Situating pre-service reading teachers as tutors: Implications of teacher self-efficacy on tutoring elementary students

Abstract

This research examined the impact of high teacher efficacy on tutoring elementary students in reading. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) was adapted to create a reading-specific teacher efficacy scale, which is referred to as the RTSES. This scale was used to investigate whether tutors with high efficacy used more reading strategies while teaching elementary students to read. The study also examined whether high efficacy was correlated with reading strategy use. Analyses of pre-test and post-test data showed that reading efficacy and strategy use were not correlated, and that tutors with high efficacy scores did not use a significantly higher number of reading strategies while tutoring than those with low efficacy scores. The findings suggest that pre-service teachers’ efficacy did not affect their reading strategy use while tutoring elementary students. There is a need for more research to further investigate the impact that high efficacy has on tutoring.

Reference

Haverback, H. R. (2009). Situating pre-service reading teachers as tutors: Implications of teacher self-efficacy on tutoring elementary students. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning. 17(3), p.251-261. DOI: 10.1080/13611260903050171.

Journal

Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning

Analysis

Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?

Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?

Research Approach

Descriptive/Correlational

Geographic Setting

Mid-Atlantic US

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

early childhood
Elementary

Programatic Focus

early childhood education
Elementary

Research Location Context

Elementary school
Reading and language arts methods course

Preservice Participants

certification program

Preservice Sample Size

Duration of Data Collection

10 weeks

Data Sources

Observations
Structured Diaries
Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) known as the Reading Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (RTSES)

Data Analysis Tools

Content analysis
inter-coder reliability study
Triangulation

Researcher Positionality

inside (staying their own students)

Research Questions

"Do pre-service teachers who have higher efficacy beliefs use more strategies while tutoring?"
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes

"Is there a relation between reading teacher efficacy beliefs and reading strategy use?"
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes