E R I C A H O W E L L , P H . D .

A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R

D E PA RT M E N T O F S P E C I A L E D U C AT I O N , C S U F

Examining the Student Teacher Relationship (STR) for Children with and Without Disabilities: Spotlight on

Autism

Agenda for Today

1. Student-teacher-relationship (STR) for typically developing (TD) students

2. STR for students with disabilities 3. STR for students with ASD4. Investigation outcome report of the STR and

ASD5. Audience perspectives on research

outcomes

Typically Developing Students and the STR

Behavior problems and gender associated with conflict in the STR (Jerome, Hamre, and Pianta, 2009; Birch & Ladd, 1997; Howes, Phillipsen, & Peisner-Feinberg, 2000; Silver, Measelle, Armstrong, & Essex, 2005)

Conflict and dependency in the STR are strong predictors of behavioral challenges over time (Hamre and Pianta, 2001; Howes et al., 2000; Jerome et al., 2008)

STR may act as a protective factor for at-risk children (Silver et al., 2005)

Students with Disabilities and the STR

By age 6, children with ID had significantly lower STRS scores than TD children (Eisenhower, Baker and Blacher, 2007)

Poorer STR quality for students with ID in the general education when compared to special day class settings

Student reports indicated that students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders rated more dissatisfaction with their teacher than students with learning disabilities, other health impairments, and typically developing peers

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

and the STR

The Importance of Autism and the STR

Autism prevalencePublic school determinationAssociated behavior challenges and social

deficits may make STR problematic

Class-roomChar

Child Char

Teacher

Char

Family

Char

STRSocial

Response

AutismRating

Behavior Problem

s

Income

TeacherExp.

Educational

Placement

Classroom, Family, and Teacher Characteristics: Latent Variables

ClassroomCharacteristics

Family Characteristics

TeacherCharacteristics

Educational Placement

Income Teaching Experience

General education versus SDC (Blacher et al., 2009)

Least Restrictive Environment (IDEA, 2004)

Autism Authorization (CCTC, 2009)

Classroom composition (Buyse et al., 2008)

Low socioeconomic status and conflictual STRs (Ladd et al., 1999)

High cost of autism intervention

SPED teacher “burnout” (Hastings & Brown, 2002)

Quality of instructional practices (Mantzicopoulos, 2005)

Child Characteristics: Latent Variable

Behavior Problems

Autism Rating Social Response

Problem behaviors and conflictual STRs (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Howes et al., 2000; Silver et al., 2005)

STR accounted for by behavior problems (Blacher et al., 2009; Eisenhower et al., 2007)

Autism and behavior problems (Dominick et al., 2007; Eisenhower et al., 2005; Hartley et al., 2008; Horner et al., 2002; Shattuck et al., 2007)

Typical characteristics (APA, 2000)

Higher social ratings and closeness, dependency, and conflict (Howes et al., 2000)

Early attachment style and STR (O’Connor & McCartney, 2007)

Autism and social challenges (Kleinman et al., 2001; Peterson et al., 2009

Participants

Child Demographic Information for Public and Non-Public Schools_______________________________________________________________

Public Non-public t/x² p-val(n = 57) (n = 33)

__________________________________________________________

Child Age (mean years) 5.65 8.88 -6.92 p = 0.00 Gender (% male) 79% 82% Grades (%) 14.81 p = 0.01 Preschool 47% 6% Kinder-3rd 45% 41% 4th-8th 8% 52%

Procedures

Public sample recruited from nine public schools in Southern California (N = 57)

Non-public school sample drawn from California (80%) and Massachusetts (20%) through School Adaptations for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder study (N = 33) [UCR SEARCH, The Help Group, Melmark-New England]

Parents and teachers consented to participate and completed measures

Honorarium: $15 Target gift card for parents and teachers

Funding provided by a grant from the Riverside Community Foundation (J. Blacher, P.I.); COR grant, UC Riverside (J. Blacher, P.I.)

Outcome Measure: The Student Teacher Relationship Scale (Pianta, 2001)

Total score and three subscale scores Conflict (e.g. “This child sees me as a source of

punishment and criticism”) Closeness (e.g. “This child openly shares his/her

feelings and experiences with me”) Dependency (e.g. “This child asks for my help when

he/she really does not need help”)Teacher rated each item on 1-5 scaleAlphas in present sample were .75

(conflict), .77 (closeness), .51 (dependency), and .76 (total)

Instruments

Parent, Teacher, and Child Completed Measures________________________________________________________________________ 

Rater Measurement

 Teacher-Rated MeasuresStudent Teacher Relationship Total Score and SubscalesSocial Responsiveness SRS-T (Total Score)Behavior Problems TRF (Total Score)Autism GARS (Autism Index)Classroom Demographics Classroom Climate Inventory

 Parent-Rated Measures

Social Responsiveness SRS-P (Total Score)Behavior Problems CBCL (Total Score)Autism GARS (Autism Index)Family Demographics Family Information Form

 

 

What family, teacher, child, and classroom characteristics are predictive of the STR?

