| Teacher supervision, carried out most commonly in the form of the teacher evaluation process, provides opportunity for instructional feedback and teacher improvement, but also may influence the beliefs teachers have about their own quality of work and their confidence levels as a teacher. These self-referent beliefs, also referred to as teacher self-efficacy, play a vital role in dictating teacher effectiveness and the academic experience of the student, but little is known about the impact the teacher evaluation process has on teacher self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship existed between the teacher evaluation process and teacher self-efficacy. Data was collected from 28 high school teachers from three different comprehensive high schools within the same school district in southern California. All participants went through the teacher evaluation process during the previous school year. This mixed methods study used the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES) to determine the teachers' existing efficacy rating. Qualitative interview questions were used to gauge the perceptions teachers had of teacher self-efficacy and teacher evaluations. Based on the findings of this study a positive relationship existed between teacher evaluation and teacher self-efficacy. Components of the evaluation process that positively and negatively impacted teacher self-efficacy were identified. There was not, however, a relationship between teachers' existing efficacy rating and their perceptions of the teacher evaluation process related to teacher self-efficacy. Implications of this study's findings were provided and may be useful for administrators to conduct teacher evaluations in a manner that serves to enhance teacher self-efficacy. |
