Further, three studies have emphasized the importance of teachers' educational support for adolescents' school engagement. For instance, in a sample of mostly African American and Caucasian students in the mid-Atlantic, Murdock et al., (2000) found that students who perceived their teachers as having greater expectations for their academic success in 7th grade tended to show higher levels of effort in 9th grade than those perceiving their teachers as having lower expectations for their academic success. This relationship held even with controls for 7th grade achievement, academic self-concept, and other important variables. Further, in a study of mostly White students in the mid-Atlantic, Wentzel (1997) found that students who reported that the teachers in their school cared about them and how well they did in school in 8th grade reported higher levels of academic effort, even controlling their prior levels of academic effort and achievement. Finally, Connell and Halpern-Felsher (1997) found an indirect relationship between the adult support adolescents' received at school and their levels of school engagement . Yet, this latter analysis involved cross-sectional data and ought to be interpreted with caution. Yet, taken together these studies suggest that teachers' support of students is related to their later educational engagement. It is important to note, however, that some studies have suggested this relationship is reciprocal in nature, with teachers being more supportive of students who show higher levels of engagement, thereby further increasing their levels of engagement (Skinner & Belmont, 1993).