The intermediary role of peer relationships between teachers and students' classroom engagement

Abstract

We investigated to what extent adolescents' classroom peer ecologies play an indirect role in explaining the associations between teacher-student relatedness (TSR) in the fall and classroom engagement in the spring. The classroom peer ecology variables were friendship cohesion, prosocial behavior and norms, and peer support. Participants were 869 fifth and sixth grade students (52% girls, 48% boys; 42% White, 30% Black, 6% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 14% Multiracial, 2% Other) in 44 classrooms. We used multilevel structural equation models to assess the within and between classroom indirect effects of peers on the associations between TSR and classroom engagement. At the classroom-level, TSR was associated with greater adaptive help seeking with peers via prosocial popularity norms. At the individual-level, TSR and behavioral engagement were indirectly associated, via prosocial behavior. Additionally, TSR was indirectly associated with all three engagement outcomes through peer support. Findings suggest that multiple aspects of adolescents' peer relationships provide unique assets for their classroom engagement.