the consistency of perceived teacher–child relationships between preschool and kindergarten

Journal of School Psychology, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 113–132, 2000Copyright 2000 Society for the Study of School Psychology

Printed in the USA0022-4405/00 $–see front matter

Pergamon

PII S0022-4405(99)00044-8

The Consistency of Perceived Teacher–ChildRelationships Between Preschool

and Kindergarten

Carollee HowesUniversity of California at Los Angeles

Leslie C. PhillipsenUniversity of Memphis

Ellen Peisner-FeinbergUniversity of North Carolina

Children’s relationships with their teachers were examined in a three-year longitu-dinal study beginning in their next-to-last year of preschool and continuingthrough kindergarten. Three hundred and fifty-seven children had complete data,and 793 children had at least one year of data. Teachers reported greater closenessand more dependency in their relationships with girls than with boys. There wereno age changes in teacher perceptions of relationship quality. Path analysis sug-gested that perceptions of teacher–child relationship quality, particularly conflic-tual relationship quality, were consistent from preschool to kindergarten. Furtherpath analysis suggested that teacher perception of children’s social adjustment inschool was consistent in from preschool to kindergarten. Kindergarten teacher–child relationship perceptions were predicted by preschool teacher perceptions ofsocial adjustment in preschool and by preschool teacher–child relationship percep-tions after controlling for gender, maternal education, and preschool child-carequality. 2000 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by ElsevierScience Ltd

Keywords: Teachers, Relationships, Social adjustments.

Teacher–child relationships in the primary grades have the potential toprovide children with social support and emotional security. Children withmore positive teacher–child relationships appear more able to exploit thelearning opportunities available in classrooms (Howes & Smith, 1995), con-struct positive peer relationships (Howes, Matheson, & Hamilton, 1994), and

Accepted August 3, 1999.Address correspondence and reprint requests to Carollee Howes, Department of Educa-

tion, University of California, Los Angeles, 3302A Moore Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521.E-mail: [email protected]

113

114 Journal of School Psychology

adjust to the demands of formal schooling (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Lynch & Cic-chetti, 1992; Pianta & Steinberg, 1992). With a few exceptions (see Howes &Hamilton, 1992; Howes, et al. 1994, Pianta, Steinberg, & Rollins, 1997), theresearch on children’s relationships with teachers has been cross-sectionalrather than longitudinal. Furthermore, the organization of schooling inthe United States means that children rarely remain with the same teacherfor more than one year, particularly once they enter kindergarten. Thus,children must re-form their teacher–child relationships each year.Although theoretically each new relationship will be influenced by the pre-vious one, we know little about the actual consistency of these relationships.

The goal of this analysis was to examine consistency in teacher percep-tions of the quality of children’s teacher–child relationships over a three-year period—the last two years in preschool and kindergarten. We wereparticularly interested in consistency and predictability from preschool tokindergarten because we hypothesized that this transition represented achange in the role definition of teacher. The role definition of child-careteachers includes both providing opportunities for learning and basic care-giving (Howes & Hamilton, 1992). Training for child-care teachers oftenemphasizes a child development approach. In contrast, the role definitionfor kindergarten teachers is primarily as educators and their training oftenemphasizes providing educational experiences over other aspects of childdevelopment (Howes & Hamilton, 1993). Therefore, preschool teachers’perceptions of what constitutes a positive teacher–child relationship maydiffer from those of kindergarten teachers.

Our perspective on teacher–child relationships is drawn from attach-ment theory (Bretherton, 1985; Pianta, et al., 1997). Attachment theory as-sumes that children use their relationships with significant adults to orga-nize their experiences. If children feel emotionally secure with the teacher,they can use her as a secure base and a resource for exploring the learningopportunities of the classroom. Attachment theory predicts that relation-ship quality with significant adults will be consistent over time. Within thetheory, relationship quality is assumed to be coherent over time becauseinternalized working models of relationships become less consciously ac-cessible and more resistant to change with age (Bretherton, 1985). Thechild generally acts in a manner consistent with his or her working modelof relationships, and if the child’s partner, in turn, reacts consistently withthis working model, then there is nothing to disconfirm the child’s percep-tion. Thus, for example, if the child has the expectation that the teacherwill behave in a sensitive and responsive manner and acts accordingly, theharmonious interactions that result further strengthen the child’s model.Therefore, according to attachment theory, we expected kindergartenteacher–child relationship quality to be predicted by children’s previousteacher–child relationship quality.

115Howes et al.

These predictions are supported by a three-year longitudinal study ofchild-care teacher–child relationship quality in which continuity in rela-tionship quality was found across different teachers (Howes & Hamilton,1992). In that study, teacher–child attachment relationships were observedevery six months beginning when the children were toddlers and continu-ing until the children were ready to enter kindergarten. Because of thehigh turn-over rates in community-based child care, children often experi-enced a new child-care teacher. As the children grew older and experi-enced more child-care teacher changes, they tended to form relationshipswith new teachers that were similar in quality to their relationships with pre-vious teachers. The current study expanded this earlier work by examiningconsistency in teacher–child relationships over the preschool–kindergar-ten transition.

