatively good fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data. Furthermore, the 2‐index presentation strategy is required to reject reasonable proportions of various types of true‐population and misspecified models. Finally, using the proposed cutoff criteria, the ML‐based TLI, Mc, and RMSEA tend to overreject true‐population models at small sample size and thus are less preferable when sample size is small.
This chapter examines the expanding body of research that demonstrates the central role of teacher-student relationships and its reciprocal effect on students' learning, achievement, and school engagement and teachers' sense of efficacy, job satisfaction and retention in teaching. Pianta and colleagues review current work on teacher-student relationships that has identified qualitative and quantitative parameters in relational processes between children and adults and the central role of relationships in affecting overall school climate and student performance. In the final section ideas for future research are presented that include, assessments of multi-level and multi-system influences such as culture, policy and biological processes on classroom relations and processes.