ABSTRACT Title of Document: TEACHER COMPETENCE SUPPORT FOR READING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL Angela McRae, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Directed by: Professor Emeritus John T. Guthrie, Department of Human Development The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between student perceptions of teacher competence support, self-efficacy for reading, and reading achievement for African American and European American students. Previous studies of teacher support have emphasized emotional support and have found considerable evidence for positive effects on motivation and achievement (Wentzel, 2009). Over time, support for competence has increasingly emerged as a distinct dimension of teacher support (Beghetto, 2007; Wentzel et al., 2010) and there is a need for the extension of this empirical research on the association between teacher competence support, motivation, and achievement. This study seeks to narrow this focus to student perceptions of teacher competence support, student self-efficacy, and reading achievement in middle school. The study sample consisted of 366 seventh- grade students in an ethnically and economically diverse school district. Students completed measures of their perceptions of teacher competence support, which included encouragement and instrumental help in reading. Students also completed a reading self-efficacy questionnaire and an assessment of information text comprehension. While controlling for socioeconomic status, hierarchical multiple regressions and MANOVA were conducted. African American students perceived statistically significantly higher levels of teacher competence support for reading compared to their European American peers. European American students performed at a higher level on the reading achievement measure, and there was no significant difference between groups in self-efficacy. Teacher competence support was significantly associated with self-efficacy regardless of ethnicity, and was also significantly associated with reading achievement, but only for African American students. Self-efficacy was significantly correlated with reading achievement for both ethnic groups; however, this correlation was statistically significantly higher for European American students. Post hoc analyses revealed that the correlation between self-efficacy and reading achievement was significant for European American students regardless of perceived level of teacher competence support, and the self-efficacy and reading achievement relationship was significant for African American students only if they perceived high levels of teacher competence support. TEACHER COMPETENCE SUPPORT FOR READING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL By Angela McRae Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Advisory Committee: Professor John T. Guthrie, Dissertation Chair/Advisor Professor Mariam Jean Dreher Professor Min Wang Professor Kathryn R. Wentzel Professor Allan Wigfield © Copyright by Angela McRae 2012 DEDICATION This dissertation is lovingly dedicated to Dean Nicholas, James Randall, Kailey Madison, and Joanne Moskey. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, thank you to my wonderful family who provided both support and insight throughout this process: Xavier and Carla Comment, Andrea Brown, Debra DeLone, Dr. William DeLone, Karen Whitehead, and Nellie Faye McRae. My parents Denis Comment and Anna Mae Brown Comment consistently nurtured my love of reading as a child, and continue to inspire me to persist through all obstacles – thanks, and I love you, Mom and Dad! This dissertation could not have been written without the unending patience and support of my husband, Kevin McRae. Your devotion and persistence are inspiring. Thank you for your constant encouragement that has pushed me through to the finish line. Dr. John Guthrie, my advisor, mentor, and the guiding force behind every bit of my success as a graduate student and scholar: I cannot express the depth of gratitude I have for your contribution to my work and to my life. You have consistently gone above and beyond, and you have taught me to expect the same from myself. Thank you. To my committee members: you have all provided amazing guidance and have helped my dissertation exceed even my own expectations: thank you so much, Dr. Mariam Jean Dreher, Dr. Min Wang, Dr. Kathryn Wentzel, and Dr. Allan Wigfield for your encouraging words and instrumental help through the years. My friends and fellow graduate students could always be counted on to propel me forward, even when I was unsure of my direction, and I owe you all many thanks: Elton Porter, Dr. Laurel Hoa, Dr. Kathleen Perencevich, Marguerite Tom-Wigfield, Dr. Cassandra Coddington, Dr. Alexis Williams, Dr. Emily Fox, Dr. Charles Glover, Dr. Aaron Ament, Dr. Asha Lateef Williams, Shanna Smith, Angel Miles, Michelle Beadle iii Holder, and Robert Holder – I could not have done this without you. Special recognition goes to the people who have worked tirelessly on the PROMISE program, Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull, Dr. Johnetta Davis, and Dr. Carol Parham – thank you for all you have done to support students in their pursuits along this sometimes difficult, but always rewarding, path. I have received academic, emotional, and every other conceivable form of support from faculty, staff, and students in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology: Dr. Ann Battle, Dr. Patricia Alexander, Dr. David Miele, Dr. Brenda Jones-Harden, Eileen Kramer, Dr. Susan Lutz Klauda, Dr. Patricia Richardson, Amanda Mason-Singh, Amy Ho, Wei You, Katie Muenks, Lauren Musu-Gillette, Jennifer McPeake, Akhila Iruku, Michael Price, Dennis Wigfield, and Noel Wigfield have been instrumental in getting me to this point; and a special thank you to Ellen Kaplan for her invaluable support. iv Table of Contents DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 1 Guiding Theory and Research ......................................................................................... 8 A Socialization Perspective ......................................................................................... 8 Socio-cognitive Theory ............................................................................................... 9 Purpose and Significance of the Study .......................................................................... 