The Relationship Between Preschool Children\u27s School Readiness, Social-Emotional Competence and Student-Teacher Relationships

The purpose of this study was to explore the relations between preschool children\u27sschool readiness, young children\u27s social emotional development, and teacher-studentrelationships. Of interest, was whether social-emotional competence and teacher-studentrelationships made unique contributions to young children school readiness. Participantswere 58 three and four year old children (31 boys and 27 girls) who attended 3 inner-citypreschool programs. Thirty-five percent of the sample was African American, with theremainder being Caucasian, Asian, or Hispanic. Social-emotional and teacher-studentrelationship measures collected during the year were associated with school readiness atyear\u27s end. Children\u27s emotional competence was assessed using child interviews.Social competence and teacher-student relationships were measured using teachersurveys.After controlling for age, bivariate correlation revealed that emotional competence and social competence were positively related to one another. Emotional competence and close teacher-student relationships were related to school readiness. Regression analyses showed the emotional competence added to the prediction of school readiness after controlling for age. Children more ready for school, were more emotionally competent. Children having close relationships with preschool teachers were also more emotionally competent