Since the beginning of the 21st century the Swedish Government has orchestrated a massive drive for in-service training of teachers working at all stages in primary and secondary school. To focus on teachers’ professional development is high priority as there is empirical evidence that well-trained teachers result in well-educated pupils. Lärarlyftet is the umbrella-term for one of these major initiatives, and the aim of the continuing drive, Lärarlyftet II, which will continue until year 2019, is that teachers should earn qualifications for all types of schools, and all subjects and grades where they teach. The Teacher Certification introduced in 2012, also requires competence for grading. Evaluations of Lärarlyftet has only been made of the first part, and there is nothing published regarding the English subject specifically. This study has its focus on primary school teachers taking an in-service course in English at university level. Based on both quantitative and qualitative methods, data for this study was collected over four years and from three sources: course evaluations, surveys and interviews. This study aims at finding answers to what experiences these teachers were left with after the completion of the in-service training regarding the gains from the course, how they feel they have been able to implement their newly acquired knowledge, and how they feel about the effect on their teacher identity, more specifically their language teacher identity. The results from all data sets is unanimous and reveals that the participating teachers experience great gains for their classroom practices, which in many cases have been heavily modified or completely overturned as a result of the course. These narratives can be linked to the theoretical concepts of teacher-efficacy, agency and teacher identity, as they give witness to gained self confidence in teaching situations (teacher-efficacy), a feeling of higher levels of independence regarding choices of both teaching materials and teaching methods (agency), as well as a more defined language teacher identity. These results also seem to hold over time. The current project also confirms previous evaluations of Lärarlyftet I regarding the spill-over effects of the teachers’ newly acquired knowledge. These are neither asked for nor taken advantage of on an organisation level, why this knowledge stays with the teacher on a classroom level.

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In understanding leadership to be the single most important factor in shaping a school’s performance, and second highest factor influencing student achievement, it is a necessity for investigations to focus on what successful leaders do to have excelling schools. Research has alluded to the understanding that the principal can no longer serve as the sole instructional leader of a school. This need for collaboration within the organization places a weight on principals to incorporate others within the school decision-making process. This study examined how collective instructional leadership is currently influencing teacher efficacy in high performing central Kentucky elementary schools. Data were collected through individual principal interviews and focus-group interviews to gain perspectives about how collective instructional leadership is currently influencing teacher efficacy, individuals involved in collective instructional leadership, and actions leaders engage in to promote individual and collective teacher efficacy. The findings of this study identified themes to support a hypothesis around how collective instructional leadership is influencing teacher efficacy. Through the finding of this study a working model of collective instructional leadership was developed. Findings indicate the four working dimensions within the collective instructional leadership model will help raise both individual and collective teacher efficacy within schools.

This study was designed for the purpose of quantitatively examining the significant elements of reform-based professional development and their relationship to teachers’ self-efficacies for inclusion. The theoretical frameworks for this study were drawn from Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy and social cognitive theory in addition to pre-existing research pertaining to professional development and teacher efficacy for inclusion. A web based survey was developed and made available for voluntary participation to a total population of 385 elementary school teachers in one East Tennessee school district. Data were collected from 79 elementary school teachers in 14 of the district’s elementary schools. Findings included no significant statistical correlation between teacher self-efficacy for inclusion scores and the amount of professional development completed during the current school year. Respondents did report a perception that inclusion was not significantly emphasized during professional development activities. Self-efficacy for inclusion scores of teachers with 11+ years of overall teaching experience were found to be significantly higher than teachers with 1-10 years of overall teaching experience. Additionally, there was no significant difference between self-efficacy scores of teachers who were required to take 1 or 2 special education courses for initial certification and 3 teachers who were required to take more than 2 special education courses for initial certification.

Students identified as “emotionally disturbed” face resistance to inclusion in classrooms with typically-developing peers on the part of the general education teachers. This study aims to address whether the classroom label of “emotionally disturbed” affects teacher efficacy and whether this relationship is moderated by the amount of applied inclusion training a teacher has received. General education teachers will read identical case studies of a student who either spends some of his school day in an “Emotionally Disturbed Class” or a “Self-Regulation Skills Class.” They will complete a measure of student-specific teacher efficacy and then report how many hours of inclusion training that involved direct interaction with students with emotional and behavioral difficulties they have had. An analysis of covariance is predicted to show higher reports of teacher efficacy in the “Self-Regulation Skills Class” condition than in the “Emotionally Disturbed Class” condition, and this relationship is expected to be even stronger as the amount of applied inclusion training increases.

