Context Matters: Effects of student characteristics and perceived support from administrators and parents on teacher self-efficacy

The cross-sectional study of factors predicting teacher self-efficacy involved surveys of 473 third- and fifth-grade, predominantly White female teachers in 196 schools. The schools served, on average, a relatively high proportion of students living in poverty and students of color. The findings indicate that the proportion of minority students in teachers’ classrooms was positively associated with their self-efficacy when variables correlated with poverty-proportion of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch and overall academic achievement in the school-were held constant. Teachers’ perceptions of the support they received from administrators and parents were also positively associated with teacher self-efficacy.