| Summary: | An increase in English Language Learners (ELLs) in public schools across the nation is forcing stakeholders to reexamine how teachers are being prepared to effectively teach culturally and linguistically diverse students. It is unclear to what extent inservice teachers feel prepared to work with ELLs and what factors impact their feelings of preparedness. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs, general teaching self-efficacy, and multicultural attitudes. The study also explored whether teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs could be explained by variables that include years of teaching experience, highest degree earned, perception of preparedness for teaching ELLs, and actual preparation for teaching ELLs.
Two hundred twenty-three elementary teachers working in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, participated in this study. Data was collected using an online survey, which included two validated surveys, the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS; Ponterotto, Baluch, Greig, & Rivera, 1998). A modified version of the TSES was included to measure teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs. Factor analysis was performed on the modified instrument. Three factors emerged from the factor analysis: self-efficacy in ELL classroom management, self-efficacy in ELL student motivation, and self-efficacy in ELL methods and strategies.
Factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and path analysis were used in data analysis. Teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs and general teaching self-efficacy were found to be strongly correlated. However, multicultural attitude was not found to moderate this correlation. Of the four demographic and background variables, only perception of preparedness for teaching ELLs was found to be a statistically significant predictor.
This study highlights important factors that need to be considered when preparing teachers to teach ELLs. The results of this study may help administrators understand how to prepare and support both preservice and inservice teachers to improve the learning outcomes for ELLs and, in turn, close the achievement gap between ELLs and their non-ELL counterparts.
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