Changes in efficacy beliefs in mathematics across the transition to middle school: Examining the effects of perceived teacher and parent goal emphases.

This study examined the effects of change in teacher goal emphases on students' efficacy beliefs in mathematics across the transition to middle school. The sample (N = 929) included primarily White (65%) and Black (27%) students, and approximately one third received free or reduced-fee lunch. Analyses grouped children by cross-classification of teachers (N = 53 elementary and N = 34 middle school teachers). On average, students' efficacy beliefs remained stable and relatively high across the transition. Compared with their elementary school teacher, children reported declines in both perceived teacher mastery and performance goal emphases in middle school. A cross-classified hierarchical linear model was used to estimate the effects of perceived teacher and parent goal emphases during 6th and 7th grades on changes in students' efficacy beliefs. An increase in self-efficacy beliefs from elementary to middle school was predicted by an increase in group-level perceptions of teachers' mastery goal emphasis, even after controlling for parents' goal emphases. These findings underscore the important role that both teachers' and parents' goal emphases play as children develop a sense of efficacy in mathematics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A look inside school-based consultation: A qualitative study of the beliefs and practices of school psychologists and teachers.

Presents the results of a qualitative study of 4 school psychologists' and 4 teachers' beliefs about causes of student behavior problems and their relation to preferred treatment, teachers' perceived role(s) in consultation, and beliefs about the process and efficacy of consultation. Data were triangulated across 6 sources: 3 interview series with various participants, consultative interactions between the school psychologists and teachers, training sessions during which the school psychologists were trained in consultation, and a consultant questionnaire. Thematic analyses of the data produced 4 themes: (1) impact of causal attributions on beliefs about treatment needed; (2) combination of direct and indirect services; (3) impact of etiological beliefs and academic standards on perceptions of academic success; and (4) support within the consultative relationship. These themes are described and discussed in the context of the dyads studied. Suggestions for future research generated by this study are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social-cognitive-behavioral model of academic predictors of adolescents' life satisfaction.

The current study provided a comprehensive examination of factors related to school that are implicated in students' life satisfaction. A theoretical model is put forth that hypothesizes that behavior experiences (classroom conduct, school grades) and social experiences (perceived school climate) at school influence students' cognitions relative to their global academic beliefs and attitudes toward their current school. These cognitive contexts of schooling are hypothesized to constitute students' judgments of their satisfaction with school, an important predictor of global life satisfaction. Self-report measures assessing adolescents' perceptions of these constructs were administered to a pilot sample of 321 high school students in a southeastern city. Simultaneous regression and correlational analyses clarified which aspects of school climate and other school-related factors were significantly associated with students' life satisfaction. Results of a revised path model provided preliminary support for the model. Findings support the relevance of considering students' quality of life in addition to the current focus on monitoring academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting Behavior and Beliefs as Predictors of Children's Social Adjustment in the Transition to School.

The current study focuses on the association between children's social adjustment in the transition to school and the early elementary school years and their fathers' and mothers' parenting behaviors and beliefs and quality of marital relationship. The authors found that the most competent and least problematic children from the teachers' perspectives are those whose fathers are sensitive and supportive of their children's autonomy, whose mothers' parenting beliefs support self-directed child behavior, and whose parents maintain an emotionally intimate relationship. These findings have implications for efforts to prevent early school problems in children and support the children's transitions into formal schooling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

First-grade teachers' goals and children's developing perceptions of school.

Used a longitudinal design to investigate how goals and practices of 1st-grade teachers influenced students' perceptions of school and their classroom behaviors. Before school began, the goals (academic vs social development) and classroom structure (strict vs permissive) of 13 teachers were assessed. 77 children were then interviewed and tested prior to 1st grade and again 7 mo later. Observations were conducted to corroborate self-report data. Results suggest that teachers' beliefs influenced classroom activities, children's behaviors, and children's perceptions of school. Certain combinations of the identified ideologies produced classroom environments which children found anxiety arousing. Clarity of teacher demands may be an important feature of supportive 1st-grade classrooms. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher motivational strategies and student self-determination in physical education.

Physical education teachers can influence students' self-determination through the motivational strategies they use. In this study, the authors examined the relationship between teachers' perceptions of class average self-determination, the teachers' self-determination, and their reported use of 3 motivational strategies: autonomy support, structure, and involvement. They examined the relationship between the 3 motivational strategies, students' perceptions of psychological need satisfaction, and students' self-determination. They also investigated the relationship between teachers' and students' self-determination. Multilevel and standard regression analyses revealed that teachers' perceptions of class average self-determination predicted their reported use of the motivational strategies, and this relationship was mediated by their own self-determination. Student perceptions of the three strategies had a positive effect on their own self-determination, and this relationship was mediated by their reported satisfaction of autonomy and competence. Finally, teachers' self-determination did not predict students' self-determination. The importance of promoting an adaptive motivational climate for both teachers and students is discussed with reference to self-determination theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing job seekers' organizational image beliefs: The role of media richness and media credibility.

