Elementary teachers' sense of efficacy for teaching reading and the Efficacy Scale for Teachers of Reading (EST-R)

The present study describes the design and implementation of the Efficacy Scale for Teachers of Reading (EST-R) as a subject-specific tool to measure a teacher's beliefs about his/her ability to teach reading. Further, the study describes elementary teachers' sense of efficacy for teaching reading using the EST-R, as well as correlations between sense of efficacy for teaching reading and certain teacher characteristics.; A pilot study of the EST-R was conducted at a medium-sized, private university in central Texas. Participants (N = 60) in the pilot study were pre-service teachers enrolled in three randomly-selected university education courses. In the formal study, participants (N = 144) were currently-employed school teachers from seven public elementary schools (grades EE-5th) in central Texas. Schools selected to participate in this study were diverse in ethnic makeup, percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English proficiency. Selected schools represented various levels of performance on state-mandated standardized testing measures.; Completing the EST-R and a demographic survey, participants in the study reported a relatively high sense of efficacy for teaching reading. Significant findings included those participants who reported five years or more teaching experience in the current assignment had a higher sense of efficacy for teaching reading than those who had less than five years experience. Additionally, participants who reported five years or more experience teaching reading had higher sense of efficacy for teaching reading than those who had less than five years reading teaching experience. Those participants who were currently teaching reading had a significantly higher sense of efficacy for teaching reading than those who were currently teaching in other fields. Further, participants who reported attending professional development within the last five years specifically related to improving reading instruction had a significantly higher sense of efficacy for teaching reading than those who had not attended such professional development. The EST-R is a promising tool to further define the effective reading teacher. Far-reaching significance of the present study exists for researchers, practitioners, K--12 schools, and teacher preparation programs.