Latent and Observed Variables in Teacher-Rated STRS Total Score Path Model  Latent Factor Observed Variables  Child Characteristics Behavior Problems Teacher Report Form (total score) Autistic Characteristics Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-T (autism index) Social Responsiveness Social Responsiveness Scale-T (total score)  Classroom Characteristics Educational Placement

General education/mild moderateAutism-only classroomsNon-public school classrooms

 Family Characteristics Income Teacher characteristics Teacher ExperienceStudent-Teacher-Relationship Student Teacher Relationship Scale (Total Score) 

Class-roomChar

Child Char

Teacher

Char

Family

Char

STRSocial

Response

AutismRating

Behavior Problem

s

Income

TeacherExp.

Educational

Placement

Chi-square 13.04Df 11P-value .29CFI .99RMSEA .045RMSEA CI .00 to .124

Class-roomChar

Child Char

Teacher

Char

Family

Char

STRSocial

Response

AutismRating

Behavior Problem

s

Income

TeacherExp.

Educational

Placement

Teacher-Rated Path Model Predicting the Overall Student-Teacher-Relationship

-.27

-.02

-.1o

-.69

1.00

.74

.80.82

1.00

1.00

.23

-.34-.47

STRS Total

1.00

Classroom

Char.

STRTotal

Child Char.

-.27**

-.69***

BehaviorProblem

s

Autism

Rating

Social Respons

e

.79

.86

.91

Significant Paths in Teacher-Rated Path Model Predicting the Overall Student-Teacher-

Relationship

.23*

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Class-roomChar.

Child Char.

Teacher

Char.

Family

Char.

STRClose-ness

Social Respons

e

AutismRating

Behavior Problem

s

Income

TeacherExp.

Educational

Placement

Teacher-Rated Path Model Predicting Student-Teacher-Relationship Closeness

-.15

.04

.03

-.64

1.00

.59

.91.82

1.00

1.00

.20

-.33-.48

STRS Closenes

s

1.00

Chi-square 11.04df 11P-value .44CFI 1.000RMSEA .006RMSEA CI .00 to .111

ChildCharacteristi

cs

STRCloseness

Significant Paths in Teacher-Rated Path Model Predicting the Student-Teacher-Relationship

Closeness

.64*

Behavior

Problems

AutismRatings

Social Respons

e

.59

.82

.91

*p < .001

Class-roomChar.

Child Char.

Teacher

Char.

Family

Char.

STR Conflic

t

Social Respons

e

AutismRating

Behavior Problem

s

Income

TeacherExp.

Educational

Placement

Parent-Rated Path Model Predicting Student-Teacher-Relationship Conflict

.26

.03

.00

.21

1.00

.80

.90.86

1.00

1.00

.42

-.13-.38

STRS Conflic

t

1.oo

Chi-square 10.74df 11P-value .465CFI 1.00RMSEA .000RMSEA CI .00 to .109

ClassroomChar.

STRConflict

Significant Paths in Parent-Rated Path Model Predicting the Student-Teacher-Relationship

Conflict

.26*

*p < .05

Class-roomChar.

Child Char.

Teacher

Char.

Family

Char.

STR Conflic

t

Social Respons

e

AutismRating

Behavior Problem

s

Income

TeacherExp.

Educational

Placement

Parent-Rated Path Model Predicting Student-Teacher-Relationship Dependency

.26

.32

.10

-.04

1.00

.80

.90.86

1.00

1.00

.41

-.13-.41

STRS Conflic

t

1.oo

Chi-square 9.46Df 11P-value .58CFI 1.00RMSEA .000RMSEA CI .00 to .098

TeacherCharacteristi

cs

STRDependenc

y

Significant Paths in Parent-Rated Path Model Predicting the Student-Teacher-Relationship

Dependency

.32*

*p < .05

Discussion

Teacher and parent-rated child characteristics predicted the overall STR Corroborates several key studies on the STR and disability

(Blacher et al., 2009; Eisenhower et al., 2007; Robertson et al., 2003)

Classroom characteristics contributed significant variance to the overall STR even when accounting for child characteristics Students in more restrictive educational settings reported

poorer quality STRs Classroom composition (Buyse et al., 2008) Perceptions of teaching assignment (Mantzicopoulos, 2005) Work-related stress (Mantzicopoulos, 2005)

Discussion Continued

Students who demonstrated challenging child characteristics experienced less-close STRs in the teacher-rated model. Child characteristics predicting STR closeness highlighted

in past research (Al-Yagon & Mikulincer, 2008; Copeland et al., 1997; Howes et al., 1994; Howes et al., 2000)

The parent-rated model indicated that more challenging child characteristics and students from lower income families were rated as less close to the teacher Similar finding in Ladd et al. (1999) Impact of income on parent-teacher relationship

Discussion Continued

Veteran teachers were more likely to have dependent relationships with students than beginning teachers Teacher fatigue (Olivier & Venter, 2003) Teacher “burn-out” (Hastings & Brown, 2002;

Ingersoll, 2003; Lecavalier et al., 2006)Parent-ratings differentiated between groups

on ratings of child characteristics Environmental differences

Implications Limitations

Early interventionTeacher educationSupport for

teachers

Inability to include all relevant variables in path model

Imputation of dataSelf-report nature

of measuresDependency scale

in STRS

Discussion Continued

Future Research

Investigate variables specific to educational settings that impact the STR

Classroom observations to supplement self-report measures

Comparison of STR between disability groupsContribution of parent-teacher dynamics to

the STR