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. 2014 Sep-Oct;85(5):1915-31.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.12259. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

An integrative view of school functioning: transactions between self-regulation, school engagement, and teacher-child relationship quality

Ximena A Portilla  1 , Parissa J Ballard, Nancy E Adler, W Thomas Boyce, Jelena Obradović
Affiliations

An integrative view of school functioning: transactions between self-regulation, school engagement, and teacher-child relationship quality

Ximena A Portilla et al. Child Dev. 2014 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

This study investigates the dynamic interplay between teacher-child relationship quality and children's behaviors across kindergarten and first grade to predict academic competence in first grade. Using a sample of 338 ethnically diverse 5-year-old children, nested path analytic models were conducted to examine bidirectional pathways between children's behaviors and teacher-child relationship quality. Low self-regulation in kindergarten fall, as indexed by inattention and impulsive behaviors, predicted more conflict with teachers in kindergarten spring and this effect persisted into first grade. Conflict and low self-regulation jointly predicted decreases in school engagement which in turn predicted first-grade academic competence. Findings illustrate the importance of considering transactions between self-regulation, teacher-child relationship quality, and school engagement in predicting academic competence.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A summary of the freely estimated paths in hierarchically nested path analytic models. Notes. Numbers denote time point of data collection (1 = kindergarten fall, 2 = kindergarten spring, 3 = first grade spring). Model 1 represents a baseline comparison model of longitudinal stability with gender predicting this stability, after accounting for within-time point, cross-domain covariation. Model 2 represents diagonal pathways from T1 to T2. Model 3 adds diagonal pathways from T2 to T3. All models include paths from prior models in sequence. CLO= closeness; CON= conflict; SCE= school engagement; INAT/IMP= inattention/impulsivity; ACC= academic competence
Figure 2
Figure 2
Standardized path coefficients for significant paths of final model (Model 3). Notes. R2 values are denoted in parentheses. Numbers denote time point of data collection. Within-time associations are represented by +/− (please refer to Table 4 for coefficients). CLO= closeness; CON= conflict; SCE= school engagement; INAT/IMP= inattention/impulsivity; ACC= academic competence. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 χ2 (29) = 63.84; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.06
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