Classroom Management: Do Teacher Efficacy and Experience Matter?
Julia Salzman, M.S.Ed. & Betty DeBoer, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
RESULTS
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
• Today’s teachers are charged with educating and managing classrooms filled with children who have
growing and diverse needs, all within a nationwide context of dwindling resources and increased
expectations (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that one in ten
teachers do not return to the profession for a second year, and nearly half leave within five years
(Kaiser, 2011). Among the major concerns cited by teachers who have left the profession is the
difficulty associated with classroom management (Sprick, Knight, Reinke, Skyles, & Barnes, 2010).
• Research has indicated that novice teachers are significantly less confident than experienced
teachers in their knowledge of specific strategies to handle disruptive students in a classroom (Martin,
Yin, & Mayall, 2006; Rosas & West, 2009). Novice teachers are likely to resort to a trial-and-error approach
to classroom management as they try to manage a broad range of behaviors with a limited set of
skills (Gonzalez, Stallone Brown, & Slate, 2008).
• This current study is partially guided by the theoretical framework of Albert Bandura (1997) who
proposed that teachers who perceive themselves to have self-efficacy in a particular skill set would
persevere through challenges and ultimately experience success even in difficult situations. In a
study examining the self-efficacy perceptions of teachers, Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2007)
found that the reverse can also be true in that teachers who have low self-efficacy will not put
forth the required effort to succeed.
• The evidence-based classroom management strategies that are at the heart of this study are
embodied in the acronym “STOIC” as developed by Sprick et al., (1998). The STOIC model represents
what Sprick and colleagues have deemed to be five essential components of a successful classroom
management plan:
Structure for success
Teach expectations
Observe and monitor
Interact positively
Correct fluently
The strategies of STOIC tend to be proactive and preventative rather than reactive or punitive.
While STOIC may not be a widely-known acronym across the field of education, the strategies are
not unique ideas nor a pre-packaged intervention to which teachers must subscribe (Sprick et al., 2010).
OBJECTIVES
1.
2.
Determine if teachers differ with respect to their use of STOIC classroom management strategies
based upon their years of teaching experience and/or their level of classroom management selfefficacy.
Gain an understanding of the behavior challenges that teachers face in today’s classrooms as well
as the sources and helpful on-the-job supports of their classroom management strategy
development.
METHODS
• Survey components:
• Classroom management items from the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) created by
Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2007) (α = 0.896)
• Items from the STOIC Checklist created by Sprick et al. (2010) which were transformed into
a Likert scale format (α = 0.854)
• Questions seeking demographic and qualitative information
• The survey was distributed online to approximately 1100 teachers in one large MN school district.
• At the completion of the survey, participants were automatically provided with several online
resources regarding STOIC classroom management strategies.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2012
www.PosterPresentations.com
DEMOGRAPHICS
Total participants: 196 teachers (17.28% participation rate)
Gender: Female: 76%, Male: 22%, Not reported: 2%
Current teaching position:
Ethnicity: White, non-Hispanic: 95%
General ed.: 56%
Special ed.: 13%
Subject area (e.g., reading or science): 11%
Special area (e.g., music or art): 8%
English Language Learners: 6%
Other: 5%
Years of teaching:
Current grade level(s) taught:
Mean: 16 years
Mode: 20 years
Range: 1 – 40 years
Elementary (K-5th): 55%
Middle (6th-8th): 13%
High (9th-12th): 32%
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (MANOVA)
• A MANOVA was used to determine if teachers differed with respect to their use of STOIC classroom
management strategies based upon their years of teaching experience and/or their level of
classroom management self-efficacy.
• Tertiary splits of independent variables: Years of Teaching: 1-12, 13-20, 21-40 and Self-Efficacy:
High, Medium, and Low
• The MANOVA results for years of teaching experience were not significant, F(10, 316) = .34, p = .97,
η= .01
• The MANOVA results for level of classroom management self-efficacy were significant, F(10, 306) =
6.87, p = .00, η= .18
Mean Efficacy Score
Classroom management is a major reason cited for leaving the teaching profession. This study
examined the differences in the use of evidence-based classroom management strategies, specifically
those of STOIC (Structure for success, Teach expectations, Observe and monitor, Interact positively,
and Correct fluently), among teachers who were either novice or experienced and who reported
either high or low self-efficacy in classroom management. Implications for school psychologists in
working with teachers to support classroom management development are discussed.
