Teacher-Student Relationship Scale

What it measures

Measures the quality of the relationship between a teacher and a specific student from the teacher's perspective, across two dimensions: closeness (warmth, communication, positive affect) and conflict (anger, adversarial interactions, negativity). Teacher-student relationship quality is among the strongest predictors of student academic engagement, adjustment, and achievement across the school years.

Response format

Likert (1–5, definitely does not apply to definitely applies)

Representative items

• I share an affectionate, warm relationship with this student. (Closeness)
• This student and I always seem to be struggling with each other. (Conflict)
• If upset, this student will seek comfort from me. (Closeness)
• Dealing with this student drains my energy. (Conflict)
• This student is uncomfortable with physical affection or touch. (Conflict)

This is a licensed instrument — representative items are shown for reference only. Obtain the original scale materials from the publisher before use in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Requires purchase from PAR. Two subscale scores. Conflict is the stronger predictor of behavioural difficulties and lower engagement; Closeness predicts academic motivation and social competence. A student self-report version (Koomen & Jellesma, 2015) is also available. Widely used in intervention research on improving teacher-student relationship quality.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Pianta, R.C. (2001). Student-Teacher Relationship Scale: Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.

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