What Shapes Middle School Teachers' Abilities to Build Productive Relationships with Parents?

• In Event: 61.025 - The Important Role of Parental Involvement in Creating a Positive School Climate and Ensuring Student Success

Abstract

Positive parent-teacher relationships are important to student success in school, particularly for students who may be at risk for low performance, such as students of low-socioeconomic status or from traditionally underachieving minority groups. Moreover, understanding the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and his/her ability to build productive relationships with parents is an important area of study. This qualitative case-based study explores factors that influence the building of relationships between lower-income parents and those of certain minority groups and their adolescent’s teacher.

Division A, Section 4b School-Family-Community Relations

Authors

• Nancy Thompson Smith, Palmdale School District

• Jane Rosenthal, Keck Graduate Institute