The current study used teacher reports of relationship quality; the priorresearch used independent observer assessments of relationship quality.One published report found that teacher perceptions and independent ob-servers tended to be in agreement about relationship quality (Howes & Rit-chie, 1999). Even if teachers and observers were not in agreement, teacherperceptions of relationship quality shaped teacher perceptions of the be-haviors they intended to use with the child. Furthermore, Pianta (1998)found that school psychologists who consult with teachers must work withteacher perceptions and experiences of relationships with students.

Attachment theory rests upon the assumption that relationships are con-structed from the contributions of both partners. Therefore, we expectedchildren’s preschool social adjustment to influence the quality of their kin-dergarten teacher–child relationships. We expected this association be-tween social adjustment and relationship quality because differential pat-terns of social adjustment are linked to different patterns of socialinteraction. Children who are socially competent and sociable as opposedto withdrawn, noncompliant, or otherwise difficult interact very differentlywith adults. These differences in interaction patterns create different con-texts for interpersonal engagement and the construction of relationships.Pleasant cooperative children have positive harmonious interactions andconstruct close teacher–child relationships fairly easily. In contrast, teach-ers have to work harder to construct positive teacher–child relationshipswith children who avoid teachers or who initiate difficult teacher–child in-teractions. Teachers also vary in the extent that they are able and willing todisconfirm difficult patterns of interaction initiated by children. For manyteachers, it may be easier to isolate or neglect a difficult child rather thanto engage in intentional interactive behaviors designed to change the na-ture of the teacher–child interactions and construct a more positiveteacher–child relationship.

Therefore, teacher perceptions of their relationships with children arelinked to their perceptions of children’s social adjustment. In prior work


with this sample (Howes, in press) and in the related research (Hamre &Pianta, under review; Ladd, Birch, & Buhs, in press), teacher perceptionsof relationship quality and their perception of social adjustment were suf-ficiently independent to analyze their separate contributions to children’sdevelopment. That is, although teacher perceptions of children’s social ad-justment, particularly of children whom they perceived as having behaviorproblems, was part of how they thought about children, the manner inwhich teachers perceived themselves to construct relationships was vari-able. Some teachers who perceived a child as problematic appeared to be-lieve in the inevitability of a poor relationship, whereas others took on thechallenge of constructing a positive relationship in spite (or because) of thefact that they perceived the child to be troubled.

A related goal of the current research was to explore the consistency ofteacher perceptions of children’s social adjustment from preschoolthrough kindergarten. Increasing research attention is being directed tothe early identification and prevention of aggression and other behaviorproblems (Coie & Dodge, 1997). Child-care teachers may be unable to de-flect trajectories of more and more difficult teacher–child interactions.That is, instead of helping noncompliant or aggressive children to becomemore socially adept, teachers may be more likely to engage them in harshrejecting interactions. Following the reasoning above, we would expect be-havior problems to persist over time if teachers are unable to engage in dis-confirming interactions with difficult children.

There are alternative explanations for consistency in both teacher–childrelationship quality and children’s social adjustment that are outside of at-tachment theory. We expect some children to come to kindergarten readyto learn because they have had home environments, child-care environ-ments, or both, that prepared them for kindergarten. These children enterkindergarten with more positive attributes and attitudes, and therefore areliked by their kindergarten teachers who rate them highly. We selected twomeasures of home and child-care environments to test this alternative ex-planation. As maternal education is one of the best predictors of school suc-cess (Alexander & Entwisle, 1988), we used maternal education as a proxyfor a home environment that prepared children for kindergarten. Ourchild-care environment measure was child-care quality. Child-care quality isa good predictor of children’s social and emotional development, bothwhile the children are attending child care and in the long term (Howes &Hamilton, 1993). Therefore, children who experience high-quality childcare may enter kindergarten with positive predispositions toward schooland the teacher. In support of this notion, a small-scale study of the long-term influences of child-care quality found that preschool child-care qual-ity continued to influence school adjustment even after three years in ahigh-quality elementary school (Howes, 1988).

117Howes et al.

In summary, our main goal was to examine consistency in the quality ofperceived teacher–child relationships between preschool and kindergar-ten. According to attachment theory, prior relationship history influencescurrent relationship construction. Therefore, we expected the perceivedquality of the relationship to be consistent across the different teachers withwhom children form relationships. Furthermore, according to attachmenttheory, social relationship quality—the nature of social interaction betweenrelationship partners—and children’s social adjustment are linked. There-fore, we examined consistency in teacher perceptions of children’s socialadjustment as well as consistency in teacher–child perceptions of relation-ship quality. However, children who come from home or child-care envi-ronments that prepare them for kindergarten may be the type of childrenkindergarten teachers like and rate positively. In other words, children inpreschool and child care whose mothers prepare them for school enter kin-dergarten ready to form positive relationships with their teachers, regard-less of their prior teacher–child relationship history.

