Teacher-Student Relationship Building | Design
Greg N. Fetters      Home      Learn More      Standards      Inspiration      About the Author

Design Process

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     Utilizing the Along Rochester Public School’s Case Study (2021-22) survey questions as a guide, quantitative, Likert, five-point scale surveys were used to determine if the Along digital reflection tool supported mentors in framing the conditions for building positive student mentee relationships. All participating mentors were given Google Form, pre and post, Likert scale surveys before and after implementing the Along digital reflection tool. The surveys included questions in the following six categories: building connections with students, mentor practices, connections at school, connection in class, relationships-building toolbox, and demographics/outputs.
     The pre-survey assessed the quality of the current mentor-mentee relationships and the established mentoring program. The post-survey evaluated the overall effectiveness of the Along digital reflection tool by answering the following questions:

  • Did the mentors feel the Along digital reflection tool enabled them to be more open with their mentees than before?
  • Did the Along digital reflection tool (structures, time, content) help mentors show that their mentees authentically mattered to them?
In addition to the surveys, the qualitative methods of teacher journaling and answering optional open-ended questions were utilized in the study. Mentors used the Along analytics to keep a running log of their mentee conversations and mentee responses during the pilot as a reflection data journal. 
     Open-ended optional questions were included in the Likert scale survey to gauge the mentors’ perceptions and opinions of Along's structures and effectiveness in building teacher-student relationships. The pre-implementation open-ended questions focused on the mentors answering the most significant barriers to building strong relationships with their student mentees. The Post-implementation open-ended question asked the mentors to reflect on their experiences with Along and if they would recommend the program to other teachers and their rationale.
     In order to determine if the Along program helped student mentees feel more open and connected with their teachers/mentors than before participating in the program, anonymous, pre- and post-quantitative, Likert five-point scale surveys were given to all participating student mentees. The anonymous surveys were given to all partaking mentees before and after implementing the Along digital reflection tool. The Likert survey questions were developed around the following six categories: building connections with mentors, mentor practices, connections at school, connection in class, relationships building toolbox, and demographics/outputs. The anonymous, student, Likert scale surveys encouraged student mentors to be honest with their responses without fear of hurting or insulting their mentors. 
     The pre-survey assessed the current mentee-mentor relationship and the mentoring program. The post-survey assessed the overall effectiveness of the Along digital reflection tool by answering the following questions:

  • Did the Along digital reflection tool help the mentees be more open and trusting with their mentors?
  • Did the mentees feel the Along digital reflection tool helped their mentors get to know them better?
The five-point Likert scale surveys included pre and post, qualitative, optional open-ended questions. They were used to gauge mentees’ perceptions and opinions of Along’s structures and effectiveness in building student-teacher relationships. The pre-implementation question centered on one piece of advice the mentee would give their mentor about successfully building a solid relationship with them. The post-implementation open-ended question in the Likert survey inquired what changes, if any, could make Along better. 
   The participating students’ grades and GPA were utilized to determine if the Along digital reflection tool noticeably changed student mentee data. 

Final Capstone Research Presentation Video

S.I.T.E Educational Model in Relationship to TSRs:

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Sociocultural:
  1. My research on building teacher-student relationships (TSRs) focuses on the whole student. Teachers who successfully build strong connections with their students learn about their students’ culture and background. Successful TSRs reduce students’ stress and help teachers to bolster their students’ growth mindset and self-efficacy in a positive rigorous classroom environment. Moreover, TSRs help teachers be more culturally responsive in their lesson design and instructional practices; building strong TSRs helps teachers better engage and motivate their students by understanding what is relevant and engaging to them through a content lens. TSRs address the achievement gap caused by socioeconomic factors, racial and ethnic groups, and English fluency by enabling teachers to identify, refer, and provide needed support.
Informational: Building TSRs can be used as the foundation for teachers to embed Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, grade-level specific health topics, digital citizenship/literacy curriculum, and career and college planning. TSRs can also pave the way for facilitating student input, problem-solving, or setting or resetting classroom or school expectations and norms.

Technical: My research focused on using a new digital reflective tool called Along to support teachers in successfully building authentic teacher-student relationships. The tool enables teachers to use research-based reflective questions via text, audio, and/or video to students in a private, comfortable digital environment. The program allows students to respond to their teachers using the same audio, text, or video structures. 
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Research
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Support and Next Steps
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Creating My Logo:
I wanted to create my research logo to illustrate the connective and cyclical nature of teacher-student relationship (TSRs) building on student learning. The image of the clasping hands in the middle of the logo signifies the learning partnership between students and teachers. Consistently developing authentic teacher-student connections is necessary for all teachers to create a learning environment where students can foster their growth mindset and self-efficacy. Moreover, it is easier for teachers to fully engage students in the learning process and push them to achieve their full potential by building rapport and trust through TSRs. I have always believed that the colors of green and gray have a calming effect. Green can also signify tranquility and rebirth. Green is an appropriate color for my logo because, every year, teachers need to build new relationships with their students.