Identifier

etd-06102009-104808

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

The study was conducted to explore the characteristics of and interrelationships between teachers’ self-efficacy and professional learning community. Specifically, this study presents a quantitative study of ten Louisiana public schools participating in the second year of the Louisiana 9th Grade Redesign Initiative. Bandura’s (1977, 1986) social cognitive learning theory of self-efficacy provides the theoretical framework for the construct of self-efficacy under study. Hord’s (1998) dimensions of professional learning community provide the framework for the exploration of professional learning communities in this study. The School Professional Staff as Learning Community (SPSLCQ) instrument developed by Shirley Hord (1997) and the Teacher Efficacy Beliefs System – Self (TEBS-S), developed by Amy Dellinger (2001) were administered to 10 schools, with 248 responses received. Based on Cronbach alpha reliability estimates, it was concluded that both scales had satisfactory reliability. This study is presented in five parts. Chapter 1 includes an overview, a brief review of the pertinent literature that supports this study, a statement of the problem, purpose and significance of the study, a description of the study variables and research questions to guide the study. Chapter 2 consists of an extensive review of the literature related to teacher self and collective efficacy beliefs and a review of pertinent studies of professional learning communities. Chapter 3 includes the methodology to be used in this study including a description of the sampling strategy, instruments to be used, data collection, and data analysis techniques to be used to address research questions presented in Chapter 1. Chapter 4 presents a summary of the results of the study. Chapter 5 offers a discussion of the results, implications of the study results and directions for further research.

Date

2009

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Dianne Taylor

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2854

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