In this article, the authors assessed job seekers' organizational image beliefs before and after they experienced 3 recruitment media. The authors examined whether perceptions of media richness and credibility were related to improvements in the correspondence between job seekers' image beliefs and firms' projected images. Both media richness and credibility perceptions were associated with correspondence between job seekers' image beliefs and firms' projected images. However, results revealed that richness and credibility perceptions were likely to enhance job seekers' initial beliefs about firms' images when their beliefs were positive but did not diminish job seekers' beliefs about firms' images when their initial impressions were too positive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature of teachers' pedagogical content beliefs matters for students' achievement gains: Quasi-experimental evidence from elementary mathematics.

In a longitudinal study of 496 students in 27 self-contained German elementary school classrooms, performance in mathematical word problems and arithmetic tasks was measured at the end of Grades 2 and 3. A questionnaire was used to assess the degree to which teachers' pedagogical content beliefs in elementary mathematics reflect a cognitive constructivist orientation, rather than an associationist or direct-transmission view of learning and teaching. Our findings show that a cognitive constructivist orientation was associated with larger achievement gains in mathematical word problems. Moreover, teachers with a direct transmission view were not more successful than teachers with a cognitive constructivist orientation in fostering students' computational proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' perceptions of school psychology: A comparison of regular and special education teacher ratings.

A total of 1533 regular education and special education teachers from eight school districts in four states rated their knowledge of and satisfaction with school psychological services. Perceived helpfulness of psychological services to teachers and children was also assessed. Finally, both groups rated their perceptions of school psychologists' roles versus school counselor roles. Regular education teachers, compared to special education teachers, reported less knowledge of school psychology, perceived school psychologists as less helpful to teachers, and reported lower satisfaction with school psychology services. These reports may have been influenced by the amount of contact each teacher had with school psychologists. Both teacher groups had a limited understanding of the broad roles and functions of school psychologists, and both groups viewed school counselors as delivering more services than school psychologists. Implications of these findings with regard to school psychology reform efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in teacher efficacy and student self- and task-related beliefs in mathematics during the transition to junior high school.

In a longitudinal study of 1,329 students and the teachers they had for mathematics before and after the transition to junior high school, the relation between students' beliefs in mathematics and their teachers' sense of efficacy is examined. Using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), we found that the rate of change within the school year in students' expectancies, perceived performance, and perceived task difficulty in math differed at Year 1 and 2, depending on teacher efficacy before and after the transition. Students who moved from high- to low-efficacy math teachers during the transition ended the junior high year with the lowest expectancies and perceived performance (even lower than students who had low efficacy teachers both years) and the highest perceptions of task difficulty. The differences in pre- and posttransition teachers' views of their efficacy had a stronger relationship to low-achieving than to high-achieving students' beliefs in mathematics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "teacher's pet" phenomenon, students' perceptions of teachers' differential behavior, and students' morale.

The relationships among the teacher's pet phenomenon, students' perceptions of teachers' differential behavior, and students' morale were investigated in 80 upper elementary Israeli classrooms. The intensity of the teacher's pet phenomenon (rate of students' consensus in identifying teachers' pets in each classroom) was related to perceived teachers' differential behavior, particularly to teachers' differential (also preferential) affect. In turn, teachers' perceived differential affect was negatively related to students' morale and satisfaction. In classrooms of teachers who had pets who were not popular, students demonstrated lower morale, whereas students in "popular-pet" classrooms did not demonstrate lower morale. Previous findings on the teacher's pet phenomenon and on students' and teachers' perceptions of teachers' differential behavior were replicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' and students' beliefs about punishment.

360 1st, 3rd and 5th graders and their 16 teachers from 3 school systems were interviewed in the fall and spring of the same school year to assess the developing relationship between teachers' and students' beliefs about punishment. Older children were less punitive than younger children. Teachers remained relatively punitive compared with 5th graders. Teachers with more punitive beliefs had students whose beliefs were more punitive when compared with students whose teachers had less punitive beliefs. Children and teachers thought that teachers should give more punitive responses than peers for the same misbehavior. The school systems that allowed corporal punishment had students with more punitive beliefs than the school system without corporal punishment. Results indicate that the school environment is perceived to be authoritarian and punitive by students and teachers. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preemployment predictors of union attitudes: The effects of parental union and work experiences.

Tested an expanded model of the socialization of union attitudes using data from 120 undergraduates and their parents. As hypothesized, students' perceptions of parental union attitudes, union participation and job satisfaction were significantly predicted by parental self-reports. Moreover, tests of three competing models suggested that student perceptions mediated the relationships between parental work and union experiences and students' own union attitudes and work beliefs. These findings are taken as support for the family socialization of work beliefs and union attitudes. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflected Appraisals, Academic Self-Perceptions, and Math/Science Performance During Early Adolescence.

