The Effects of Teacher Beliefs on Students’ Argument Writing in History

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: How Beliefs Shape Teaching Effectiveness (Table 11)

Abstract

We examine whether teachers’ beliefs about the value of inquiry-based instruction, perceptions of supporting contexts to teaching inquiry, and self-efficacy for teaching writing uniquely predict students’ source-based argument writing improvement in history. The study takes place with 42 teachers participating in a professional development writing intervention. We find that teachers’ beliefs in supporting contexts for teaching inquiry and teachers’ valuing of inquiry uniquely predicted student writing improvement controlling for teachers’ professional development intervention status (1 year of professional development, 2 years, and no years), student demographics, and teachers’ reported preparation for teaching writing. Teachers’ self-efficacy for writing instruction did not predict student growth. Results suggest that certain sets of teachers’ beliefs matter significantly for students' writing development.

Authors

• Jacob Steiss, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Youngsun Moon, Stanford University

• Tamara Powell Tate, University of California - Irvine

• Steve Graham, Arizona State University