The attrition rate of teachers in an urban/suburban school district in a northeastern state caused schools to fail to attain annual yearly progress. To reverse this problem, administrators must understand the importance of their leadership and teacher efficacy and the need to nurture teachers to increase student performance. The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods study was to determine whether a relationship existed between leadership and efficacy. Total-population sampling was used to obtain 19 elementary and middle teachers who completed two surveys to examine the relationship between principals' behaviors (human relations, trust/decision making, instructional leadership, control, and conflict) and teacher efficacy (student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management). Survey data were analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlations. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 3 teachers who had 5 or fewer years of teaching experience. These data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative findings indicated significant relationships between instructional leadership with teacher engagement and conflict with teacher engagement. Themes, based on the integrated model of teacher efficacy, revealed connections with the principal and support, guidance, and structure provided by the principal. Principals must focus on leadership behaviors that may increase teacher efficacy. These endeavors may contribute to positive social change when school leaders support teachers, who, in turn support students in their educational challenges to increase academic performance.

U.S. public education is regulated by accountability policies designed to ensure that all students, and those who are responsible for their education, are held to high academic standards. Accountability policies at the federal and state level have unintended consequences for educators, with principals and teachers experiencing increased job stress, decreased job satisfaction, and increased numbers of teachers and principals leaving the profession. The construct of efficacy may be a critical component in meeting the established accountability demands. Perception of self-efficacy is one’s personal belief in one’s ability to achieve a desired outcome. Similarly, perception of collective efficacy is a system-level construct, the collective belief of a group of individuals that, together, they can achieve a desired outcome. In general, efficacy beliefs are shaped by four primary sources: mastery experiences, verbal or social persuasion, vicarious experiences, and physiological or affective states. Beliefs of efficacy are also contextual in nature, varying across situations or settings. Within the field of education, beliefs of teacher and principal self-efficacy and of collective teacher efficacy have been shown to positively impact teacher and principal behaviors as well as student achievement. Given the context of state accountability policies in the area of literacy and the known relationship between efficacy beliefs and student achievement, this study examined the following two research questions: (RQ1) How do principals feel about their abilities to lead their schools? and (RQ2) What is the relationship between principals’ perceptions of their abilities to lead their schools and collective teacher efficacy perceptions? The target population for the study included public elementary school principals and teachers from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Consenting participants completed a two-part survey, including demographic information and the Principal Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004) for participating principals or Collective Teacher Beliefs Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Barr, 2004) for participating teachers. Variables for analysis included: gender of the principal, the principal’s years at the school, school size, school type (rural, suburban, urban), socioeconomic status (SES) based on free or reduced lunch (FRL), special education (IEP), English Language Learners (ELL), race/ethnicity, student achievement based on percent of students scoring proficient on the state English Language Arts/Reading assessment, principal self-efficacy perceptions, and collective teacher efficacy perceptions. The researcher employed descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVAs, correlational analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses to answer the research questions. Results indicated principal self-efficacy perceptions were significantly different based on school type (rural, suburban, urban) and free or reduced lunch (FRL) but not by other demographic variables of the principal or the school. In addition, principal self-efficacy perceptions were positively correlated with collective teacher efficacy perceptions (r= .435, p< .05). Furthermore, perceptions of principal self-efficacy were not a significant predictor of collective teacher efficacy perceptions. Years of experience in the building of the principal was the only significant predictor of perceptions of collective teacher efficacy.