The authors tested a model of the relations among adolescents' perceptions of parents', teachers', and classmates' support for, valuing of, and beliefs about their competence in math/science; adolescents' own academic self-perceptions concerning math/science; and their academic performance. The sample included 378 middle school students; 65% were Latino, and 21% were European American. Reflected appraisals of adults' beliefs concerning both the importance of and students' competence in math/science, as well as perceived support, predicted students' own self-perceived importance, competence, scholastic behavior, and performance in these courses. Latino students reported lower mean levels of perceived competence than did European American students (controlling for maternal education). Findings have important implications for understanding achievement socialization in ethnically diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Union leadership and member attitudes: A multi-level analysis.

Analyses of union leadership roles show that union presidents should have both a within-union focus and an external focus. The authors combined multi-level survey data from 3,871 union members in 248 local teachers' unions with archival and field staff data to examine relationships between leadership and members' perceptions of union instrumentality and justice, union commitment, and participation. The results showed significant union-level effects on members' beliefs about, and attitudes toward, their unions, attributable to the presidents' internal and external leadership, wage outcomes, and union characteristics. Relationships between internally focused leadership and members' loyalty and willingness to work for the union were partially mediated by perceptions of union instrumentality and justice. These perceptions fully mediated the relationship between externally focused leadership and union loyalty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' brief nonverbal behaviors in defined instructional situations can predict students' evaluations.

Can a few seconds of high school teachers' nonverbal (NV) behavior predict students' ratings of these teachers (SRT)? Yes, but NV-SRT relations varied among various instructional situations. NV behaviors while administering the class and using the board were unrelated to SRT. Positive judgments of NV behavior while disciplining the class and interacting with students were positively related to SRT. NV behaviors in frontal teaching were negatively related to SRT. The most negative NV-SRT relations were found for teachers' differential NV behavior toward high- versus low-achieving students. Teacher differentiality and SRT have rarely been investigated in high school. The structure of SRT seems to differ between high school and college, and students' anger about teachers' differentiality strongly predicted their evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations Among Personal Agency, Motivation, and School Adjustment in Early Adolescence.

The authors examined relations among motivational styles and school adjustment in a sample of 786 7th and 8th grade U.S. students. Specifically, the authors tested the hypothesis that agency beliefs mediate relations between styles of motivational self-regulation (i.e., intrinsic, identified, introjected, and extrinsic) and school adjustment (school grades, school well-being, and positive and negative affect). A structural equation model testing this hypothesis indicated that agency beliefs about one's effort mediate the relations between the styles and positive school adjustment. By contrast, the extrinsic style was not mediated by agency beliefs but reflected adverse low-magnitude direct effects on all of the outcomes except positive affect. Overall, the model strongly predicted school adjustment, and adherence to the identified motivational style was particularly important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement in Math and Science: Do Mothers' Beliefs Matter 12 Years Later?

Past research has indicated an association between parents' beliefs and adolescent children's self-perceptions of ability and has shown the importance of accounting for parents' gender-stereotyped beliefs when examining boys' and girls' self-perceptions of math-science ability. The current study extends these findings by examining the longitudinal relations between mothers' earlier gender stereotypes and perceptions and adolescents' later math-science achievement beliefs and career choices. As predicted, mothers' earlier perceptions of their adolescents' abilities were related to adolescents' math-science self-efficacy 2 years after high school, with adolescents' self-perceptions of math ability during 10th grade mediating the relation with mothers' perceptions. Moreover, mothers' earlier predictions of their children's abilities to succeed in math careers were significantly related to later career choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job satisfaction among school psychologists: A meta-analysis.

Meta-analytic techniques were used to analyze data from a collection of school psychologist job satisfaction studies that were conducted between 1982 and 1999. Eight studies, all of which used the Modified Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (m-MSQ) to measure job satisfaction among school psychologists, were included in the analysis. Two national studies and six state studies totaling 2,116 participants were analyzed. Results indicated that nearly 85% of school psychologists were satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. School psychologists were most satisfied with their relationships with coworkers, the opportunity to stay busy on the job, the opportunity to work independently, and the opportunity to be of service to others. School psychologists were least satisfied with compensation, school policies and practices, and advancement. Findings were generally consistent between state and national studies, and between 1980s and 1990s studies. Results offered some evidence that overall job satisfaction may be related to state school psychology organization membership and to the opportunity to expand and influence the role of the school psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' differential behavior toward higher and lower achieving students and its relation to selected teacher characteristics.

Examined individual differences in the differential behavior of 12 3rd-grade teachers toward higher- and lower-achieving students for consistent patterns and their relation to the perceptual and attitudinal characteristics of teachers and their quality of teaching. Teachers had an average of 14.3 yrs of teaching experience. Interactions between teachers and students were coded by observers who also rated teachers on the quality of their instruction. Measures of teachers' perceptions and attitudes were gathered from questionnaires. Correlations showed that teachers were moderately consistent in their individual patterns of differential behavior. Favored students (higher or lower achievers) received a combination of both rewarding and demanding teacher behavior. Correlations of an index of teachers' overall differential behavior with the teacher questionnaire responses, although not statistically significant, suggested that teachers who showed more concern for lower achieving students tended to have more flexible and accurate perceptions of students. These same teachers were rated significantly lower on their quality of teaching, which suggests that these 2 sets of skills may be difficult to combine. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)