DISCUSSION & IMPLICATIONS
Efficacy Level and Use of STOIC Principles
50
40
30
20
Low
10
Medium
High
0
Structure
Teach
Observe
Interact
Correct
STOIC Principles
• Teachers’ self-efficacy in their ability to manage the behavior in their classroom, rather than their
years of teaching experience, predicts the likelihood that they frequently use research-based,
positive classroom management strategies such as those of STOIC. School psychologists should not
rely on the amount of experience a teacher has to estimate his/her ability to manage a classroom
using research based techniques. If they must estimate a teacher’s use of research based
techniques, school psychologists can assess a teacher’s self-efficacy to manage the behavior in their
classroom.
• Teachers demonstrated a greater sense of confidence in their classroom management abilities
particularly related to the physical structure of their room, establishing expectations and routines,
and correcting instances of inappropriate behavior quickly and respectfully. Teachers may benefit
from continued support with explicitly teaching and re-teaching expectations, circulating and
monitoring the classroom frequently, and interacting positively with students more often than
negatively.
• Responses to qualitative questions have several implications:
• Teachers find defiant, disruptive, and aggressive behaviors to be the most significant
challenges they have encountered in their classrooms and might benefit from additional
training and support in interventions and classroom management techniques specifically
targeting these behaviors.
• Teachers reported learning the most from on-the-job and trial-and-error experience, from
professional development opportunities and through mentoring and support from teaching
and administrative colleagues. These categories were also the top three indicated as the
most helpful on-the-job support of classroom management development. Schools should
continuing providing professional development and training in the area of classroom
management, and should encourage mentorship and teaming between staff members.
Limitation:
• It was originally hoped that the “Years of Teaching” independent variable would be divided into two
groups: novice (1-3 years) and experienced (4+ years) to reflect the practice of granting tenure
after 3 years of teaching. However, there were not enough participants at the novice level for this
to be appropriate. Because this variable was split into three groups and the first group represented
teachers with 1-12 years of experience, there was no true “novice” level of experience sampled.
This may have factored into the MANOVA results for this variable having no significance, and future
research might examine this variable again with an acceptable number of participants at the truly
“novice” level.
REFERENCES
(note: 3D bars are statistically significant)
QUALITATIVE INFORMATION
• 91% of participants responded to three open-ended questions.
• Numbers in the table below refer to the percentage of time a category was included in responses.
What is the most significant
discipline challenge you have
encountered in your
classroom?
How did you learn the
classroom management
strategies that you use in your
classroom?
What has been the most helpful
on-the-job support of your
classroom management
development?
Defiance, disrespect,
refusal
27%
Experience
27%
Colleagues (teaming,
observation, support)
46%
Off-task or disruptive
behaviors
23%
Professional
Development
26%
Professional development
21%
Aggressive or threatening
behaviors
20%
Colleagues (teaming,
observation, support)
18%
Experience
13%
Specific mental
health/EBD concerns
16%
College coursework
13%
School-wide PBIS in place
12%
Lack of motivation,
initiative, or participation
7%
Student teaching
11%
Support from teaming or
paraprofessionals
4%
Inadequate staffing or
lack of support
7%
Independent study
5%
Nothing has been helpful
4%
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy. Harvard Mental Health Letter 13(9), 4-7.
Darling-Hammond, Linda. (2010). Teacher education and the American future. Journal of Teacher
Education, 61(1), 35-47.
Gonzalez, L., Stallone Brown, M., & Slate, J. R. (2008). Teachers who left the teaching profession: A
qualitative understanding. The Qualitative Report, 13(1), 1-11.
Kaiser, A. (2011). Beginning teacher attrition and mobility: Results from the first through third waves
of the 2007–08 beginning teacher longitudinal study. U.S. Department of Education. Washington,
DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Martin, N. K., Yin, Z., & Mayall, H. (2006). Classroom management training, teaching experience and
gender: Do these variables impact teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward classroom management
style? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association,
Austin, TX.
Rosas, C., & West, M. (2009). Teachers’ beliefs about classroom management: Pre-service and
inservice teachers’ beliefs about classroom management. International Journal of Applied
Educational Studies, 5(1), 54-61.
Sprick, R., Garrison, M., & Howard, L. M. (1998). Champs: A proactive and positive approach to
classroom management. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing.
Sprick, R., Knight, J., Reinke, W., Skyles, T. M., & Barnes, L. (2010). Coaching classroom management:
Strategies and tools for administrators & coaches. Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest Publishing.
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs
of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 944-956.