Degree Name
EdD (Doctor of Education)
Program
Educational Leadership
Date of Award
5-2013
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Pamela Scott
Committee Members
Cynthia Chambers, Virginia Foley, Donald Good
Abstract
This study was designed for the purpose of quantitatively examining the significant elements of reform-based professional development and their relationship to teachers’ self-efficacies for inclusion. The theoretical frameworks for this study were drawn from Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy and social cognitive theory in addition to pre-existing research pertaining to professional development and teacher efficacy for inclusion.
A web based survey was developed and made available for voluntary participation to a total population of 385 elementary school teachers in one East Tennessee school district. Data were collected from 79 elementary school teachers in 14 of the district’s elementary schools.
Findings included no significant statistical correlation between teacher self-efficacy for inclusion scores and the amount of professional development completed during the current school year. Respondents did report a perception that inclusion was not significantly emphasized during professional development activities. Self-efficacy for inclusion scores of teachers with 11+ years of overall teaching experience were found to be significantly higher than teachers with 1-10 years of overall teaching experience. Additionally, there was no significant difference between self-efficacy scores of teachers who were required to take 1 or 2 special education courses for initial certification and 3 teachers who were required to take more than 2 special education courses for initial certification.
Document Type
Dissertation - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Lee, Susan E., "Professional Development and Teacher Perception of Efficacy for Inclusion" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1131. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1131
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.