The Development of High School Teachers’ Efficacy in Handling Student Misbehavior (TEHSM)

ABSTRACT

The authors used representations associated with managing student misbehavior across disparate teaching experiences and teaching subjects to understand the development of teachers’ efficacy in handling student misbehavior (TEHSM), years of teaching experience, and teaching subject. Twenty-four high school teachers were individually interviewed. Transcriptions were analyzed employing content analysis. The comprehension, synthesizing, theorizing, and recontextualization of the data revealed 3 themes related to the development of TEHSM: (a) professional preparation and development from preservice through in-service years, (b) personal learning process, and (c) sources of support. Findings can inform the design of programs for the preparation and development of teachers.

Keywords:

• qualitative research
• student behavior management
• teacher efficacy beliefs
• teaching experience

Notes

1. Initially identified teachers taught in schools with reported composite scores comparable (± 1% in all discipline categories) to the state averages in the following student discipline school consequences: suspended in school = 19%; suspended out of school = 17%; expelled in school = 1%; expelled out of school = 1% (Louisiana Department of Education, n.d.).

2. Low-TEHSM teachers were considered those who scored below the 21st percentile (TEHSM < 4.1) on the scale, whereas high-TEHSM teachers were considered those who scored above the 79th percentile (TEHSM > 5.6) on the scale. These low (z < −1.10) and high (z > 0.93) TEHSM scores differed by more than 2 standard deviations.

3. Teachers who taught full time for 3 years or less were considered less experienced, whereas teachers who taught full time for 10 or more years were identified as more experienced. These groupings came from the Schools and Staffing Survey and its supplement Teacher Follow-Up Survey (Marvel et al., 2007).