The research was grounded in Rotter’s work in the area of social learning theory. Two questions were included in this study that gathered teacher perceptions of self-efficacy. The first prompt stated, ‘“When it comes right down to it, a teacher really can’t do much because most of a student’s motivation and performance depends on his or her home environment.” A second prompt stated, ““If I really try hard, I can get through to even the most difficult or unmotivated students.” The researchers asked the teachers surveyed to reply to these prompts using a Likert Scale. Teacher responses to these questions highlighted whether the teachers surveyed perceive student learning as function of teacher ability and aptitude (internal locus of control), or whether teachers perceive student learning to be a function of environmental factors (external locus of control). While not connected to classroom management, the Rand Study sparked interest in the impact of perceptions of self-efficacy on student …show more content…
The TES asks teachers to respond to 50 items on a 6-point Likert scale. A sample of TES prompts include, “When a student gets a better grade than he usually gets, it is usually because I found better ways of teaching.” Another TES prompt asks, “The hours in my class have little influence on students compared to the influence of their home environment.” Another TES prompt asks, “If a student masters a new math concept quickly, this might be because I knew the necessary steps in teaching that concept.” The 50 items on the TES capture teacher self-efficacy related to a number of dimensions that directly connect to a teacher’s ability to effectively manage a classroom, including motivation, discipline, planning, evaluation, and working with