METHOD

Participants

The children and their teachers who participated in this research were theCost, Quality, and Outcome Study (CQO) child participants. The CQO isa study of child-care quality and its links to child-care costs and children’soutcomes in four states considered to be representative of child-care qualityacross the nation. The CQO first identified four states representative of dif-ferential child-care regulations: California, Colorado, Connecticut, andNorth Carolina. In each state, data were collected on a stratified randomsample of 100 licensed full-day full-year child-care centers. Within each ran-domly selected child-care program two classrooms, including at least oneserving preschoolers, were randomly selected. Children initially were in-cluded in the sample if (a) they were of an age to enter kindergarten in thefall of 1994, (b) they had been enrolled in the target classroom during theclassroom observation data-collection phase, (c) they expected to attendthe same center the following year, and (d) the primary language spokenin the child’s home was English. All eligible children in the classroom wereinvited to participate in the study; up to 12 children were then randomlyselected from those with parent permission to participate.

There was planned attrition in the CQO. Only children who participatedin the study the first year and who stayed in the same child-care center forthe second year of data collection were invited to remain in the sample.These children were followed into kindergarten. In the first year of this re-search, 793 children (397 girls) and their teachers participated. Childrenhaving two years of data numbered 474, and 357 children (175 girls) had


three years of complete data on teacher–child relationship quality. Themean age of the children at the first data-collection year was 51.6 months(SD 5 4.32); mean age at the second year was 61.4 months (SD 5 4.06);mean age at the third year was 72.4 months (SD 5 4.11). Approximately75% of the children in the three-year sample were White, 10% were AfricanAmerican, 4% Latino, 3% Asian American, and the remainder of mixed ra-cial background.

Preschool and kindergarten teachers were included in the study if theywere the child’s primary teacher at the time of the child assessments. All buta few (8%) children changed classrooms and teachers between Year 1 andYear 2, and all children changed teachers between Year 2 and Year 3 of thestudy. Therefore, the two preschool teachers and one kindergarten teacherfor each child were different people. Because of the nature of sampling, thetwo preschool teachers may have known each other; however, with turnoverrates of 42% annually in these child-care centers, there is a very goodchance that the Year 1 preschool teachers had left the center by the timewe collected Year 2 data. Other information gathered from this study sug-gests that the preschool and kindergarten teachers had little or no contact.

There were no differences in first-year teacher–child relationship qualitybetween the children with three full years of data and the children initiallyin the sample. Children in the first year of the study were somewhat (butnot significantly) more likely to have mothers with lower levels of maternaleducation than children in the longitudinal sample (Year 1: 46% had moth-ers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher; Year 2: 48%; Year 3: 52%).

Measures

Teacher–child relationship quality. Teacher perceptions of their relation-ship with the child were assessed with the Pianta Student–Teacher Relation-ship Scale (STRS; Pianta & Steinberg, 1992). The 30-item 5-point scaleyields three relationship quality scores: Closeness (Year 1 a 5 .82, Year 2 a 5

.83, Year 3 a 5 .85); Conflictual (Year 1 a 5 .90, Year 2 a 5 .92, Year 3 a 5

.91); and Dependency (Year 1 a 5 .66, Year 2 a 5 .66, Year 3 a 5 .66).

Children’s social adjustment. The children’s preschool and kindergartenteachers completed the Classroom Behavior Inventory (CBI; Schafer, Ed-gerton, & Aaronson, 1978). The CBI measures teacher’s perceptions ofchildren’s social adjustment. Using a 5-point scale (not at all, very little,somewhat, much, and very much like the child), 42 items are rated for howtypical they are of the child. Following prior work by Schafer et al. (1978),three scores were derived from the CBI: Positive Behavior (creativity, inde-pendence, task orientation, and verbal intelligence [all positive] and de-pendence and distractibility [both negative]); Sociability (extroversion and

119Howes et al.

introversion [negative]); and Problem Behavior (distractibility, hostility, andconsideration [negative]).

First-year preschool child-care quality. Interobserver reliability on the ob-servational quality measures was originally established during a week-longtraining session for observers from all sites, and was re-established throughboth in-state and between-state on-site observations at the midpoint of datacollection. Reliability on individual measures is reported below.

Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS). The ECERS (Harms& Clifford, 1980) has been widely used in child development research(Phillips, 1987). The scale comprehensively assesses the day-to-day qualityof care provided for children. It is a 37-item scale organized under sevencategories: personal care routines, furnishings and display for children, lan-guage–reasoning experiences, fine and gross motor activities, creative activ-ities, social development, and adult needs. Each item is scored on a 7-pointscale with a range of 1 to 7 (1 5 inadequate, 3 5 minimal, 5 5 good, 7 5excellent). Internal consistency of the scale ranges from .81 to .91(Harms & Clifford, 1980). Test-retest reliability over a one-month period isr 5 .96. ECERS scores were associated with child development outcomesand teacher behaviors in a number of studies (Phillips, 1987; Whitebook,Howes, & Phillips, 1990). Median interobserver reliability for ECERS scoresin the current study was r 5 .94.

Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS). The CIS (Arnett, 1989) includes 26 itemsrated on a 4-point scale by the observer at the conclusion of the observationperiod. It yields three scores: Sensitivity (warm, attentive, and engaged);Harshness (critical, threatens children, and punitive); and Detachment (lowlevels of interaction, interest, and supervision). Scores from this instrumenthave been found to predict child-care teachers’ involvement with children,children’s social competence (Howes, Phillips, & Whitebook, 1992), and at-tachment security (Howes & Hamilton, 1992). Median interobserver reli-abilities for the scores were: sensitivity median r 5 .95 (range 5 .90 to .98);harshness median r 5 .92 (range 5 .89 to .96); and detachment median r 5.93 (range 5 .89 to .94).

Adult Involvement Scale (AIS). The AIS (Howes & Stewart, 1987) is usedduring focused observations of five minutes each. Each target child was ob-served for three focused observations and the data were summed to providean adult involvement score for each lead teacher. The 6-point scale allowsthe observer to code the nature of the teacher’s involvement with the childevery twenty seconds whenever the teacher is within three feet of the child.Scale points range from “ignore to routine” (touches the child for routinecare such as feeding or toileting without any verbal interaction), then “min-imal,” “simple,” and “elaborative,” to “intense” (engaging a child in a con-versation or active play). A single score, “percent responsive involvement,”is derived from the AIS. Percent responsive involvement is the percent of


20-second intervals in which the child was within three feet of the teacherand the teacher–child interaction was at least simple responsive behavior.The AIS differentiates between children securely and insecurely attachedto caregivers (Howes & Hamilton, 1992). The median interobserver kappafor the AIS was .92 (range 5 .83 to .96).

Child-care quality index. To create a single score to represent classroomquality, an index was created using principal component techniques. Weused ECERS, CIS, and AIS scores in the principal component analysis.There were high correlations between the factor scores for each compo-nent variable and the total score from the index indicated that a singlescore was valid and reliable. We then scaled the index to a 7-point scale(similar to the ECERS) with a range from 1 to 7 (1 5 inadequate, 3 5 mini-mal, 5 5 good, and 7 5 excellent). Child-care quality averaged 4.11 (SD 5 .94,range 5 1.65 to 5.98) for the children with three years of complete data.

Procedures

In the first, second, and third years of the study, teachers assessed teacher–child relationship quality and child adjustment. In Year 1 of the study, inde-pendent observers assessed child-care quality at the classroom, not individ-ual child, level.

Assessments of teacher–child relationship quality, children’s adjustment,and maternal education. Preschool teachers (Years 1 and 2) and kinder-garten teachers completed the STRS and the CBI for each child in the lon-gitudinal sample. Parents completed a demographic form that includedlisting the highest level of maternal education.

Assessments of child-care quality. Three hours of classroom observationwere conducted in each classroom in the first year of the study. These ob-servations were used to create a measure of child-care quality, but not ofteacher–child relationships. During the observation, one observer com-pleted the ECERS and the CIS. The second observer completed the AIS. Tocomplete the AIS, two children from each classroom (one girl and one boy)were randomly selected as target children for this purpose. The girl andboy who were present during the observation with birth dates closest to Jan-uary 1 were observed, to assess the level of adult involvement they experi-enced during the observation period. No other information includingteacher–child relationship quality was collected on these children.

RESULTS

Teacher–Child Relationship Quality

Gender differences and changes in magnitude over time. Descriptive sta-tistics for children’s scores on the STRS are displayed in Table 1. Overall,

121Howes et al.

teachers tended to be fairly positive about their teacher–child relation-ships. Scores averaged 4 or better on Closeness (a score of 5 indicated veryclose); scores averaged less than 2 on Conflictual (5 indicated very conflic-tual); and scores averaged around 2 on Dependency (5 indicated verydependent).

We used multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance to examinechanges over time in relationship quality with gender (girl, boy) as a group-ing factor. There was a main effect for gender, F(2, 1,152) 5 2.19, p , .01,but no main effect for time or time 3 gender interactions. Teachers per-ceived their relationship with girls as higher in Closeness, F(1, 274) 5 9.34,p , .01, and Dependency, F(1, 274) 5 3.95, p , .05, than their relation-ships with boys.

