The Importance of Teacher Efficacy on Classroom
Management Practices for Elementary Teachers
Angelica A. Wegman, M.S.Ed. & Robert J. Dixon, Ph.D., NCSP Abstract Method Teacher efficacy can lead to better classroom
management and positive student behaviors. This
study will explore the relationship of teacher
efficacy, teaching experience, the number of
students in classroom and/or elementary grade level
on classroom management practices. Results will be
discussed in terms of educational practices and the
role of the school psychologist to influence high
teacher efficacy beliefs in order to increase positive
classroom management practices of elementary
teachers.
Participants:
•  66 elementary teachers from grades K through 4th
grade from regular education, special education and
specials participated in the study.
•  Teachers were from rural towns in Southwest,
South Central, Northwest, Northeast, WI and
Southeastern, MN.
Instrumentation:
The following questionnaires were administered to
participants:
1.  Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale Short Form
(TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk, 2001)
measuring the teachers’ teaching-efficacy
beliefs Alpha = .88
2.  Academic Intervention Monitoring System
(AIMS) (Elliot & DiPerna, 2001) measuring the
teachers’ classroom management practices
Alpha = .94
3.  Demographics Sections measuring the teachers’
classroom size and experience
Introduc6ons Background
•  With the recent push for Wisconsin Schools to adopt a
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports paradigm it
is important to explore the factors that predict the
increase in appropriate and positive classroom
instructional practices.
•  Teaching efficacy is the teacher’s beliefs of being able to
achieve certain outcomes in their students’ achievement
and in his/her teaching practices (Takahashi, 2011).
• Having high teaching efficacy leads to an increase of
implementation of new classroom practices, an increase
of motivation to work with students and staff, and an
increase desire to improve one’s teaching techniques
(Bandura, 1997).
•  Teaching efficacy has been noted in several research
studies to increase positive behaviors in teachers such as
better relationships between student and teacher and
increased classroom management (Brouwers and Tomic,
2000).
•  According to Tschannen and Hoy (2007), novice teachers
are more likely to have a lower sense of teaching efficacy
in comparison to experience teachers. This is due to
teachers coming into the field with low teaching efficacy
and learning better instructional strategies, which results
in higher teaching efficacy.
•  The purpose of this study is to predict the relationship of
teacher- efficacy, teaching experience, number of
students in classroom and/or elementary grade level on
classroom instructional practices.
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Descriptive Statistics
Gender: 59.7% Females, 8.1% Males, 32.3% Unkown
Classroom Size: M= 17.33 SD=8.99 Min=0 Max=45
Years of Experience: M=11.81 SD= 11.22
Min=0Teachers’ Max=45
Sense of Efficacy Scale Items Q1. How much can you do to control disruptive behavior in the
classroom?
Q2. How much work can you do to motivate students who show
low interest in school?
Q3. How much can you do to get students to believe they can do
well in schoolwork?
Q4. How much can you do to help your students value learning? Q5. To what extent can you craV good ques.ons for you students? Q6. How much can you do to get children to follow classroom rules? Q7. How much can you do to calm a student who is disrup.ve or noisy? Q8. How well can you establish a classroom management system with each group of students? Q9. How much can you use a variety of assessment strategies? Q10. To what extent can you provide an alterna.ve explana.on or example when students are confused? Q11. How much can you assist families in helping their children do well in school? Q12. How well can you implement alterna.ve strategies in your classroom? Figure 1. Cri6cal Items of TSES loading on AIMS Qualita6ve Results •
•
•
Respondents indicated summative/formative
assessments, progress monitoring and CBMs are the
most common indicators of effective teaching.
Students’ behaviors, classroom management, and
differentiating instruction are the greatest challenges
in the classroom.
Small group instruction, establishing routines, and
standards for classroom behaviors are the most
common strategies for teachers for classroom
management.
Conclusions and Implica6ons Table 2. Correla6ons between TSES and AIMS TSES 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Q1
-­‐.0 .1 .2 .1 .0 .1 .1 .1 .2 -­‐.0 .1 Q2
-­‐.1 .2 .1 .2 .2 .1 .1 .3 .2 .1 .1 Q3
-­‐.1 .1 .2 .1 .2 .1 .1 .1 .1 .2 .1 Q4
.1 .1 .0 -­‐.0 .1 -­‐.1 -­‐.1 -­‐.2 -­‐.0 .0 .0 Q5
.0 .2 .2 .2 .4 .2 .2 .1 .0 .2 .0 Q6
-­‐.1 .3 .2 .2 .2 .2 .3 .3 .2 .1 .2 Q7
.2 .3 .3 .4 .4 .2 .3 .4 .2 .2 .3 Q8
.0 .5 .5 .3 .4 .1 .3 .3 .3 .1 .3 Q9
.2 .1 .5 .5 .1 .4 .2 .5 .2 .3 .3 Q10
-­‐.0 .2 .2 .3 .3 .2 -­‐.2 .3 .3 .1 .2 Q11
.1 .3 .4 .2 .4 .4 .4 .3 .4 .1 .3 Q12
.1 .3 .4 .4 .2 .3 .2 .3 .2 .2 .3 *Significant Correlations in bold
Academic Intervention Monitoring System (AIMS) Items
1.  Expectations for Student Learning
2.  Standards for Classroom Behavior
3.  Classroom Routines
4.  Instructional Orientation
5.  Instructional Delivery
6.  Instructional Grouping
7.  Progress Monitoring
8.  Review and Reteaching
9.  Learning Time
10.  Teacher-Student Interactions
11.  Incentives and Rewards
• On the self-efficacy scale, teachers’ efficacy on
using a variety of assessment strategies was related
the most to enhancing the academic environments.
• In addition, strong formative and summative
assessments were viewed by teachers as important
indicators of effective practices. Currently teachers
are not engaging in enough assessment strategies to
inform their instruction (Popham, 2008).
• School Psychologists can help teachers to develop
their competence and confidence on assessment
strategies including CBMs, and progress monitoring
and the relationship to instructional choices. • Teachers’ efficacy on calming a disruptive student
had the most influence on classroom management.
• School Psychologist can help teachers learn
techniques to manage student behaviors through
classroom management . A good resource is Randy
Sprick’s book Interventions.
• A limitation of the study was the number of
participants.
References •  Bandura, A. (1977). Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. Psychological
Review. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
•  Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY US: W H Freeman/Times
Books/ Henry Holt & Co. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
•  Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W. (2000). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived selfefficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(2), 239-253. doi:10.1016/
S0742-051X(99)00057-8
•  Takahashi, S. (2011). Co-constructing efficacy: A “communities of practice” perspective on
teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Teaching & Teacher Education, 27(4), 732-741. doi:10.1016/j.tate.
2010.12.002
•  Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of
novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(6), 944-956. doi:10.1016/
j.tate.2006.05.003
•  Thanks to the Statistical Consulting Center and College of Liberal Arts Grant