Education Commons^™

First Grade Teachers’ Self-Efficacy During Transformational Changes In Literacy Instruction, Amy M. Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Schools across the county are transitioning from balanced literacy to researched based reading instruction. This shift impacts not only instructional practices in reading, but the fundamental understanding of reading development. Teachers are on the frontline of this huge endeavor. This research examined five first grade teachers’ self-efficacy through this transformational change. One-on-one interviews were conducted to explore teachers’ perspectives as they make this shift. Through interpretative phenomenological analysis, (IPA) four themes emerged; lack of training, feelings of disconnect, teacher overwhelm, and passion for change. Recommendations for practice include clear and concise communications of the shifts that are necessary when moving …

Relationships Between School Principals’ Perceived Technology Self-Efficacy And The Perceived Ability To Lead Technological Innovation In The Covid-19 Pandemic Era, Jonathan S. Krawchuk

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, education has evolved into non-traditional models inclusive of blended classrooms or fully remote classrooms in which students do not physically attend school in person. As a result, the supportive role of the building principals has rapidly and dramatically changed the way they support their students and staff in the ever-evolving educational system that we find ourselves today. This study sought to investigate the interactions and/or relationships that may exist between building principals reported self-efficacy and their technology leadership abilities in conjunction with demographic information provided by participants. Two surveys were used, the Tschannen-Moran self-efficacy survey …

Discrimination, Acculturative Stress, And Academic Achievement, Rebecca A. Steele

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers report an association of racial discrimination to academic achievement for racial/ethnic minority students. Racial discrimination is manifest on multiple levels, including interpersonal discrimination, discrimination in schools, and societal and cultural discrimination. Researchers have generally focused their efforts on examining the effects of one type of discrimination on academic achievement. Further, mediators of this relation have not been fully explored. In a sample of 78 college students, only interpersonal racial/ethnic discrimination, and not school-based or societal discrimination, was negatively associated with GPA. However, the effects did not hold once controlling for demographic factors. Two potential mediators of the relations of …

Leadership Practices, Self-Efficacy, And Role Expectations Of Community College Academic Leaders During Change, Elizabeth Kristen Gandt Spagnola

Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions in the United States currently face ongoing challenges and difficulties beginning in 2008 with the fiscal crisis which created a need for education and retraining for man, demand for greater accountability by institutions and a fundamental shift in the perceived value of higher education. Academic leaders of post-secondary institutions, in particular community colleges, have encountered this shift in society's view of the value of a college degree, and now see a demand for greater skills and employability within the workforce. For academic leaders to meet these new expectations, an understanding of leadership styles, focused on the characterization …

Agency And Self-Efficacy In Corequisite Math Courses, Silvia Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

Students identified as unprepared for college work face considerable barriers to performance and college completion. To improve underprepared student outcomes, community colleges where most underprepared students enroll are using different models of developmental education. A recently implemented model in mathematics is a corequisite course designed to increase students’ chances of success by using different methods of instruction to decrease student time to completion. This corequisite course accelerates students placed in developmental math classes and offers students the opportunity to complete their developmental requirements while taking college-level work and earning college credit. As developmental mathematics poses the biggest barrier for underprepared …

The Analysis Of A Multi-Year Mentoring Program And Its Long-Term Effects On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Kelly Marzocchi

Theses and Dissertations

Preparing novice staff through induction programs is essential for teacher retention and student achievement. The purpose of the current research was to determine the impact of teacher participation in a multi-year mentoring program, teachers’ years of experience, and school-level taught as they relate to the self-efficacy scores of teachers. A non-experimental design was conducted with data collected through online surveys, voluntarily completed by 110 teachers across grades K-12, from a suburban school district nearby a large metropolitan city in the northeastern United States. The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) was used to measure teacher self-efficacy in …

Minority Students: A Quantitative Study Of Self-Efficacy And The Relationship To Fourth Grade Reading Achievement, Tanicia Marie Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

Education reform continues at a rapid pace in American schools, yet many minority students continue to struggle with reading achievement. This quantitative study examines the relationship between self-efficacy and fourth grade reading achievement. The theoretical framework for this study uses Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and Jerome Bruner’s Constructivist Theory. This research study asked three questions. First, what is the relationship between self-efficacy and student reading achievement? Second, is there a significant relationship between self-concept and socioeconomic status on student reading achievement? Third, is there a significant relationship between self-efficacy on student achievement for any of the independent variables of …

Expectancy-Value Theory During Challenging Moments: A Narrative Inquiry Into Classroom Dialogic Discussions, Malka Alter Ungar

Theses and Dissertations

This problem solution narrative inquiry explored how expectancy-value theory impacts teachers’ decisions during dialogic discussions. This paper delved into challenging moments teachers faced during dialogic discussion implementation. The purpose was to use this data to better inform the development of teacher-centered and more supportive professional learning opportunities. Participants from two parochial schools were invited to be interviewed about their dialogic discussion experiences. Data was coded using constant-comparative coding and was then restoried within problem solution narrative framework. The narratives were then coded for themes of expectancy, value, and self-efficacy. This study was intended to impact professional development to guide teachers …

Teacher Self-Efficacy In A Multicultural Alternative Education Program, Angela Marie Trowers

Theses and Dissertations

As the United States embraces cultural diversity, educators need to feel a sense of preparedness to effectively master culturally responsive teaching which is vital to students’ academic growth and development. Drawing on the interpretivist- constructive paradigm and self-efficacy theory, this narrative inquiry study, examined teacher’s beliefs, attitudes and perceptions, with regards to their culturally relevant pedagogy and the impact on their multicultural students’ academic achievement and social success. Eight teacher candidates, seven females and one male (Caucasian), who teach at a multicultural alternative education program in New York State participated in two interviews, one face to face and the other …