Intercorrelations between teacher–child relationship qualities. To addressthe questions of (a) interdependence of relationship qualities, (b) age dif-ferences in interdependence, and (c) gender differences in interdepen-dence between teacher–child relationship qualities, we correlated STRSscores within each year, separately for girls and boys. There were no sig-nificant gender differences in pattern of association. Intercorrelations werecollapsed across gender but calculated separately by year. Associations be-tween relationship qualities of Closeness and Conflictual ranged from r 52.40 to r 5 2.44. Associations between ratings of Dependency and Con-flictual ranged from r 5 .29 to r 5 .42. Associations between ratings of rela-tionship qualities of Closeness and Dependency ranged from r 5 .02 to r 5.13. We tested for differences in magnitude between correlations using a zstatistic. The pattern of interdependence was similar over time.

Consistency in Relationship Quality Over Time

To examine consistency in teacher–child relationship quality over time wefirst correlated STRS scores from Year 1 with those of Year 2 and Year 3,and from Year 2 with those of Year 3, separately by gender. There were nosignificant gender differences in the pattern of association.

Closeness scores were substantially associated within preschool (betweenYears 1 and 2, r 5 .40), and moderately associated both across the transitionto kindergarten (between Years 1 and 3, r 5 .20) and between Year 2 andYear 3 (r 5 .29). Conflictual scores were substantially associated within pre-school (Years 1 and 2, r 5 .61), across the transition to kindergarten (be-tween Years 1 and 3, r 5 .47), and between Year 2 and Year 3 (r 5 .50). De-pendency scores were moderately associated within preschool (r 5 .33),between the last year of preschool and kindergarten (r 5 .16), and betweenthe first year of preschool and kindergarten (r 5 .26). We tested for differ-ences in magnitude between correlations using a z statistic. There were nosignificant differences.


Tab

le1

Tea

cher

–Chi

ldR

elat

ions

hips

Ove

rT

ime

Pres

choo

lYe

ar1

Pres

choo

lYe

ar2

Kin

derg

arte

n

Gir

lsB

oys

Gir

lsB

oys

Gir

lsB

oys

Rel

atio

nsh

ipQ

ualit

yM

(SD

)M

(SD

)M

(SD

)M

(SD

)M

(SD

)M

(SD

)

Clo

sen

ess

4.27

(0.5

8)4.

14(0

.62)

4.25

(0.5

7)4.

14(0

.58)

4.25

(0.5

8)4.

02(0

.59)

Con

flic

tual

1.71

(0.7

7)1.

71(0

.78)

1.63

(0.7

9)1.

68(0

.78)

1.61

(0.7

1)1.

60(0

.73)

Dep

ende

ncy

2.06

(0.7

3)1.

92(0

.72)

1.99

(0.7

0)1.

92(0

.65)

1.91

(0.6

6)1.

77(0

.68)

Not

e:N

535

7ch

ildre

n(1

75gi

rls)

wit

hco

mpl

ete

data

over

thre

eye

ars.

123Howes et al.

Figure 1. Pathways to consistency in teacher–child relationship quality over time.

To further explore the issue of consistency in teacher–child relationshipquality we used path analysis to address the question of differential influ-ences of preschool Year 1 and 2 in understanding kindergarten teacher–child relationship quality. These path analyses are presented in Figure 1.For all three relationship qualities, kindergarten relationship quality couldbe predicted from the two preschool relationship qualities, and for all rela-tionship qualities, the second-year teacher–child relationship made a sig-nificant contribution over the first-year relationship.

However, there also were differences in the pattern for each relationshipquality. A substantial amount of the variance (28%) in Conflictual kinder-garten teacher–child relationships could be explained, in contrast to themore modest amounts (less than 10%) of the variance explained in Close-ness and Dependency. Furthermore, the first teacher–child relationshipmade a significant contribution to the prediction of kindergarten teacher–


child relationship for Conflictual quality but not for Closeness or Depen-dency. These findings support the notion that more difficult patterns ofinteraction derived from prior relationships are hard for teachers to dis-confirm and change.

Children’s Social Adjustment

Teachers tended to score children as fairly sociable. Sociability scores aver-aged around 4 on a 5-point scale (Preschool Year 1: M 5 3.98, SD 5 .72;Preschool Year 2: M 5 4.15, SD 5 .67; kindergarten: M 5 4.16, SD 5 .72).Scores for Positive Behavior and Problem Behavior were moderate (PositiveBehavior—Preschool Year 1: M 5 3.62, SD 5 .71; Preschool Year 2: M 5 3.84,SD 5 .74; kindergarten: M 5 3.87, SD 5 .69; Problem Behavior—PreschoolYear 1: M 5 2.44, SD 5 .87; Preschool Year 2: M 5 2.38, SD 5 .89; kindergar-ten: M 5 2.20, SD 5 .80).

