Can I Teach Kids With Autism Spectrum Disorder? Investigating Teacher Self-Efficacy Within an Emerging Population of Students

• In Event: 14.046 - Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: 14.046-1 - Can I Teach Kids With Autism Spectrum Disorder? Investigating Teacher Self-Efficacy Within an Emerging Population of Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Teacher self-efficacy refers to the belief teachers hold about their ability to affect student learning and has been shown to change teachers’ motivation, stress levels, and amount of effort given (Klassen, Tze, Betts, & Gordon, 2011). Participants included 134 teachers and data were analyzed using factor analysis and latent correlation analysis. Factor analysis results indicated that the TSEAS represented a unidimensional scale and latent correlation found a positive correlation with a well-known teacher self-efficacy measure. Results suggest that population-specific measures should receive attention as teachers vary in their self-belief when provided with a target population.

Authors

• Abigail M. A. Love, University of Kentucky

• Michael Toland, University of Kentucky

• Ellen L. Usher, University of Kentucky