ABSTRACT
V. Lee, J. Smith, T. Perry, and M. Smylie observed teachers’ interactions and relationships with their sixth- and eighth-grade students in the Chicago Schools, using an approach called “social support” that focused on strengthening relationships among teachers and students in and outside of school. Consider the way students adolescents, navigate the multiple relationships in their lives, and where the social organization and culture of the classroom not only influence learning practices, but those same learning practices also shape the social organization and cultural patterns that develop in the classroom. Those classrooms where social support levels were high achieved the highest gains on standardized math and reading tests, thus reaffirming the need for quality relationships. Students come to school with a myriad of experiences to make sense of the new knowledge they learn or continue to learn, and they utilize their school knowledge in their lives outside of school.