The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine teacher self efficacy and culturally responsive self efficacy of in-service Hispanic teachers teaching in high priority schools which serve large percentages of students of color with respect to the teachers' route to certification (alternative or traditional). This study also personal narratives to explore highly effective both alternatively and traditionally certified inservice teachers. The three guiding research questions for this mixed method study were: 1. What are teacher efficacy beliefs of alternatively certified teachers and traditionally certified Hispanic teachers who work in high priority schools serving Hispanic students? 2. What are culturally responsive beliefs of alternative certified teachers and traditionally certified Hispanic teachers who work in high priority schools serving Hispanic students? 3. What are the voices of highly effective alternative certified teachers and traditionally certified Hispanic teachers who work in high priority schools serving Hispanic students?Participants in the quantitative portion of the study were 90 middle and high school in-service teachers teaching in high priority schools in the Texas/Mexico borderlands of South Texas. The participants (N=4) in the qualitative portion of the study were purposively drawn from the quantitative participants. Findings of the study were derived from the use of two questionnaires (Teacher Self Efficacy Scale & Culturally Responsive Teacher Self Efficacy Scale) and an in-depth semi-structured interview with four participant in-service teachers. The major findings in this study were: 1. There are no significant differences in teacher self efficacy between alternatively certified teachers and traditionally certified teachers. 2. There are no significant differences in culturally responsive teacher self efficacy between alternatively certified teachers and traditionally certified teachers. 3. Sample population of Hispanic teachers scored themselves as having high teacher self efficacy and culturally responsive self efficacy. 4. The themes from teachers participating in the narrative portion of the study were: (a) high levels of teacher expectations, (b) effective school/parent relationships, (c) effective use of previous work experience, (d) utilization of the funds of knowledge of the students, (e) effective teacher/student connection, and (f) consistent use of self reflection.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the present state of the sense of teacher efficacy in public kindergarten teachers as it relates to their background and subjective perception variables. The aim of this study was (1) to understand the condition of the sense of teacher efficacy in public kindergarten teachers, (2) to investigate the differences in teachers¡¦ sense of efficacy among public kindergarten teachers with diverse background variables (the teachers¡¦ attribute and schools¡¦ attribute variables), (3) to analyze the relationships between the subjective perception variables (the job characteristics perception and the social evaluation perception variables) and the teachers¡¦ efficacy sense, (4) to explore the predictive power of the diverse background variables and subjective perception variables for the teacher efficacy sense, (5) to compare the attitudes toward children, instruction and work between high and low sense of teacher efficacy, (6) based on the results of this study, the researcher proposed several suggestions for improving the sense of teacher efficacy in kindergarten teachers. This study adopted both questionnaire survey and interview methods. The participant¡¦s questionnaire survey included 354 public kindergarten teachers in Taiwan. The instruments employed were The Scale of Kindergarten Teachers¡¦ Efficacy, The Scale of Job Characteristics Perception, and The Scale of Social Evaluation Perception. The quantitative data obtained were analyzed by Descriptive Statistics, t-test, Hotelling¡¦s T2, One-Way MANOVA, Product-moment Correlation, Canonical Correlation Analysis and Stepwise multiple regression analysis. The participants in the interview for understanding the different attitudes toward children, instruction and work between high and low sense of teacher efficacy were 10 high and low efficacy sense teachers. Major findings of this study are summarized as follows: 1. The public kindergarten teachers possessed higher teachers¡¦ efficacy sense. 2. There were significant differences in the teachers¡¦ efficacy sense of the public kindergarten teachers with the diverse teachers¡¦ attribute variables. 3. There were relationships between the subjective perception variables (the job characteristics perception and the social evaluation perception variables) and the teachers¡¦ efficacy sense. 4. There were significant differences in the teachers¡¦ efficacy sense of the public kindergarten teachers with the diverse job characteristics perception and the social evaluation perception variables. 5. Number of working years, diploma and class grade background variables, skill variety, task importance, task autonomy, task feedback of the job characteristic perception variables, and the social evaluation perception variables could predict the sense of teacher efficacy of the kindergarten teachers. 6. There were differences in opinions and attitudes toward children, instruction and work between high and low sense of teacher efficacy. Finally, according to the results and conclusions of this study, the researcher proposed several suggestions to the kindergarten teachers, the kindergartens, the teacher education institutes, the educational administration institutions, and for future study.

The purpose of this study was to identify those elements of the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence that central office leaders, principals, and teachers perceive as having an impact on collective teacher efficacy. The study determined if there was a relationship between the perceptions of central office leaders, principals, and teachers concerning the implementation of the criteria, the difficulty of implementation, and the impact of implementation on collective teacher efficacy. The population for this study included sixty individuals from three school districts from Texas, North Carolina, and New Mexico who have implemented the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence for a minimum of five years. The Delphi Technique was used for the study utilizing a questionnaire linked to six of the seven categories of the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, which were reported using numerical and graphic techniques. The key findings of this study suggest that the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence, which the three study school districts chose as a framework for improving organizational performance, has had a perceived positive impact on collective teacher efficacy. The following conclusions were drawn from the data analysis: ?? Implementation of the Baldrige Criteria requires a long-term commitment, ?? Districts committed to implementation of the criteria develop systematic approaches to management processes, persevere in their deployment, and continually assess performance to determine areas for improvement. ?? The difficulty of implementation of the criteria relates to the effort required to align and deploy systematic approaches throughout the organization. ?? Commitment and implementation begins at the senior leadership level of central office and cascades through the organization to principals and classroom teachers. The extent to which systematic management approaches have been deployed to the classroom teacher level determines the level of impact of implementation on collective efficacy. ?? The Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence provide a framework for school districts to improve organizational performance from a systems perspective to achieve organizational and student success. ?? The more mature a district??s deployment/implementation of the criteria, the greater the impact on collective teacher efficacy.