The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher religiosity and teacher self-efficacy. The present study builds upon previous research which has shown purposeful work in everyday living fosters intrinsic motivation, religious orientation affects daily living, and teacher self-efficacy beliefs predict student achievement. Religiosity and self-efficacy data were gathered from public school teachers from a suburban school district in North Texas and from private Christian schools in Western Washington. The Age Universal I-E scale (a measure of religious orientation intended to capture how one lives out his/her religiosity), Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, and a teacher characteristic form were used to collect data. In a multiple regression analysis, independent variables included teacher age, gender, grade level taught, experience level, campus type (public or private religious), and teacher religious orientation (intrinsic or extrinsic); the dependent variable was the score for teacher self-efficacy. The regression analysis resulted in an equation that explained only slightly more than 9% of the variance in the score for teacher self-efficacy. Three significant variables were identified--grade level taught, teacher age, and intrinsic religious orientation. Teacher age and teacher intrinsic religious orientation were the two most important contributors according to a comparison of beta weights. Intrinsic religious orientation contributed to the equation, but it acted as a suppressor variable in the study, having little predictive value by itself but contributing to the predictive value of the model. Based on the data collected, recommendations for future research and suggestions for field application are offered.

In order to implement more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into K12 classrooms, it is important to find out whether teachers are comfortable with this pedagogy. To determine teachers' current self-efficacy of STEM pedagogy, teachers in a southern state in the United States were asked to enlighten researchers into this phenomenon. Participants were K12 teachers (n = 119) from a public school district undertaking a district-wide STEM initiative. A measure of STEM teacher self-efficacy and a demographic questionnaire were administered online to participants. STEM teacher self-efficacy data were analyzed, along with demographic data, using descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Results suggest some demographic variables are more predictive of STEM self-efficacy (gender, grade level taught, feelings of administrative support, and professional development sessions attended) than others (whether or not gifted courses are taught, age, and length of teaching experience. This data should be used by school administrators that seek to begin or improve STEM pedagogy in their schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine principal behaviors, identified by teachers and principals, which foster collective efficacy among teachers. As instructional leaders of a school, principals are expected to lead their schools. Behaviors exhibited by the principal can either help or hinder the success of the school and teachers and students in that school. This study will assist principals, aspiring principals, and instructors of principal preparation programs in knowing what behaviors are necessary to foster collective efficacy in their schools, leading to greater success for that school. Collective efficacy is a shared belief that by working together, “we can make a difference.” This belief is of great importance in education because through collaboration, educators can influence the lives of children, while positively impacting the success of their school. In a world where testing accountability determines individual and school success, it is imperative to know how to meet those demands. Schools were chosen to participate in this study based on self-reported Collective Efficacy survey results. Principals of grades 9-12 in high-performing rural high schools in Kentucky were surveyed. Following the survey, three schools were chosen as focus sites for this study. The three schools chosen demonstrated high performance on state accountability assessments and had the highest self-efficacy scores on the self-reported survey. Principals and teachers from those schools were interviewed and/or participated in focus groups. This study identifies behaviors of the school principal in building collective efficacy among the teachers in his or her school. These behaviors can lead to a positive school environment and even greater success for students and teachers.

No description available.

Imagination and creative self-efficacy are important components of the creative process and outcomes but are rarely investigated together. To explore the relationship between personality factors, imaginative thinking, and creative self-efficacy, survey responses were gathered from university students in a southwestern region in the United States (n = 1,731). Personality was measured using the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), imagination was measured using the Imaginative Capability Scale (ICS), and creative self-efficacy was measured using items based on reliability in previous studies. Participants were asked to complete the three surveys along with demographic information through an online format. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted first to confirm measurements used. After fit indices confirmed measurement models used, subsequent analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM). The model of best fit supported creative self-efficacy as a strong predictor of all three factors of imagination. Additionally, the model indicated a strong relationship between conscientiousness and conceiving imagination as well as other notable relationships with personality factors.

