Certification Program and Assigned Subject on First-Year Teachers' Self-Efficacy

• In Event: 26.079 - Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: 26.079-5 - Emerging Perspectives on Teacher Certification and Evaluation: Relationships Between Outcomes and Predictors

Abstract

Teacher certification programs have been taxed with preparing first year teachers to assist increasingly diverse students to pass high-stakes state assessments. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the influence of teacher certification programs and the assigned subject on the self-efficacy of first year teachers. A purposeful sample of 288 first year teachers employed across 20 southeast Texas public school districts were administered the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale to assess their level of self-efficacy. Results suggest that teacher certification program and/or the subject matter assigned to teach did not have any influence on the self-efficacy of first year teachers. Teachers noted the importance of experience and mentoring as being crucial elements necessary to support their self-efficacy.

Authors

• Michelle L. Peters, University of Houston - Clear Lake

• April Fox, La Porte Independent School District