ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS OF SELF-REPORTED INSTRUCTIONAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the viability of selected subscales of an educational beliefs survey for use in educational planning and decision making. A secondary purpose was to determine if classroom practices of teachers in selected secondary schools were related to their instructional beliefs as measured through self-report instruments. Data collection involved two phases. The Teacher Beliefs Inventory was utilized for gathering data related to instructional beliefs. Demographic data was also gathered in the first phase of data collection. Teachers' instructional practices were assessed in phase two through use of the Instructional Practices Survey. These surveys were administered to secondary school teachers in one public school district in Pima County, Arizona. For each questionnaire, items were separately tabulated. The Teacher Control and Discipline and the Student Participation subscales of the Teacher Beliefs Inventory and the two Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered subscales of the Instructional Practices Survey were further analyzed. The subscales of each instrument were also combined as typologies in order to allow examination of the dimensions as interrelated rather than dichotomous factors. The surveys were analyzed independently and then in relationship to one another. Analysis of variance results indicated significant relationships between belief types and both student-centered (p = .0001) and teacher-centered (p < .0001) practices. Chi-square analysis established a relationship between belief and practice typologies (p = .0003) but did not establish the nature of the relationship. Latent class analysis indicated the data could be explained with a three-class model consisting of two cells which specify high-low relationships between the subscales and one quasi-independence class into which remaining cases would fall. This finding was consistent with positions found in the literature that conditional hierarchies may exist among belief dimensions. The findings support the use of the two subscales of the Teacher Beliefs Inventory which were investigated in this study. Those subscales have been organized and labeled the Instructional Beliefs Survey. The survey has several potential applications for educational planning and decision making. Obtained results can be used in staff development, teacher preservice education, curriculum development and program selection, and instructional supervision.