Variability in Teacher Self-Efficacy Among Linguistically Diverse Preschoolers: Student-Teacher Relationship Quality as a Predictor

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Dual language learners (DLL) are a growing population in early childhood classrooms (OELA, 2017). Unfortunately, due to numerous barriers such as poverty and limited English proficiency, DLLs often begin school with lower skills than monolingual English-speaking children (e.g., Hoff, 2013). However, DLLs who experience high quality early childhood educational environments score well on school readiness skills (Buysse et al., 2014). Teacher self-efficacy (TSE), teachers’ beliefs about their capabilities to act in ways that produce desirable outcomes for their students, is related to higher quality instruction and positive student outcomes, such as higher levels of school engagement and academic achievement than students whose teachers have lower levels of TSE (Opperman et al., 2019; Zee & Koomen, 2016).
TSE has typically been measured as a global trait of teachers (Zee & Koomen, 2016). Yet, recent research has shown that teachers have varying levels of TSE related to characteristics of individual children (i.e., student-specific TSE), such as disability status (Author et al., 2020) and ethnicity (Geerlings et al., 2018). No existing study has examined whether TSE is influenced by a student’s status as a DLL. Thus, the key purpose of this study is to determine whether teachers have differential levels of TSE for DLLs and monolingual English-speaking students. An additional purpose is to examine whether the quality of the student-teacher relationship (STR), another construct that varies according to individual student characteristics (White, 2016), predicts student-specific TSE. It is hypothesized that student-specific TSE will be greater for monolingual English-speaking children than for DLLs, and that STR quality will account for significant variance in student-specific TSE.
Forty preschool teachers will be recruited from an early childhood education (ECE) program. Each teacher will complete both the Student Specific Teacher Self Efficacy Scale (SSTSES; Zee & Koomen, 2015), which measures four domains of TSE (instructional support, behavioral management, student engagement, and emotional support), and the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale – Short Form (STRS-SF; Pianta, 2001), which measures teacher-perceived closeness and conflict in the relationship, for two monolingual English-speaking students and two DLLs in their classrooms. Data collection is planned to begin in November in a regional ECE program that is in full operation for students.
To answer the first research question, an independent t-test will be conducted to compare teacher reported self-efficacy for monolingual English-speaking children and DLLs. The hypothesis will be the mean difference in student-specific TSE between the two language groups of students is statistically significant (α = .05).
To answer the second research question, a linear multiple regression analysis will be conducted with one main predictor (STR quality) as a predictor of student-specific TSE. The hypothesis for this research question will be that STR quality scores account for significant variance in student-specific TSE scores (α = .05).
Findings will identify strengths and weaknesses in regard to domains of TSE, such as student engagement and behavior management, and patterns of TSE across DLLs and monolingual English-speaking students. As such, findings can inform teacher preparation and ECE programs about necessary areas of additional training and resources for teachers.

Authors

• Christina Nicole Wood, Lehigh University
  Presenting Author

• Patricia Manz, Lehigh University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brook Sawyer, Lehigh University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joan Fu, Lehigh University
  Non-Presenting Author