The role of teacher trust in segregated elementary schools: a multilevel repeated measures examination

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate how teachers’ trust in their students relates to reading comprehension achievement in socially and ethnically segregated elementary schools in Flanders (Belgium) by taking into account class composition characteristics. It is examined how student variables, ethnic diversity and the proportion of non-native students in the class, and teachers’ trust in their students relate to reading comprehension achievement and learning growth. A 3-level multivariate repeated measures analysis was conducted. At 2 measurement occasions, reading tests and questionnaires were administered to a sample (n = 417) of 7- and 8-year-old students in 32 classes. Teachers’ trust in their students was found to be a key factor relating to learning growth in reading comprehension, and mediated the relationship between the level of ethnic diversity in the class and learning growth. Teachers with a higher level of trust in their students seem to foster more learning growth in reading comprehension.

KEYWORDS:

• Elementary school
• school segregation
• teacher trust
• class composition
• learning growth

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Education Department of the Flemish Community.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa Dewulf

Lisa Dewulf is a PhD student at the Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University, Belgium. Her research focuses on teachers’ perceptions and teaching quality in socially and ethnically segregated elementary schools.

Johan van Braak

Johan van Braak, PhD educational sciences, is an associate professor at the Department of Educational Studies at Ghent University, Belgium. His research interests include various questions regarding educational innovation, curriculum, and school effectiveness, for example, the assessment of digital competences of students and teachers. He is the Editor of the journal Pedagogische Studiën.

Mieke Van Houtte

Mieke Van Houtte, PhD sociology, is full professor and head of the research team CuDOS at the Department of Sociology at Ghent University, Belgium. Her research interests cover diverse topics within the sociology of education, particularly the effects of structural and compositional school features on several outcomes for students and teachers. She is a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.