Education Commons^™

A Qualitative Descriptive Study Exploring The Perceptions Of New Teacher Induction Supports, Tonya Dixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of novice teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represented a global issue and an increased attrition rate. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions of novice U.S. teachers and effective systemic supports provided to new teachers through the lens of social capital. For this study, the intangible components of social capital emerged through the development and fostering of mentoring relationships in an induction program. The methodology used was a qualitative descriptive study using a survey, interviews, and thematic analysis of the survey and interview data collected. The …

Peer Observation To Improve Teacher Self-Efficacy, Bethany R. Mather, Jeremy D. Visone

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This qualitative descriptive study explored teachers’ perceptions of a peer observation structure, collegial visits (CVs), and CVs’ connection to teacher self-efficacy (TSE). The research question was: How do teachers perceive CVs, particularly with respect to their influence on TSE? Semi-structured interviews and a focus group were utilized to collect data from 13 K–12 educators from urban and suburban public school districts in the United States. The theoretical foundation included Bandura’s social cognitive theory and the triadic reciprocal causation model. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, and four themes emerged: (1) cultural drivers and effects of CVs; (2) impact …

Special Education Teacher Burnout: Examining The Role Of Educator Preparation Programs In Prevention, Brittany L. Straub

Dissertations

Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up …

Teacher Self-Efficacy And Teacher Work Engagement For Expatriate Teachers At International K12 Schools In China, Jennifer L. Johnson

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this non-experimental, descriptive quantitative survey study was to evaluate if teacher self-efficacy predicts teacher work engagement for expatriate teachers in international schools in China. The purposive sample was composed of 103 expatriate, international school teachers who have worked in China during the past 10 years at an international K12 school and are personally known to the researcher or the researcher’s contacts. The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS) measured teacher self-efficacy and teacher work engagement. Results from simple linear regression indicated a statistically significant predictive relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teacher …

The Impacts Of Peer Observation Roles And Teaching Characteristics On Teacher Self-Efficacy: A Secondary Data Analysis Study Using The Talis Survey, Elisa Tedona

Theses and Dissertations

It is important for teachers to have a high sense of self-efficacy, as it is one of the prime motivational forces influencing student learning, teacher quality, and in turn, overall success (Curry, 2015; Hattie, 2009; Klassen & Chiu, 2010). Teachers with high self-efficacy work harder, are more involved in learning, and have higher assurance (Bandura, 1994). For these reasons, it is imperative to study the influencers of teacher self-efficacy. Peer observations and observational feedback, a highly used practice in all schools, is one of those influencers. This cycle of observations and feedback provided to teachers is influential to teacher self-efficacy …

Teacher Expectations, Self-Efficacy, And Collective Efficacy In Three Tennessee Literacy Networks, Amanda Tinker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the dependent variables- teacher expectations, self-efficacy, and collective efficacy among the three levels of the independent variable- membership in one three literacy networks in Tennessee- Leading Innovation for Tennessee (LIFT), Read to Be Ready Coaching Network (RTBR), and Tennessee Early Literacy Network (TELN)- and if significant correlations existed between the dependent variables for each network. The population consisted of 161 K-3 Tennessee teachers who had been involved in the work of one of the three networks. Participants responded to an online survey via Google …

Examining The Effects Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices Of Educators, Lenore Thompson

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This dissertation was designed to examine how experiences, education, and professional development informed culturally responsive pedagogy and influenced teacher beliefs in their ability to guide students to success when employing culturally responsive teaching practices. The research school district was located in the piedmont region of North Carolina. It was determined after reviewing the district’s historical student achievement data there was a trend of underachievement by marginalized groups of students. Licensed educators completed the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE) Scale and the Culturally Responsive Teaching Outcome Expectancy (CRTOE) Scale in order to determine their level of preparedness to teach students from …

