Education Commons^™

Head Start Teachers’ Self-Efficacy And Experiences Teaching Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Leronda Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Autism spectrum disorders are pervasive developmental disorders in which a student’s inability to communicate, undeveloped social skills, and restricted interests require intervention from trained professionals. Autism spectrum disorder is an eligibility for special education where students can be affected by the presence of a lack of qualified teachers. Teachers who work with students with special needs experience more frustration and burnout than do teachers of typical students; research has suggested that teachers with higher self-efficacy have more success than do teachers with lower self-efficacy. The study’s theoretical basis was derived from Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. This phenomenological qualitative research study explored …