We used multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance to examinechanges over time in social adjustment with gender (girl, boy) as a group-ing factor. There was a main effect for time, F(6, 1,030) 5 5.72, p , .001,but no main effect for gender or time 3 gender interactions. Positive Be-havior F(2, 516) 5 8.96, p , .01, and Sociability scores increased over time,F(2, 516) 5 4.66, p , .01.

Intercorrelations between social adjustment scores. To address the ques-tions of (a) interdependence of social adjustment scores, (b) age differ-ences in interdependence, and (c) gender differences in interdependence,we correlated CBI scores within each year, separately for girls and boys. Wetested for differences in magnitude between correlations using a z statistic.There were no gender differences in pattern of association. Intercorrela-tions were collapsed across gender but calculated separately by year.

For each year, teachers reported substantial inverse associations betweenProblem Behavior and Positive Behavior (rs ranged from 2.64 to 2.68)and between Positive Behavior and Sociability (rs ranged from .46 to .48).There were only modest-to-moderate inverse associations between ProblemBehavior and Sociability (rs ranged from 2.19 to 2.28). As expected, be-cause the same teacher completed ratings of both relationship quality andsocial adjustment in a given year, there were substantial associations be-tween ratings of relationship quality and social adjustment within each year(rs ranged from 2.24 to .79).

Consistency in social adjustment. To examine consistency in social adjust-ment over time we again used a correlational, and then a path analysis,strategy. We correlated CBI scores from Year 1 with those of Year 2 and Year3, and from Year 2 with those of Year 3, separately by gender. We tested for

125Howes et al.

Figure 2. Pathways to consistency in children’s behavior over time.

differences in magnitude between correlations using a z statistic. Therewere no gender differences in the pattern of association.

Scores for Positive Behavior and Problem Behavior were substantially as-sociated across all time periods (rs ranged from .39 to .67). Sociabilityscores were substantially associated within preschool (r 5 .47), but onlymoderated associated across preschool to kindergarten (r 5 .30). We testedfor differences in magnitude between correlations using a z statistic. Therewere no significant differences.

Path analyses for consistency in social adjustment are presented in Figure2. A substantial amount (30%) of the variance in Problem Behavior scoresin kindergarten could be explained by the additive and significant contri-butions of Problem Behavior in the first and second years of preschool.


Table 2Associations Between Children’s Social Adjustment Over Time and

Kindergarten Teacher–Child Relationship Quality (N 5 357)

Kindergarten Teacher–Child RelationshipQuality

Children’s SocialAdjustment Closeness Conflictual Dependency

Preschool Year 1Positive adjustment .14** 2.34*** 2.29***Sociability .13* 2.13* 2.17**Behavior problems 2.25*** .52*** .24***

Preschool Year 2Positive adjustment .17** 2.38*** 2.26***Sociability .23*** 2.13* 2.07Behavior problems 2.30*** .54*** .21***

* p # .05; ** p # .01; *** p # .001.

More moderate amounts of variance in Positive Behavior (18%) and Socia-bility (12%) could be explained but the predictive relations were signifi-cant. For Positive Behavior and Sociability, both preschool scores made ad-ditive and significant contributions. These findings support the notion ofconsistency in social adjustment within preschool and across the transitionto kindergarten.

Associations Between Children’s Social Adjustment Over Time andTeacher–Child Relationship Quality in Kindergarten

To examine the questions of (a) associations between preschool social ad-justment and teacher–child relationship quality at kindergarten, (b)changes in the pattern of associations over time, and (c) gender differencesin the pattern of association we computed correlations between social ad-justment scores at each time period and kindergarten teacher–child rela-tionship. Recall that although social adjustment scores and teacher–childrelationship scores were reported by the same person—the kindergartenteacher at Year 3—preschool social adjustment scores were independent ofkindergarten teacher–child relationship quality scores. There were no sig-nificant gender differences in the patterns of association. Correlations col-lapsed across gender are presented in Table 2.

Closeness in kindergarten teacher–child relationships was moderatelyand inversely associated with Problem Behavior in preschool and moder-ately associated with Sociability in the second year of preschool. Conflict inkindergarten teacher–child relationships was substantially associated withProblem Behavior in both years of preschool and moderately inversely asso-ciated with Positive Behavior in both years in preschool. Dependency inkindergarten teacher–child relationship was moderately associated with

127Howes et al.

Problem Behavior and moderately inversely associated with Positive Behav-ior in both preschool years.

Prediction of Kindergarten Teacher–Child Relationship Quality

We used hierarchical multiple regression to predict kindergarten teacher–child relationship quality. The regression model tested was based on theconceptual framework presented above. Gender was entered in the firststep in the regression because our initial analysis suggested that teachersgave different ratings to girls and boys. We then entered maternal educa-tion, followed by child-care quality.

