A Study of the Association of Teacher Efficacy and Students\u27 Achievement in a North Texas School District

The field of education places great importance on measurable student achievement and the role of teaching competencies for maximizing success. Whereas much focus has been given to professional development and improving teachers’ skills, this quantitative study examined whether teachers\u27 self-efficacy and judgment about their skills and capabilities were significantly associated with improving student achievement in third grade reading. This dissertation involved a study of teacher self-efficacy using a sample group of third grade English/Language Arts teachers from one Texas urban school district. Targeted teachers were invited to complete a valid and reliable teacher efficacy survey, the Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy Teachers\u27 Sense of Efficacy Scale. The results of each teacher\u27s self-efficacy score were correlated with their students\u27 reading scores on two assessments: the Measures of Academic Progress and the Fountas & Pinnell Oral Reading Assessment. The study results indicated that there was not a statistically significant association between teacher self-efficacy and the reading scores of their students on the two assessments. The results were unexpected because the outcomes were different than those reported in the literature. The Covid pandemic created challenges. One was that student reading scores were from the 2018-2019 school year; the teacher self-efficacy scores were collected during 2020-2021. The 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years were significantly disrupted by the pandemic, and students were asked to complete the two assessments virtually from their homes with no supervision. Many students did not complete the assessments, including a high percentage of minority and at-risk students. In addition, the research design did not allow an exploration of how teachers\u27 overall emotional and professional feelings of efficacy may have been different because of the pandemi