The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive, single-case study was to explore educators' perceptions and uses of strategies to support 5th-grade middle school students' basic psychological needs for relatedness in the Southeastern region of the United States, because it was not known how educators perceived and used strategies to support 5th-grade students' needs for relatedness. The conceptual framework for the study was the self-determination theory. The four research questions were: what are educators' experience-based perceptions of 5th-grade middle school students' basic psychological needs for relatedness, what strategies do educators implement, what factors influence educators' uses of strategies, and what do educators perceive as the effects of the strategies implemented to support 5th-grade students' needs for relatedness? Data collection comprised of interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires. Data was analyzed using a thematic analysis with an inductive approach. From the analysis of data, eight themes developed. The themes were: (1) addressing relatedness needs is a priority, (2) addressing relatedness needs is challenging, (3) teacher to students strategies, (4) student to student strategies, (5) personnel support, (6) social development, (7) academic development, (8) and emotional development. Important findings of the study support that educators who foster social learning environments help students to develop academically, but with limited resources, there is the recommendation for future research on resources used to address students' basic psychological needs for relatedness. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]