We used the mean of the two preschool teachers’ ratings of the social ad-justment scores because there was substantial consistency across these rat-ings. We did not use the kindergarten teachers’ scores because of concernsfor independent observations of social adjustment and teacher–child rela-tionships. The preschool mean Positive Behavior score was substantially as-sociated with both the mean Sociability score (r 5 .45) and the mean Be-havior Problem score (r 5 2.67). Therefore, we used only the meanSociability and mean Behavior Problem scores. The association betweenthese scores was r 5 2.22. Mean preschool Sociability and mean preschoolProblem Behavior were entered together as the fourth step in the regres-sion model.

The final step in the predictive model for Closeness and Dependency wasthe corresponding second year in preschool relationship quality. Becausefirst-year conflict scores had made an independent contribution to the pre-diction of conflict in kindergarten teacher–child relationships in the previ-ous path analysis, we tested adding it as the sixth step in the predictivemodel for kindergarten teacher–child conflict. The hierarchical multipleregression analysis is presented in Table 3.

In kindergarten teacher–child relationships, 19% of the variance incloseness could be predicted by the model. Our inspection of the beta andsemipartial correlation values led to the conclusion that gender, preschoolchild-care quality, preschool social adjustment, and preschool (Year 2)teacher–child closeness all made significant and independent contribu-tions to the predictions. In conflictual kindergarten teacher–child relation-ships, 37% of the variance could be predicted by the model. The most im-portant predictor of conflict in kindergarten teacher–child relationshipswas preschool behavior problems, although maternal education and con-flict in both preschool years’ teacher–child relationships also made signifi-cant and independent contributions to the predictions. Only 15% of thevariance in dependency in kindergarten teacher–child relationships couldbe predicted by the model. The most important predictors of dependencyin kindergarten teacher–child relationships were preschool behavior prob-lems and dependency in Year 2 of preschool teacher–child relationships.


Table 3Prediction of Kindergarten Teacher–Child Relationship Quality (N 5 357)

FinalOutcome

sr 2 tPredictor Final R Final R 2 D R 2 b

Closeness .43*** .19Gender 2.16 2.18** 2.77**Maternal education .03 .11 .14 1.89Child care quality .01 .13 .07 2.19*Preschool social

adjustment .10*Behavior problems 2.21 2.31** 3.36***Sociability .10 .22** 1.63

Preschool Year 2 .03* .15 .22** 2.26*teacher–childcloseness

Conflictual .61*** .37Gender 2.03 2.01 .58Maternal education .03 2.06 2.16* 1.81Child care quality .00 2.03 2.03 .59Preschool social

adjustment .32*Behavior problems .47 .59** 6.36***Sociability 2.02 2.17* .42

Preschool Year 2 .03* .16 .47** 2.19*teacher–childconflict

Preschool Year 1 .00 .09 .46** 1.35teacher–childconflict

Dependency .38 .15Gender 2.10 2.11 1.67Maternal education .01 .11 .05 1.63Child care quality .02* .11 .12 1.66Preschool social

adjustment .08*Behavior problems .21** .26** 3.20**Sociability 2.07 2.13* 1.11

Preschool Year 2teacher–childdependency .05* .22** .26** 3.47***

* p # .05; ** p # .01; *** p # .001.

To further test the association between relationship quality and social ad-justment we used kindergarten social adjustment scores as outcome mea-sures in the regression model specified above. We entered maternal educa-tion, gender, and child-care quality on the first step, and then enteredpreschool relationship quality. Seventeen percent of the variance in kinder-garten ratings of Positive Behavior could be predicted, R 5 .42, F(6, 320) 511.10, p ,.0001. Both preschool Closeness relationship ratings (b 5 .17,sr2 5 .27, t 5 2.91, p 5 .004) and Conflictual relationship ratings (b 5 2.26,sr2 5 2.34, t 5 4.38, p 5 .0001) were significant predictors. Ten percent of

129Howes et al.

the variance in kindergarten ratings of Sociability could be predicted, R 5.31, F(6, 320) 5 5.73, p , .0001. Preschool Closeness ratings (b 5 .29, sr2 5.29, t 5 4.65, p 5 .0001) were a significant predictor. Twenty-nine percent ofthe variance in kindergarten ratings of Problem Behavior could be predicted,(R 5 .54, F(6, 320) 5 21.61, p ,.0001. Preschool Conflictual relationshipratings (b 5 .51, sr2 5 .51, t 5 9.14, p 5 .0001) were a significant predictor.

DISCUSSION

Consistent with predictions from attachment theory (Bretherton, 1985)and from longitudinal studies of younger children (Howes & Hamilton,1992) we found that perceptions of teacher–child relationship qualitytended to be consistent within preschool and across the preschool to kin-dergarten transition. This suggests that the children entered formal schoolwith a working model of teacher–child relationships and with establishedpatterns of engaging teachers. Despite differing role definitions of pre-school versus kindergarten teacher, the children and their kindergartenteachers constructed teacher-perceived relationships consistent in qualitywith preschool-perceived teacher–child relationships.

