# Independent and Interactive Links between Individual and Classroom-level Teacher-Child Relationship Quality and Childrens Academic School Readiness Skills

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · 2020 · $83,058

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Children from economically disadvantaged families are at risk for starting school behind
their more affluent peers.1,2 Pre-academic skills and the development of executive functions
(EF), our focus in the proposed study, are two key aspects of school readiness that contribute to
long-term trajectories of social and academic success.3,4 In this secondary data analysis study,
we focus on the quality of teacher-child interactions in the classroom as a key lever to improve
early school functioning. Specifically, the quality of both individual teacher-child interactions and
classroom-level teacher instructional and emotional support have been linked to development of
school readiness skills,5-7 but the ways in which these two aspects of teacher interactional
quality interact to promote children’s early learning is unclear. The overall goal of this project is
to both identify and disentangle the effects of individual teacher-child relationship quality and
classroom-level support on children’s development of pre-academic and EF skills across one
year of Head Start. Using a child-centered analysis, we will identify multidimensional
constellations, or profiles, of individual and classroom-level teacher interactional quality, for
whom these profiles exist (by examining child and teacher characteristics), how these profiles
change across the school year, and how membership in these profiles is linked to growth in
school readiness skills. Identifying patterns of teacher interactional quality that facilitate
children’s early learning will contribute to enhancing Head Start practice and developing
interventions to close school readiness achievement gaps, ultimately facilitating long-term
school success for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
 We will use data from the Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and
Resources for Emotion and Social skill promotion) dataset, which includes 307 teachers and
2,114 four-year-old children representing the national Head Start population, and features rich
data on teachers, classrooms, and longitudinal school readiness outcomes. We will use
complementary person-centered and multi-level variable-centered and analytical approaches to
achieve the study goals. Our novel approach to considering classroom interactional quality will
inform the future development of classroom interaction interventions matched to the needs of
individual teachers and children to promote the acquisition of pre-academic and EF skills among
Head Start participants and other economically disadvantaged children.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9919374
- **Project number:** 5R03HD098401-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa A Barnett
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $83,058
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9919374

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9919374, Independent and Interactive Links between Individual and Classroom-level Teacher-Child Relationship Quality and Childrens Academic School Readiness Skills (5R03HD098401-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9919374. Licensed CC0.

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