Researchers have documented the importance and value of the teacher-student relationship for over 20 years. The purpose of my study was to determine if teachers who had a positive and highly effective relationship with their students, as documented with informal and formal observations, also had higher student achievement and a lower discipline referral rate when compared to their non-highly effective peers. The context of this inquiry was kindergarten through eighth grade teachers in one public school district. In my study, I demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative data which matched current research to support teachers who are highly effective with building relationships have superior student achievement, lower discipline referral rates, and use research-based strategies weekly in their classrooms. I made a policy recommendation to implement an optional professional development program that focuses on improving a teacher’s ability to build relationships with students and increases the administrator observations in teacher’s classrooms.
","abstract_html":"<p>Researchers have documented the importance and value of the teacher-student relationship for over 20 years. The purpose of my study was to determine if teachers who had a positive and highly effective relationship with their students, as documented with informal and formal observations, also had higher student achievement and a lower discipline referral rate when compared to their non-highly effective peers. The context of this inquiry was kindergarten through eighth grade teachers in one public school district. In my study, I demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative data which matched current research to support teachers who are highly effective with building relationships have superior student achievement, lower discipline referral rates, and use research-based strategies weekly in their classrooms. I made a policy recommendation to implement an optional professional development program that focuses on improving a teacher’s ability to build relationships with students and increases the administrator observations in teacher’s classrooms.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["James, Sarah"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Lorrie Butler","Dr. Carla Sparks"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z","subjects":["teacher-student relationship","teacher observation","highly effective","student achievement","discipline referral rate","building relationships","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Other Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/627","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Lorrie Butler","Dr. Carla Sparks"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["James, Sarah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-02-11T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["teacher-student relationship","teacher observation","highly effective","student achievement","discipline referral rate","building relationships","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Other Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/627"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Researchers have documented the importance and value of the teacher-student relationship for over 20 years. The purpose of my study was to determine if teachers who had a positive and highly effective relationship with their students, as documented with informal and formal observations, also had higher student achievement and a lower discipline referral rate when compared to their non-highly effective peers. The context of this inquiry was kindergarten through eighth grade teachers in one public school district. In my study, I demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative data which matched current research to support teachers who are highly effective with building relationships have superior student achievement, lower discipline referral rates, and use research-based strategies weekly in their classrooms. I made a policy recommendation to implement an optional professional development program that focuses on improving a teacher’s ability to build relationships with students and increases the administrator observations in teacher’s classrooms.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Evaluation of the Impact of the Student-Teacher Relationship on Student Achievement and Behavior"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Lorrie Butler","Dr. Carla Sparks"],"dc:creator":["James, Sarah"],"dc:date.available":["2022-02-11T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Researchers have documented the importance and value of the teacher-student relationship for over 20 years. The purpose of my study was to determine if teachers who had a positive and highly effective relationship with their students, as documented with informal and formal observations, also had higher student achievement and a lower discipline referral rate when compared to their non-highly effective peers. The context of this inquiry was kindergarten through eighth grade teachers in one public school district. In my study, I demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative data which matched current research to support teachers who are highly effective with building relationships have superior student achievement, lower discipline referral rates, and use research-based strategies weekly in their classrooms. I made a policy recommendation to implement an optional professional development program that focuses on improving a teacher’s ability to build relationships with students and increases the administrator observations in teacher’s classrooms.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/627"],"dc:subject":["teacher-student relationship","teacher observation","highly effective","student achievement","discipline referral rate","building relationships","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Other Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"dc:title":["An Evaluation of the Impact of the Student-Teacher Relationship on Student Achievement and Behavior"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z"}