DISPOSITIONS OF EFFECTIVE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS IN AN URBAN DISTRICT IN SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA
Tatem, Pamela Michelle
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In an attempt to staff every classroom with a highly qualified teacher, the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandated that only "highly qualified" teachers be hired to teach beginning in the 2005 school-year (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). Highly qualified is defined by a teacher's background characteristics that include state certification, a bachelor's degree and subject area competence for secondary teachers. Researchers Palardy and Rumberger (2008), determined that a teacher's background characteristics alone are not sufficient in determining the effectiveness of a teacher but that it is the teacher's attitudes, beliefs and practices that should be considered , as these attributes have a greater impact and are most malleable. This study aimed to increase the body of research in the area of teacher effectiveness and how teachers' dispositions impact students' math achievement at the elementary level in an urban school district. Descriptive statistics were used to report the findings. The participants in this study were all full-time, general education teachers who worked with students in grades three, four and five in an urban school district. The data collected demonstrated that effective teachers in an urban school district believed it was their ability to reach students through their sense of efficacy and belief system that makes the difference in students' positive outcomes on high stakes tests. Findings revealed that effective teachers have high teaching efficacy, they are able to build personal relationships with their students and they are able to motivate their students to do well in school. This study confirms that effective urban teachers share a set of common dispositions and beliefs that make a difference in student achievement when all factors are considered.
- Doctoral Dissertations