Research-Based Practices to Build Relationships, Support Behavior, and Facilitate Language Development

In this article, we provide guidance on research- or evidence-based instructional practices that promote high-quality teacher–student relationships (TSRs) to support prosocial behaviors and language development for prekindergarten-to-third-grade students. We first review the importance of high-quality relationships for young students and how positive TSRs can create environments that dually support students’ language and behavioral needs. We then provide an overview and step-by-step guidance on two research-based strategies to build high-quality relationships, namely instructional choice and Banking Time. We discuss intervention selection, decision-making, implementation, and student progress monitoring for each strategy.