focus groups of grades 6–9 teachers, Brittany Hecker, Ellie L. Young, and Paul Caldarella’s (2014) research identifies students most at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Teachers responded to their survey and indicated that they expected the behaviors of students at risk to include: difficulty maintaining peer and teacher relationships, difficulty with hygiene and sleep, challenging home and school relationships, and noncompliance with teacher directions (p. 20).
Research also has documented the following common characteristics, experiences, or behaviors of students at risk: substance abuse, underachievement, catastrophic worldview, academically challenged, disruptive family, poor communication, loss and separation, and connections with other disenfranchised students (Gasa, 2001). Some intrapersonal and psychological characteristics of students at risk include poor self-image, anger, loneliness, impulsivity, and depression (Nunn & Thomas, 1992). As you can see, the characteristics of students at risk are wide ranging. Such negative characteristics and behaviors are typically distinct barriers to success in school.
Educators must recognize these characteristics so they can intervene early. Early identification and intervention are key. Educators can identify students at risk by examining those with low academic scores, poor attendance, and frequent office discipline referrals. Teachers should begin building relationships with these students to increase their engagement and affection for school. Building a relationship has been widely recognized as one of the most effective actions that educators can take to transform a student at risk into an achiever (O’Shaughnessy, Lane, Gresham, & Beebe-Frankenberger, 2003).
Unfortunately, students who fall into this category are often at risk of dropping out of school because of other catastrophic events. The term at risk may be applied to students who face other catastrophic events such as teen pregnancy, health issues, or domestic violence.
The challenges that students at risk face also make it challenging for school personnel to develop relationships with them. Because the challenges are so great, some educators may find it easier to give up. This is why developing a relationship-building mindset is so important.
During my workshop “The Power of Building Trusting Relationships With Students at Risk,” attendees share how they struggle to build relationships with some of their more challenging students, sometimes falling into the trap of indifference. They describe the backgrounds of the students and some of their behaviors. They talk about different incidents that have occurred and how their irritation levels rise. They share stories of enduring disrespect, insubordination, and contempt and how they are cussed at, ignored, and even threatened.
Some state that they do not receive any help from their students’ parents and lament the many factors giving rise to poor behavior and low academic performance. At times, some even state they lack interest in building relationships with some of their students. Many teachers tell me that they feel themselves going into survival mode within the first quarter of the school year, followed by a period of self-reflection to decide whether they want to continue to teach.
I tell them, “I’ve been there and done that! Now let’s do something about it.”
My passion for working with students at risk prompted me to write this book. Studies show that teacher-student relationships affect students’ academic achievement, social and emotional development, behavior, and feelings of belonging, as well as classroom management and school climate, just to name a few outcomes (Cataldi, Laird, & Kewalramani, 2009; Gallagher, 2013). The importance of establishing these relationships and developing them with students at risk is the main focus not only of this book but of my life’s work. It has not always been easy building relationships and connecting with students, but over time, with continued practice and through trial and error, I was able to develop a relationship-building mindset that has proven to be such a game-changer.
Indeed, adopting this mindset meant the difference between working with challenging students and giving up. I encourage all educators to view working with students at risk with a relationship-building mindset. The greater the number of teachers committing to this style of growth-fostering education, the greater students’ chances for success. Educational research documents numerous benefits of building relationships with students along with the negative effects of a failure to do so.
What the Research Says
Until the 2000s, research failed to address how teachers form strong teacher-student relationships in practice. And even since then, despite the implications and recommendations from research, many educational professionals remain unaware of the correct actions to take to build trusting relationships with students at risk as “educational programs for children often do not set a high priority on building student-teacher or student-student relationships. Instead, they focus on developing a range of academic skills” (Hamre & Pianta, 2006, p. 49). Educators throughout the 1980s and 1990s stressed the importance of the three Rs—reading, writing, and arithmetic. These were the essentials that teachers had to teach and students had to learn in order to contribute to society.
Researchers of the 2000s have updated the three Rs to stand for relevance, rigor, and relationships—the strongest factors in helping students be successful in the classroom and in life—and studies have well documented the importance of teachers and administrators establishing relationships with students (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Rudasill, Reio, Stipanovic, & Taylor, 2010). Research also has demonstrated the correlation between positive relationships and student achievement and reinforced the concept that caring teachers have the potential to motivate students to succeed academically and to stay in school (Rich, 2006). This approach is successful with the majority of students in the classroom but especially with students at risk (Beattie, Rich, & Evans, 2015; Reilly, 2014).
However, while numerous teachers are adept at establishing relationships with students, countless teachers struggle mightily at establishing them with students at risk. This is “despite the belief that it is only by understanding the particular challenges faced by students at school that teachers are able to make changes and use strategies that reduce stress and increase success” (Bevan-Brown, Carroll-Lind, Kearney, Sperl, & Sutherland, 2008, p. 22). In addition, Ernest Morrell and Jeffrey M.R. Duncan-Andrade (2002) stress, “As classrooms across the country become increasingly diverse, determining how to connect in significant ways across multiple lines of difference may be the greatest challenge facing teachers today” (p. 88).
Many students at risk have serious personal and social problems and have had negative experiences with adults in their past. This causes many of them to employ every conceivable tactic to avoid establishing any relationships other than antagonistic ones with teachers, administrators, and other school personnel (McWhirter, McWhirter, McWhirter, & McWhirter, 2006; Seita & Brendtro, 2005). The influence of the affective quality of teacher-student relationships on students’ perceptions may be especially true for those with behavioral problems. Students’ adjustment problems in schools have been linked to “the failure of classroom environments to meet students’ needs for a feeling of belonging to the classroom” (Martin & Dowson, 2009, p. 332).
Inadequate relationships with teachers may lead to an aversion toward school and disengagement. According to Maria Poulou (2015), “When students feel alienated from school, they are at greater risk of developing antisocial behaviors, delinquency, and academic failure” (p. 87). The quality of teacher-student relationships may be a protective resource that promotes and maintains students’ school engagement (Skinner, Kindermann, Connell, & Wellborn, 2009).
Research performed since 2000 provides strong evidence for the impact teacher-student relationships have on various aspects of students’ cognitive, emotional, and social development (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Rudasill et al., 2010). Positive relationships have both short-term and long-term social and academic benefits for students (Baroody, Rimm-Kaufman, Larsen, & Curby, 2014). Naheed E. Hosan