Classroom Ready? Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy For Their First Professional Experience Placement, Kang Ma, Michael S. Cavanagh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigates the level of teacher self-efficacy (TSE) among 90 secondary preservice teachers (PSTs) before their first teaching practice and the factors which influenced their ratings. The Scale for Teacher Self-Efficacy (STSE) (Pfitzner-Eden, Thiel, & Horsley, 2014) was adapted by adding some open-ended questions. Data were analysed via SPSS and NVivo separately. Results show a relatively lower level of TSE compared with previous research and classroom management was of greatest concern. PSTs reported factors such as lacking teaching experience, previous informal teaching and other relevant experience, teacher education program, personal qualities and characteristics, and teacher-student relationship. Implications, limitations, and …

To Participate Or Not To Participate In Education Research: A View From The Teacher’S Perspective, Jennifer Gans

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was designed to identify factors that might explain teacher resistance versus teacher support for participation in education research. To that end, predictor variables suggested by both diffusion of innovations theory, as well as personality trait theories were examined as unique predictors of variability in attitudes toward adoption of participation in the research process. Furthermore, “exposure to research” was examined as another possible variable that may be uniquely associated with willingness to participate in research, beyond the other theoretically motivated variables. The researcher developed a survey instrument featuring four research vignettes that increased in demands for teacher participation. Each …

Enriching Teacher Self-Efficacy Through A Support Centric Evaluation Model: A Mixed Methods Study Of Team's Impact On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Elizabeth Marie Norton

Doctoral Dissertations

The effectiveness of teacher evaluation systems is determined by the extent to which they can support improved instructional practice. Research suggests that implementation factors such as attitudes of school leaders (Kimball & Milanowski, 2009), perceptions of fairness (Delvaux, Vanhoof, Tuytens, Vekeman, Devos, & Petegem, 2013), the relationship of the evaluator and the teacher (Weber, 1987), and the quality of the feedback provided can all impact the effectiveness of the evaluation system (Conly & Glasman, 2008; Danielson, 2012; Delvaux et al., 2013; Weber, 1987). This mixed methods study attempted to determine the extent to which these implementation characteristics occurring within the …

Catch The Bus: Investigating The Correlations Between Teacher Collaborative Action-Taking And Self-Efficacy, Tara B. Brandt

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the correlations between particular teacher collaborative actions and teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. Additionally, descriptive analyses provided a snapshot of current collaborative action-taking across US schools, and elucidated teachers’ present sense of self-efficacy. This study utilized existing data from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (sponsored by the OECD), which was completed by 1,926 lower secondary teachers from just over 120 different American schools. Multivariate correlational analysis confirmed that frequency of US teachers’ participation in collaborative actions significantly correlated to higher levels of teacher self-efficacy. Actions with the highest correlations included: taking …

Self-Efficacy In Teaching Chinese As A Foreign Language In Australian Schools, Zhu Chen, Alexander S. Yeung

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Participating in a research-oriented teacher education program, 20 university graduates from China were invited to teach Chinese as a foreign language in western Sydney schools and conducted teacher research for one and half years. By analysing their research on their own teaching through a qualitative approach, this study attempted to identify the factors that influenced their self-efficacy in teaching Chinese as a foreign language in an English-speaking school system. Influential factors identified in this research include teacher factors, student factors and contextual factors. Findings of this research have implications for foreign language teacher education.

Pre-Service Student-Teacher Self-Efficacy Beliefs: An Insight Into The Making Of Teachers, Donna Pendergast, Susanne Garvis, Jayne Keogh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Pre-service teacher education programs play an important role in the development of beginning teacher self-efficacy and identity. Research suggests that this development is influenced by the ‘apprenticeship of learning’. However, there remains limited research about the self-efficacy beliefs and identity construction of beginning pre-service teachers entering teacher training, and the impact of the education programs on the development of these attributes.

This paper reports on the first phase of a longitudinal study that investigates beginning teacher pre-service teachers’ views of what it is to be a teacher. In 2010, the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) …