Project Activities
Research plan
The study was conducted with students with or at risk for EBD in grades K–3 and their teachers. At three time points over the course of the school year, the PI collected data on students' friendships as well as malleable peer and teacher factors. Data on students' peer relationships included friendships (both reciprocated and unreciprocated), acceptance, classroom social hierarchy, peer group norms, and peer behavioral reputations, assessed through peer nomination procedures. Additionally, students with or at risk for EBD reported on the quality of their friendships. Teacher attunement to classroom social dynamics was measured through social cognitive mapping procedures and indicated how well teachers were able to identify student friendship groups in comparison to the student responses. Observational data on teacher-student interactions and teachers' instructional practices, teacher reports on students' social and behavioral functioning, and direct assessment of students' academic achievement were also collected. The PI used social network analysis to describe the friendships among students with or at risk for EBD and path models to assess relationships between friendships and educational outcomes and between malleable peer and teacher factors and student friendships.
Career plan
Through a career development plan, the PI built (1) content knowledge related to the friendships and social experiences of socially vulnerable youth, (2) knowledge and skills around longitudinal social network methods and analyses, and (3) grant management skills. To accomplish these goals, the PI received guidance from mentors and an advisory board of expert researchers and participated in a series of trainings on social network methods and analyses, a training on the R software program, and workshops related to grant writing and grant management.
Key outcomes
Key Outcomes: The main findings of this project, as reported by the PI, are as follows:
- Students with or at risk for EBD often identified peers as friends, and these choices were somewhat stable over time; however, many of these friendships were not reciprocated, meaning peers did not identify them as friends in return.
- Students’ ratings of friendship quality did not differ based on whether friendships were reciprocated or stable, suggesting that students may have difficulty recognizing when friendships are mutual or supportive.
- Peers consistently viewed students with or at risk for EBD as more disruptive and less prosocial than their classmates, and these perceptions remained stable across the school year.
- Classroom factors that can be changed by teachers mattered: higher levels of teacher praise were linked to more positive peer perceptions, and seating arrangements that isolated students were associated with more negative peer reputations.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Additional project information
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