Social behavior, academic achievement, language skills, and peer rejection in elementary school classes: the moderating role of teacher feedback

The study examines the influence of teacher feedback in the relationship between peer rejection and student level predictors of rejection. Feedback on academic performance and social behaviour recorded during a standardised lesson was analysed for each of 36 Grade 1–3 classes (N = 709). Student social behaviour, academic achievement, and language skills were assessed at the start of the school year. Peer rejection was assessed at both the beginning and end of the school year. Three types of feedback behaviour were identified: Teachers who gave most negative feedback on social behaviour, those who gave most positive feedback on academic performance, and those who gave less feedback, positive or negative. Results provide evidence for the moderating role of teacher behaviour in the relationship between student academic achievement and peer rejection. In classrooms with the highest proportion of positive feedback on academic performance, academic achievement predicted peer rejection and there was a decrease in peer rejection over an academic year.