Students with special needs in secondary schools are not meeting standards as indicated by adequate yearly progress. Guided by Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the relationship between general education teacher self-efficacy and academic achievement among students with disabilities. Quantitative data were collected from 23 general education teachers using the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice Scale and Collection of Classroom Assessment Data Form, in which general education teachers reported student academic achievement data in the form of end-of-chapter and end-of–unit summative quiz and test scores. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the dependent variable, academic achievement of secondary students, and 2 independent variables: general education teacher self-efficacy and disability status of students. Quantitative results indicated no relationship between teacher self-efficacy and student academic achievement. To further examine areas of reported lower teacher self-efficacy from the quantitative portion of the study, qualitative general education teacher interview data were collected from 20 participants from the same population. Responses were summarized, analyzed, and managed into themes and subtle trends. Qualitative results indicated negative feelings regarding teacher education programs and positive feelings regarding a desire for continuing professional development opportunities in the area of special education. The outcomes of this study may lead to positive changes in teacher education programs and professional development opportunities and may create a path for improved general education teacher preparation on providing instruction for students with disabilities.

The aim of this thesis is to find a relationship between coaching, self-efficacy, employee engagement and personality traits according to the Big Five theory, that means openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. In the theoretical part, the thesis is devoted to measuring the effectiveness of coaching interventions, with a focus on finding connections with the concepts of self-efficacy, engagement and personality traits. The empirical part describes a quasi-experimental research verifying the assumption, that coaching had a significant impact on all monitored independent variables. The experimental group consisted of store managers of unnamed retail company, which were divided into experimental and control group. The experimental group attended six coaching sessions over six months, focusing on any topic related to their work life. The control group did not attend any coaching session. Both groups were tested at the beginning of the coaching program and afterwards. Respondents completed three questionnaires - General Self-Efficacy Scale, Gallup Q12 questionnaire for engagement and NEO five-factor personality inventory. Based on the collected data and statistical analysis, a statistically significant difference was found between the pretest and posttest...

Tron på den egna förmågan, self-efficacy, utgår från att individen själv försöker utöva påverkan på sin omgivning. Påverkan kan även utövas genom ombud och tilltron till ombudets förmåga att göra något för individen benämns som proxy efficacy. Syftet med studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan self-efficacy och proxy efficacy för utveckling i yrkesrollen. Tre hypoteser och 1 frågeställning formulerades. En enkät besvarades av 85 medarbetare från ett fastighetsföretag i Stockholmsregionen och materialet undersöktes med korrelationer, regressionsanalys, samt t-test. Hypotes 1 fick stöd då proxy efficacy och self-efficacy var positivt korrelerade. Hypotes 3 fick stöd då medarbetare med kortare anställningstid (0-3.9 år) rapporterade högre proxy efficacy jämfört med medarbetare med längre (4-20 år) anställningstid. Proxy efficacy inte kunde predicera self-efficacy (hypotes 2) och inga skillnader i proxy efficacy kunde påvisas mellan könen (frågeställning 1). Resultaten diskuteras utifrån hur proxy efficacy kan definieras samt innebörden i begreppet där mer forskning krävs.

No description available.

This study examined the musical background characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, and practice behaviors of string students auditioning for an all-region orchestra in one large South-Central district. Purposes of the study were: (1) to describe the musical backgrounds and self-efficacy beliefs of high school string students, (2) to measure the relationship between self-efficacy scores and performance achievement, and (3) to describe the practice behaviors and thoughts of high and low self-efficacy string students. Questionnaires were given to 101 high school string students; 65 competed in all-region orchestra. Descriptive data from the questionnaire revealed information such as how many took private lessons and that those who did tended to have a higher sense of perceived self-efficacy in relation to playing their string instruments. Other descriptive items asked questions such as whether or not students started in public school and how much they practiced outside of orchestra. The relationship of summed self-efficacy scores to a competition ranking was found to be statistically significant and inverse. For all string participants (n=65) Spearman's rho was, rs= -.37, (p=.001) with 14% of the variance explained (r2 =.14). This inverse relationship documents the linear trend for students with better rankings (lower ranking numbers) to also tend to have higher self-efficacy scores. Observation and interview data of 8 higher and 8 lower self-efficacy sub-group students were also analyzed. The higher self-efficacy sub-group students tended to use more cognitive practice strategies, while the lower self-efficacy sub-group tended to use dissimilar and less advanced strategies. Understanding string students' musical background experiences and characteristics and the possible relationship self-efficacy may have with practice and achievement could benefit certain students. Helping these students gain a higher sense of perceived self-efficacy in their musical endeavors, or obtain certain characteristics that successful students share, could possibly enable them to develop and understand more complex practice strategies and compete more confidently.