Exploring the Contexts of Relationship Quality between Middle School Students and Teachers

The purpose of this article is to introduce a framework for understanding relationship quality between middle school students and their teachers. The framework draws on findings from 3 literatures (motivation, attachment, and sociocultural) and from analyses of a year‐long case study in a rural middle school. I begin with a brief overview of the framework and identify constructs from the literature incorporated into the framework. I describe the design and methods employed to explore student‐teacher relationship quality and its effect on student motivation and achievement. Synthesizing across survey data from 905 students and 25 teachers, interview data collected from 6 students and 6 teachers, and journal data from 28 teachers, I elaborate on 4 contexts I believe exert a press on teacher‐student dyadic relationship quality. These include the context of the student, the teacher, the peers, and the interpersonal culture of the classroom and school. Finally, I explore the implications of the framework for practice, policy, and future research.