<p> Self-efficacy affects the way a person decides to live his or her life. Efficacy can dictate whether a person takes a risk, can influence personal and professional goals, and can determine what a person does when failure arises. Strong self-efficacy includes perseverance, motivation, and courage to try an unfamiliar path. In education, efficacy is imbedded in a school environment. The areas of efficacy that co-exist in an educational setting are teacher efficacy, collective efficacy, and student efficacy. The focus of this study is the influence instructional coaching has on teacher efficacy and how that efficacy affects student achievement. Research indicates that there is a relationship between teacher efficacy and student achievement. The question is whether teacher efficacy is influenced by support from an instructional coach in a school setting. In this mixed methods study there were many indications to support the need for instructional coaching in an efficacious school system. Themes found in the interviews and teacher reflections indicated a strong need for effective school leadership, strong professional learning communities, supportive grade level teams, and instructional support found within an instructional coach. Use of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale along with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed the positive effects instructional coaching had on the instructional efficacy of the participants involved in this study. Finally, a paired samples <i>t</i>-test showed evidence of student achievement being affected by the support teachers received from the instructional coach. These topics remain relevant to the challenges facing teachers today who need ongoing instructional support to help them with implementation of state and federal mandates and educational standards.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3643233 |
| Date | 12 December 2014 |
| Creators | Panfilio-Padden, Shannon |
| Publisher | Northwest Nazarene University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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