Date of Award

Fall 10-15-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Cher Edwards

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Nyaradzo Mvududu

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Jorge Preciado

Keywords

Self-efficacy, English Learners, Special Education, Disproportionality

Abstract

The K-12 student population across the United States has experienced a growth of students whose native language is not English (Piazza et al., 2020). These culturally, linguistically diverse students, also known as English Learners (ELs), are placed in classrooms of teachers who lack the training necessary to effectively serve language and content learning needs (Ortiz & Robertson, 2018). A model that has been routinely used to provide teachers with an instructional framework to address the needs of ELs, is the sheltered instruction observation protocol (SIOP) (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2017). This study sought to develop a valid and reliable tool, the Sheltered Instruction Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (SITSES) based on the components of the SIOP framework to measure the self-efficacy of general education classroom teachers serving ELs and to examine difference in self-efficacy ratings of teachers who had received SIOP training and those who did not. A pilot study was conducted to calibrate the tool and establish validity and reliability. Subsequently the tool was sent to 460 general education teachers in a public school district in the northwestern part of the United States resulting in a 10% response rate. Results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest that four components emerged, aligning with the eight SIOP instructional framework elements of lesson preparation, building background, strategies, interaction, practice/application, lesson delivery, review and assessment. In examination of the teacher self-efficacy scores, analysis suggests that teachers who have been trained in SIOP report a higher degree of efficacy in serving culturally, linguistically diverse learners than teachers who were not SIOP trained. Recommendations are made for future research and use of the tool to assess teacher self-efficacy serving ELs.

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