Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of School Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jschpsyc An investigation of African American and European American students' perception of teaching behavior Bridget Cauley a , Jason C. Immekus b , Patrick Pössel a,⁎ a Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA b Department of Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA ARTICLE INFO Action Editor: Renee Hawkins Keywords: Adolescence Teaching behavior African American Factor analysis ABSTRACT Teaching behaviors are associated with a range of student academic and mental health outcomes. Substantial academic, school disciplinary, and mental health disparities across African American and European American students suggest that diverse students may view and interpret teaching behaviors differently. The Teaching Behavior Questionnaire measures students' perceptions of teaching behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to examine the scale's factor structure among European American high school students using exploratory factor analysis and, subse- quently, cross-validate using confirmatory factor analysis based on African American student data. Results supported reconceptualizing the scale according to a three-factor model in both groups. Implications related to the interpretation and use of scores are discussed. 1. Introduction Children and youth spend a significant amount of their time in classroom settings (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014) interacting with other students and teachers; therefore, investigating the influence teachers have on student outcomes is of vital importance. However, in order to do this, researchers need an instrument to assess students' perceptions of teaching behaviors. Teaching beha- viors represent the ways in which teachers approach, interact, and engage with students (Pössel et al., 2013). Teaching behaviors can be conceptualized as multidimensional, with four empirically identified domains: instructional, organizational, socio-emotional, and negative teaching behavior (Pianta & Hamre, 2009; Pössel et al., 2013). Instructional teaching behavior occurs when teachers deliver instruction to students, provide feedback, and focus on higher-level thinking. Organizational teaching behavior encompasses the way in which teachers engage students, promote productivity, and manage students' behavior. Socio-emotional teaching behavior refers to the emotional connection of the teacher-student relationship and the degree of warmth, responsiveness, and support received from teachers (Allen et al., 2013; Pianta, LaParo, & Hamre, 2008). Lastly, negative teaching behavior includes unpleasant and counter- productive behaviors by teachers that are perceived as threatening or punishing by students (Pössel et al., 2013). Such behaviors have been found to be associated with a range of students' academic (Allen et al., 2013; Hamre & Pianta, 2005) and mental health outcomes, including affect (Cauley, Pössel, Winkeljohn Black, & Hooper, 2017; Pössel et al., 2013) and psycho- pathology (i.e., depression; Pittard, Pössel, & Smith, 2015). The substantial academic (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2009, 2013), school disciplinary (Shirley & Cornell, 2012), and mental health (Gore & Aseltine, 2003; Miller & Taylor, 2012; Saluja et al., 2004) outcome disparities across African American (AA) and European American (EA) students combined with findings that these diverse groups respond to teachers' beliefs differently (Ferguson, 2003) as well as the possibility that students' interpret teachers' behaviors differently points to the need for continued research on students' perspectives of teaching behaviors. However, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2017.06.005 Received 15 June 2016; Received in revised form 28 March 2017; Accepted 29 June 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Louisville, 2301 S. Third Street, Louisville, KY 40292, USA. E-mail addresses: bkcaul01@louisville.edu (B. Cauley), jason.immekus@louisville.edu (J.C. Immekus), patrick.possel@louisville.edu (P. Pössel). Journal of School Psychology 65 (2017) 28–39 0022-4405/ © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. MARK