A Study of Self-Efficacy of Educational Professionals in Managing Classroom Behavior and Their Readiness for Differentiating Discipline

Keeping children behaviorally appropriate and in their classrooms has become increasingly challenging for today's educational professionals where there is less tolerance for classroom disruption, greater expectation of performance and higher paced learning formats. These professionals face even greater dilemmas if they enter the classroom without confidence that the skills they have will be the right fit for managing students who struggle behaviorally. A Likert scale survey was used for this quantitative study to assess perceived beliefs of educational professionals concerning self-efficacy in managing classroom behavior, and their readiness (ability and willingness) to differentiate approaches to behavior intervention in order to meet the individual behavior needs of students. A small sample of New York State K-12 special and general education professionals along with those from K-12 day treatment programs, who were all trained in the skills of Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) techniques, were contacted to participate in this study. Of the 184 potential participants, 70 completed the survey. The results of this survey were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, MANOVA and Means to examine the findings. The data supported that belief in self-efficacy was significantly related to readiness. In addition a high correlation was supported between readiness to consider alternative intervention techniques for individual students and the value these participants placed on the LSCI training. Years of experience was also a factor related to self-efficacy for the status areas of teachers and "others. " Recommendations for education and training to promote school improvement concerning classroom management were included in this study along with recommendations for executive leaders and for future research. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Dianne Cooney-Miner Second Supervisor Diane Reed Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/87 St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications Education Doctoral Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education 8-1-2009 A Study of Self-Efficacy of Educational Professionals in Managing Classroom Behavior and Their Readiness for Differentiating Discipline Donna Riter St. John Fisher College Follow this and additional works at: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd Part of the Education Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education at Fisher Digital Publications. It has been accepted for inclusion in Education Doctoral by an authorized administrator of Fisher Digital Publications. Recommended Citation Riter, Donna, "A Study of Self-Efficacy of Educational Professionals in Managing Classroom Behavior and Their Readiness for Differentiating Discipline" (2009). Education Doctoral. Paper 87. A Study of Self-Efficacy of Educational Professionals in Managing Classroom Behavior and Their Readiness for Differentiating Discipline Abstract Keeping children behaviorally appropriate and in their classrooms has become increasingly challenging for today's educational professionals where there is less tolerance for classroom disruption, greater expectation of performance and higher paced learning formats. These professionals face even greater dilemmas if they enter the classroom without confidence that the skills they have will be the right fit for managing students who struggle behaviorally. A Likert scale survey was used for this quantitative study to assess perceived beliefs of educational professionals concerning self-efficacy in managing classroom behavior, and their readiness (ability and willingness) to differentiate approaches to behavior intervention in order to meet the individual behavior needs of students. A small sample of New York State K-12 special and general education professionals along with those from K-12 day treatment programs, who were all trained in the skills of Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) techniques, were contacted to participate in this study. Of the 184 potential participants, 70 completed the survey. The results of this survey were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, MANOVA and Means to examine the findings. The data supported that belief in self-efficacy was significantly related to readiness. In addition a high correlation was supported between readiness to consider alternative intervention techniques for individual students and the value these participants placed on the LSCI training. Years of experience was also a factor related to self-efficacy for the status areas of teachers and "others. " Recommendations for education and training to promote school improvement concerning classroom management were included in this study along with recommendations for executive leaders and for future research.Keeping children behaviorally appropriate and in their classrooms has become increasingly challenging for today's educational professionals where there is less tolerance for classroom disruption, greater expectation of performance and higher paced learning formats. These professionals face even greater dilemmas if they enter the classroom without confidence that the skills they have will be the right fit for managing students who struggle behaviorally. A Likert scale survey was used for this quantitative study to assess perceived beliefs of educational professionals concerning self-efficacy in managing classroom behavior, and their readiness (ability and willingness) to differentiate approaches to behavior intervention in order to meet the individual behavior needs of students. A small sample of New York State K-12 special and general education professionals along with those from K-12 day treatment programs, who were all trained in the skills of Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) techniques, were contacted to participate in this study. Of the 184 potential participants, 70 completed the survey. The results of this survey were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, MANOVA and Means to examine the findings. The data supported that belief in self-efficacy was significantly related to readiness. In addition a high correlation was supported between readiness to consider alternative intervention techniques for individual students and the value these participants placed on the LSCI training. Years of experience was also a factor related to self-efficacy for the status areas of teachers and "others. " Recommendations for education and training to promote school improvement concerning classroom management were included in this study along with recommendations for executive leaders and for future research. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Dianne Cooney-Miner Second Supervisor Diane Reed Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/87 A Study of SelfEfficacy of Educational Professionals in Managing Classroom Behavior and Their Readiness for Differentiating Discipline