Self-concepts of Career Level II and III Teachers and Career Ladder Eligible Teachers in the Public Schools of Tennessee

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the self concept of Career Level II and III teachers and teachers who are eligible to apply but have not elected to participate in the Career Ladder Program in the public schools of Tennessee. The technique of causal-comparative research was used in this study. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS), developed by William Fitts, was selected as the appropriate instrument for use in this study. The TSCS is a versatile instrument that measures ten dimensions related to self concept: total level of self esteem, self criticism, identity, self satisfaction, behavior, physical self, moral-ethical self, personal self, family self, and social self. Demographic data were also collected to obtain information concerning the personal characteristics of the teachers. A total of 1,115 surveys were sent to teachers in the public schools of the seven districts of Tennessee, stratified by whether they were career Level II and III or eligible. A total of 808 useable responses were returned. This sample represented 408 Career Level II and III teachers and 400 eligible teachers. Data analyses and interpretation indicated that statistically significant differences existed between Career Level II and III teachers and eligible teachers on all ten measures of self concept. All the null hypotheses were rejected. Eligible teachers were determined to have a significantly lower total self esteem score when compared to Career Level II and III teachers. Career Level II and III teachers indicated a higher score on all nine subscales, as well as the total self esteem score. However, the self concept scores of eligible teachers were still above the norm group mean. Inspection of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results revealed that no significant differences in mean total self esteem by educational level were found. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for mean total self esteem by age, followed by a Scheffe\u27s post hoc multiple comparison test, indicated individuals aged 25-44 and aged 45-54 were significantly different on total self esteem as were individuals aged 25-44 and aged 55 and older. No significant difference was found between age 45-54 and age 55 and older. A t-test for independent sample for mean total self esteem indicated there was a significant difference in the total self esteem of males and females with females having a higher self esteem