The Impact of School Climate and Teacher Efficacy on Teacher Effectiveness in Western Belize

Abstract

Teacher efficacy has been shown to not only be intricately linked to teacher demographic factors and school climate, but also to teacher effectiveness. This quantitative study seeks to determine the relationships between teacher demographic factors, school climate, and teacher efficacy, as well as how teacher efficacy may predict teacher effectiveness. This study follows an exploratory correlational design with the target population being all secondary schools in the Cayo district. Data was collected via a three-part survey that includes: 1) demographic information, 2) Ohio State University teacher’s efficacy scale survey, and 3) the Alliance for the Study of School Climate-School Climate Assessment (ASSC) instrument. Data analysis was conducted using statistical software SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) descriptive statistics, Pearson’s R correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Findings from this study indicate a weak positive correlation between teacher efficacy overall, efficacy in instructional practices, and efficacy in classroom management. Teacher effectiveness was also found to be able to be predicted from the two variables: experience and efficacy in instructional practices.