Search results for: Patterson Philip P.

This study examines special education intern teachers’ perceived levels of teaching efficacy and the important roles of teaching resources, teachers’ backgrounds, and support from school districts, teacher preparation programs, and pupils’ parents. The findings reveal that the relationship between the quality of support and the level of personal teaching efficacy (PTE) was statistically significant for intern teachers. The authors explain that teaching context in the form of lack of support from school districts, lack of resources, and heavy workloads present grave perils to teachers’ self-efficacy and can weaken the ultimate success of special education teachers. Low levels of self-efficacy combined with increased stress brought about by the emphasis on test scores can contribute to teacher burnout and high rates of attrition for special education intern teachers.