Evaluation of teacher attributes as predictors of success in urban schools

Research on effective teaching and attributes of effective teachers rarely has considered urban contextual influences. The purpose of the study was to design and validate an instrument to identify attributes of effective urban teachers. A 55-item questionnaire was developed based on attributes of effective urban teachers, as suggested by sociocultural and motivational theories, as well as research of urban education. These attributes included: sociocultural awareness, contextual interpersonal skills, self-understanding, risk-taking and perceived efficacy.; The study was conducted in two phases. Phase one focused on defining a set of factors or concepts based on the responses to the items in the questionnaire. Factor analysis was used to identify attributes based on the questionnaire responses of 179 elementary teachers from an urban Minnesota school district. The instrument was validated for content validity and reliability.; Using the a priori factors identified in phase one, phase two analyzed whether participants' responses could be used to classify teachers based on teaching effectiveness. One hundred twenty-one elementary teachers from an urban Missouri school district were grouped as highly effective or less effective by their principals. A two-group discriminant analysis of the teachers' responses to the questionnaire revealed that there were no significant differences between the two teacher groups. These results indicated that highly effective and less effective teachers exhibited similar attributes and that these attributes were not related to urban teacher effectiveness.; These findings have important implications concerning the conclusions drawn by other researchers studying effective urban teachers. Possible explanations for the differences between the results of this study and previous research are presented. Recommendations for future research and implications for teacher preparation also are discussed.