Teacher, Workplace, Administrative, School Variables Associated With Teacher Control

• In Event: Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding the Influences of Social Relationships on School Community and Learning

Abstract

Employing data from the National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Survey, we examined the association between teachers' professional characteristics, demographics, workplace conditions on teachers' sense of control (e.g. autonomy). We also analyzed principals' characteristics and perceptions as well as school demographics impacted teachers’ sense of control. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), we conducted an exploratory study to look at relationships between constructs. Multi-level analyses determined that teachers’ sense of bureaucratic freedom and race significantly influenced their sense of autonomy. Moreover, at the building level, teachers working in charter schools and in schools with collective bargaining experienced a greater sense of control. These finding have implications at multiple policy levels and context.

Authors

• Tina Lane Heafner, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Paul G. Fitchett, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Richard G. Lambert, University of North Carolina - Charlotte