Cultural Responsiveness and Teacher-Student Relationships in Urban Charter Public Schools

Cultural responsiveness and teacher-student relationships are important to establishing a healthy, positive school climate. Few studies have examined the relationship between teacher-student relationships and cultural responsiveness. Also, little is known about the moderating effect the number of ethnic minority school teachers has on culturally responsive practices and teacher-student relationships in schools with predominantly low-income Black student populations. Limited research studies have examined how the number of years teaching influences teacher-student relationships and culturally responsive practices. The participants included 174 classroom teachers and 1,365 students from Grades 3 to 5 in charter schools in a southern urban city. Results revealed that teacher cultural responsiveness can predict the quality of teacher-student relationships. Further, findings suggested there were no moderating effects of the number of ethnic minority school staff on culturally responsive practices and teacher-student relationships. Also, the results suggested no differences between cultural responsiveness and teacher-student relationships between less experienced and more experienced teachers.