Mitigating the effects of poverty: A study of collective teacher efficacy, socioeconomic status, and student achievement in Colorado elementary schools

• Main Author: Pearce, Sharon Ann Roether
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2007
• Subjects: Elementary education
• ISBN: 9780549101970; 0549101977

The purpose of this study was to determine correlational relationships among teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, socioeconomic status of schools, and student achievement in Colorado elementary schools. The theoretical basis for this study is Bandura's social cognitive theory of self-efficacy expanded to the collective school level. The unit of study for the research was 25 elementary schools selected to represent high, average, and low achieving schools. Schools in each achievement category represented a range of socioeconomic levels, from high to low. Achievement was measured by school student achievement data for third, fourth, and fifth grade students on state reading, writing, and mathematics assessments. Teacher information for teacher efficacy and perceived collective teacher efficacy was obtained through a survey instrument. A conceptual model was developed to represent hypothesized relationships of teacher characteristics, teacher efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, socioeconomic status of students in a school, and student achievement for a school. Data were analyzed at both the teacher and school levels. Results showed that collective teacher efficacy (CTE) is highly related to elementary school student achievement on 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade state assessments for math, reading, and writing. Student achievement and CTE are correlated highly with SES. When student achievement was controlled for SES, 3rd grade reading significantly related to CTE, independent of SES. The study also explored teacher characteristics that might be sources of efficacy. Years of teaching experience accounted for differences in personal teaching efficacy between beginning and mid-career teachers.