| Teachers' efficacy beliefs about their own capability and the capability of their colleagues to organize and execute the courses of action required to successfully educate students have been linked to a host of productive educational outcomes. However, a review of the literature reveals persistent concerns about the meaning, measure, and productivity of the construct. This work examines the assumptions of self-efficacy theory in the context of education and proposes a new construct entitled instructional efficacy grounded in the knowledge of what teachers actually need to do to improve in their work.;The study begins with a review of the literature to explore the theoretical foundations of teacher efficacy, the vast body of empirical studies linking the construct to productive educational practices, beliefs, and attainments, and the measurement instruments which anchor this overwhelmingly quantitative body of work. Next, the study turns to persistent critiques of teacher efficacy and proposes more fundamental concerns about the construct and its measurement when applied to the field of K-12 education in the United States, drawing on facets of a year-long qualitative study of teachers' efficacy beliefs in one urban high school to illuminate theoretical concerns. The dissertation concludes with the proposal of a new model, and offers suggestions for its measurement and application to practice. |
