This study explored the role of the Banking Time intervention on student-teacher relationships and problem behaviors in early childhood. Ninety elementary students (5-7 year-olds) were placed in either an experimental or control group. Students in the experimental group participated in the Banking Time intervention with their classroom teacher. Students in the control group participated in one-on-one reading sessions. Students in both groups were evaluated pre- and post-intervention using the Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS; Pianta & Hamre, 2001), Teacher Report Form (TRF; Achenbach, 1991) and a behavior observation tally form. A sample of students from both groups were administered a questionnaire pre- and post-intervention. Lastly, teachers completed a likert-type survey regarding their opinions of the Banking Time intervention to maintain fidelity pre-intervention and mid-intervention. It was hypothesized that the Banking Time intervention would help to foster student-teacher relationships and ultimately lead to decreases in problem behaviors, as measured by the STRS, the TRF and the behavior observation tally form.
A significant decrease in problem behavior was found in the experimental and control group when measuring behavior with the Teacher Report Form. There were no significant findings to indicate that the Banking Time intervention improved student-teacher relationships. Implications for future research are also presented
