In one study summarised in a policy brief, students and teachers who learned their commonalities through getting-to-know-you surveys reported more positive relationships, students earned higher grades, and achievement gaps for Black and Latinx students closed by more than 60%¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? A policy brief reports, without identifying or describing the study, that in one study students and teachers who learned about their commonalities reported more positive relationships, students earned higher grades, and achievement gap disparities for Black and Latinx students closed by more than 60%. → Hernández 2024

Evidence¶

Hernández 2024¶

Hernández, L. E., & Darling-Hammond, L. (with Nielson, N.). (2024). Cultivating relationships in secondary classrooms: Practices that matter. Learning Policy Institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/cultivating-relationships-secondary-classrooms-brief

q2 · i? · review · r1

A research brief, not the study itself: it describes getting-to-know-you surveys administered at the beginning of the year (families, interests, hobbies, goals, educational strengths) and reports the results of "one study" secondhand, without naming it or describing its design. The gap-closure figure of more than 60% is printed in the brief, but no standardized effect size is, so impact is coded i? (not reported), which does not mean the effect was null. The brief's wording reports more positive relationships and higher grades; it does not establish that the surveys caused them.

"In one study, students and teachers who learned about their commonalities reported more positive relationships with each other. Students in that study also earned higher grades when teachers learned what they had in common, and achievement gap disparities for Black and Latinx students closed by more than 60%."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Belonging — outcome: instruction changes it
• Race and Ethnicity — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group

Related Claims¶

• Belonging Interventions Improve Outcomes — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Black and Latinx students generally feel less safe at school than their White peers — related
• A racial school-climate gap exists: White and Asian students generally report higher safety, support, and connectedness than African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students — related
• Systematic racial, ethnic and gender differences in grades persist among students with the same test scores, attendance, courses and teachers — related