TY - JOUR
T1 - Preschoolers' academic readiness
T2 - What role does the teacher-child relationship play?
AU - Palermo, Francisco
AU - Hanish, Laura
AU - Martin, Carol
AU - Fabes, Richard
AU - Reiser, Mark
N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported in part by a research grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD045816-01) awarded to the second, third, and fourth authors and a supplemental training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded to the first author. We would like to thank all of the children, parents, and teachers who participated in this research.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - We examined the role of the teacher-child relationship quality (close, dependent, and conflictive) on preschoolers' (N = 95) academic readiness for kindergarten, and we tested children's prosocial and aggressive behavior and peer group exclusion as mediators of this relation. A unique feature of this study is the ethnically and socio-economically diverse preschool-aged sample. The association between close teacher-child relationships and academic readiness was partially mediated by prosocial behavior and peer group exclusion. There was also evidence of a transactional association between close teacher-child relationships and children's behavior. Additionally, children's behavior and peer group exclusion mediated the relation between negative teacher-child relationships (dependent and conflictive) and academic readiness. The findings suggest that teacher training, education, and support for establishing close teacher-child relationships may maximize preschoolers' academic readiness by promoting social adaptation.
AB - We examined the role of the teacher-child relationship quality (close, dependent, and conflictive) on preschoolers' (N = 95) academic readiness for kindergarten, and we tested children's prosocial and aggressive behavior and peer group exclusion as mediators of this relation. A unique feature of this study is the ethnically and socio-economically diverse preschool-aged sample. The association between close teacher-child relationships and academic readiness was partially mediated by prosocial behavior and peer group exclusion. There was also evidence of a transactional association between close teacher-child relationships and children's behavior. Additionally, children's behavior and peer group exclusion mediated the relation between negative teacher-child relationships (dependent and conflictive) and academic readiness. The findings suggest that teacher training, education, and support for establishing close teacher-child relationships may maximize preschoolers' academic readiness by promoting social adaptation.
KW - Academic readiness
KW - Preschool
KW - Teacher-child relationship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=36649008680&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=36649008680&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.04.002
DO - 10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.04.002
M3 - Article
SN - 0885-2006
VL - 22
SP - 407
EP - 422
JO - Early Childhood Research Quarterly
JF - Early Childhood Research Quarterly
IS - 4
ER -