Examining the Relationships Between Behavior Policies and Procedures, Teachers' Perceptions of Efficacy and Job Satisfaction, and Children's Social Skills and Challenging Behaviors in Head Start Settings

199 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007.Due to an increase in the number of young children who are beginning their school experiences without the emotional, social, behavioral, and academic skills necessary for school success; educators, researchers, and policy makers have begun to recognize the importance and interconnectedness of these skills. There is a clear need for comprehensive approaches to support young children's social emotional development and address challenging behaviors; however little research exists on the availability of such support. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between program behavior policies and procedures and perceived levels of job satisfaction and teacher efficacy as reported by teachers in six Head Start programs. In addition, the relationship between teacher efficacy and job satisfaction and children's social skills and challenging behaviors was examined. The results indicate that the quality and implementation of behavior policies and procedures is significantly related to teachers' perceptions of personal efficacy. Findings also suggest that teachers who perceive themselves as more efficacious rate the social skills of the children in their classrooms higher than teachers who perceive themselves as less efficacious. Findings also indicate that teachers with higher job satisfaction rate children's social skills higher and children's challenging behaviors lower than teachers who report being less satisfied with their job. Limitations of the study and implications for research and practice are discussed.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD