A positive school climate is key to student success.¹ When students feel a sense of safety and belonging, they are more likely to engage and perform well academically.²

Teachers can make a difference. By establishing meaningful relationships with students, they can help create a more positive school climate.

The Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports developed a resource, Supporting and Responding to Students' Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Needs,³ which provides teacher strategies for building these relationships (p.12 and 16).

Teachers should consider the following six recommendations:

• Greet students: Positively welcome each student as they enter the learning environment.
• Interact with students: Engage with students while supervising activities (e.g., ask how they are doing, comment or inquire about their interests, show genuine interest in their responses).
• Learn about students: Understand students' learning history, cultural identity, and preferences for learning, receiving feedback, etc.
• Validate students: Affirm students' personal and cultural learning histories.
• Build time for engagement: Provide structured and unstructured opportunities for students to engage with each other (e.g., cooperative problem-based learning, simulation activities, debates, restorative circles, peer tutoring).
• Co-design learning: Incorporate student preferences and ideas when designing the classroom environment, instructional activities, and fun learning experiences.

The guide also provides tools to support implementation. It includes a graphic organizer to guide implementation of strategies, descriptions of specific practices with examples and non-examples, a self-assessment, and an action plan.

By implementing these practices, educators will build trusting relationships with students of diverse backgrounds. As a result, students will feel a greater sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and motivation.⁴ Additionally, schools that implement these practices may witness improvements in teacher efficacy⁵ and reductions in exclusionary discipline.⁶

Additional RESOURCES

• Strengthening Relationships with Students from Diverse Backgrounds: REL Northwest's video shows two teachers discussing successful strategies for connecting to students and building authentic relationships using perspective-taking. See also the related blog.
• How Can Trusting Relationships with Adults Boost Student Success?: REL Southwest's infographic describes the effects of trusting relationships on student success.
• Relationship-Building Strategies for the Classroom: This Office of the State Superintendent of Education's toolkit describes ten strategies for relationship building in classrooms.
• Building Equitable, Safe, and Supportive Schools: The Great Lakes Equity Center describes the characteristics of equitable, safe, and supportive schools.
• Understanding and Cultivating a Positive School Climate: The School Climate Transformation Office at the Colorado Department of Education highlights the research linking a positive school climate to sense of belonging for students, staff, and families. Page 11 emphasizes positive relationships.

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