Although perceived preschool teacher–child relationship quality pre-dicted perceived kindergarten teacher–child relationship quality after con-trolling for children’s social adjustment, our findings also highlight the pre-dictive nature of preschool social adjustment, particularly with regard toproblem behaviors. Children whose teachers described them as higher inproblem behaviors as four-year-olds were perceived as higher in problembehavior, conflict, and dependency in their teacher–child relationships inkindergarten. We also found consistency in perceived positive behaviorsand in perceived sociability across preschool and kindergarten. Children per-ceived to be more sociable in preschool were perceived to have closer, lessdependent, and less conflictual kindergarten teacher–child relationships.

It is important to highlight that these are teacher perceptions of socialadjustment and relationship quality. These perceptions were stable acrossthe transition from one school setting to another. It is also important tonote that this transition occurred between community child-care centersand formal school. We suspect that there was little or no communicationbetween preschool and kindergarten teachers about the children. Thismeans that the impression that the children made on the kindergartenteacher was independent of any prior knowledge of the child. The kinder-garten teachers may or may not have known that the children were movingfrom center-based child care. Although it is possible that kindergartenteachers may have had beliefs about the “kind of children” that come fromchild care—“Well socialized and ready for school,” “Not ready for realschool because they have run wild in child care,” or “Mothers should stay


home, and if they do not, they produce difficult children”—the near uni-versality of prekindergarten programs and the variability in belief systemsdo not lead to a single predictive statement. Future research might explorekindergarten teacher beliefs about school preparation and their percep-tions of the characteristics of entering children.

As we have discussed, teacher perceptions of children’s social adjustmentare not independent of their perceptions of their relationships with thechildren. A limitation of this study is the self-report nature of these measuresand resulting problems of discriminant validity. It is important to note thatyoung children enter the care of teachers with widely varying tempera-ments, abilities, and personalities. As well, based on these findings, childrencome to school with a set of working expectations about the teacher—“Shecan be trusted to guide my learning,” “Teachers are to be to be avoided,” or“I expect to get in trouble with her.” These expectations result in behaviorsthat are more or less problematic from the teacher’s point of view. Kinder-garten teachers form impressions of children based on their own experi-ences and beliefs about these differences. The teachers then act in accor-dance with these impressions and their own notions about the best way tomanage classrooms and children. Thus, teacher–child relationships are so-cially constructed within classrooms.

Our findings on the predictability of preschool social adjustment for kin-dergarten behavior are consistent with prior research that finds early prob-lematic social behaviors to predict later maladjustment (Coie & Dodge,1997). Prior research suggests that intervention at the preschool level to re-duce aggression and other problem behaviors has moderate success (Coie &Dodge, 1997). Intervention projects focusing on changing teacher behav-iors also report moderate success in changing the observed quality ofteacher–child relationships (Howes, Galinsky, & Kontos, 1998; Howes &Ritchie, 1998). Our current findings on the persistence of children’s prob-lem behaviors and conflictual teacher–child relationships suggest that in-formation about the importance of positive teacher–child relationshipswith difficult children need to be included in school psychology and earlyeducation teacher pre- and inservice training efforts.

Although children’s preschool teacher–child relationship quality tendsto be independent of their mother–child relationship quality (Howes &Hamilton, 1992), children do enter kindergarten with five or so years ofexperience in constructing relationships with adults. Other work has foundthat mother–child relationships do influence kindergarten adjustment(Pianta, Nimetz, & Bennett, 1997). Furthermore, pre-existing and newlyformed peer relationships also influence kindergarten adjustment (Ladd,1989). Future work in this area would do well to explore influences onschool adjustment based on children’s complete network of relationshipswithin and outside of the family.

131Howes et al.

In summary, any social setting, particularly a kindergarten classroom,can be examined as a set of social relationships. We have begun to examineone set of relationships—teacher–child relationships—over time. Childrenappear better adjusted in kindergarten when these relationships provide abasis for exploring the learning opportunities in the classroom rather thandistracting the child from engaging in school.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research reported in this article was part of a larger project on child-care quality, the Cost, Quality, and Outcome Study. The Cost, Quality, andOutcome Study was conducted by a team of researchers including MargaretBurchinal, Donna Bryant, Richard Clifford, Debby Cryer, Mary Culkin, Su-zanne Helburn, Carollee Howes, Sharon Lynn Kagan, H. Naci Mocan, JohnMorris, Ellen Peisner-Feinberg, Leslie Phillipsen, and Jean Rustici. TheCost, Quality, and Outcome study was funded by the Carnegie Corporation,William T. Grant Foundation, The JFM Foundation, the A. L. MailmanFamily Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the PewCharitable Trusts, and the USWEST Foundation. The preparation of thismanuscript was supported by the National Center for Early Developmentand Learning.

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