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Shared Perceptions of the Classroom Environment and the Impact of Teacher Efficacy

Brooke A Chapla, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

Classroom environments are an aspect of the learning experience that relate to long-term outcomes across academic, behavioral, and social emotional development. This dissertation analyzed student and teacher report to determine whether teachers were in agreement with their collective students’ perceptions of the classroom environment. Teacher efficacy was evaluated as a predictor of teacher-student agreement. Using the ClassMaps survey, this study employed intra-class correlations and reliable change indices to evaluate how well teachers agreed with their collective students’ perceptions about different aspects of the classroom environment using conventional and conservative estimates. Next, using regression analyses the study assessed capacity of teacher self-reported efficacy to predict teachers’ agreement with their collective students’ report. Finally, multi-level structural equation modeling was used to determine if teacher efficacy beliefs along with student, teacher, and community demographics predicted individual student perceptions of classroom environment. Teacher efficacy beliefs were also examined for their indirect capacity to moderate how demographic variables affect student perceptions. Examination of the direction, association, and distribution of variances for the linear relation between teacher and collective student ratings did not support an overall conclusion that teachers were able to estimate their collective student ratings of the classroom environment well. Teachers were more likely to underestimate their students’ collective ratings, or see the environment in a less favorable light. However, using conventional estimates of agreement, teachers with higher self-report of efficacy were more likely to obtain a greater number of matches, with a small to medium effect size (R2 = 0.10). When using conservative estimates of agreement, the association between teachers’ self-report of efficacy and number of matches with their classrooms was more pronounced, with a large effect size (R2 = 0.26). Teacher efficacy beliefs and demographic variables neither directly nor indirectly predicted individual student ratings of the classroom environment. Results from this study suggest that teachers at the elementary level would benefit from gathering student self-report in order to better understand student perception of the classroom environment. Additionally, training and mentoring experiences that foster positive efficacy beliefs may support teachers in better understanding their students’ perceptions of the classroom environment.

Subject Area

Educational psychology

Recommended Citation

Chapla, Brooke A, "Shared Perceptions of the Classroom Environment and the Impact of Teacher Efficacy" (2018). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI10980873.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI10980873

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