The Relationship Between Teacher-Caring Behaviors and Reading Achievement

Abstract

State assessments have shown English Language Learners (ELLs) seem to significantly trail native English-speakers in reading. Teachers need to find pedagogical practices that improve all students’ reading achievement to close such disproportionate gap. Research has demonstrated that, in general, when students feel their teachers genuinely care for them, their grades are positively influenced. This correlational study examined whether there was a statistically significant relationship between caring behaviors of upper elementary reading teachers and their students’ reading achievement, whether there was a statistically significant difference in the degree to which ELLs and Non-ELLs perceived teacher-caring, whether there was a statistically significant difference between the reading achievement of ELLs and Non-ELLs, and whether there was a statistically significant difference between the way reading teachers perceived their own caring behaviors and the way their students perceived their teachers’ caring behaviors. A Survey of the Behavioral Characteristics of a Teacher was used to measure the teachers’ caring behaviors, and the students’ reading achievement was measured by calculating the growth students demonstrated on the pre- and post-STAAR reading benchmarks. The study included 138 students and 10 reading teachers. Data from this study revealed a positive statistically significant correlation between teacher-caring behaviors and student reading achievement; there was no statistically significant difference in the degree to which ELLs and Non-ELLs perceived their reading teachers’ caring behaviors; ELLs’ reading achievement was statistically significantly lower than the reading achievement of Non-ELLs; and the students’ perceptions of their reading teachers’ caring behaviors were statistically significantly lower than the teachers’ perceptions of their own teacher-caring behaviors.