12 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 17 Method .......................................................................................................................... 18 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................... 21 Overview of Literature Review ..................................................................................... 21 Studies of Parent Support Inform Teacher Support Research ....................................... 26 Parental Support for Academic Outcomes ................................................................ 27 Parenting Practices Feature Competence Support ..................................................... 30 Teacher-Student Relationships ...................................................................................... 34 Dimensions of Teacher Support .................................................................................... 36 Emotional Support ..................................................................................................... 38 Teacher Communications .......................................................................................... 40 Teacher Competence Support .................................................................................... 41 Encouraging feedback ............................................................................................ 41 Negative criticism .................................................................................................. 43 v Teacher expectations .............................................................................................. 44 Instrumental help ................................................................................................... 46 Student Perception of Teacher Support ..................................................................... 47 Summary of Dimensions of Teacher Support ........................................................... 49 Teacher Competence Support Influences Student Motivations and Engagement ........ 49 Student Motivations ................................................................................................... 50 Evidence for Effects of Teacher General Support on Motivation ............................. 55 Evidence for Effects of Teacher Competence Support on Motivation ...................... 59 Encouraging feedback ............................................................................................ 61 Negative criticism .................................................................................................. 64 Teacher expectations .............................................................................................. 64 Instrumental help ................................................................................................... 67 Motivation Mediates the Effect of Teacher-Student Relationships on Achievement 68 Summary of the Effects of Teacher Competence Support ........................................ 70 African American Students in Research on Academic Support ................................... 71 Effects of Parental General Support on Motivation for African Americans ............. 71 Effects of Multiple Sources of Support on Motivations ............................................ 76 Evidence of Teacher General Support for African Americans .................................. 79 African American students’ perceptions of teacher support .................................. 79 Studies with diverse samples ................................................................................. 80 Teacher General Support Influences Motivation Among African American Students ................................................................................................................................... 84 Effects of teacher competence support on the association of self-efficacy and achievement ........................................................................................................... 93 Summary of African American Students in Research on Support ............................ 96 vi Middle School as a Neglected Group in Research on Teacher Competence Support for African American Students ........................................................................................... 96 African American Students as They Transition from Elementary to Middle School 97 Need for Research on Teacher Competence Support and Self-Efficacy for African American Students in Middle School ...................................................................... 104 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER 3: METHOD ................................................................................................ 109 Design.......................................................................................................................... 109 Participants .................................................................................................................. 109 Sample Characteristics ............................................................................................ 110 Measures...................................................................................................................... 111 Socioeconomic Status .............................................................................................. 111 Teacher Competence Support Questionnaire .......................................................... 113 Self-efficacy Questionnaire ..................................................................................... 121 Reading Achievement .............................................................................................. 122 Procedures ............................................................................................................... 123 Data Analyses .......................................................................................................... 125 Data entry plan and coding .................................................................................. 125 Factor structure and reliability ............................................................................. 126 Pilot Study ................................................................................................................... 126 Overview ................................................................................................................. 126 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 127 Research Questions.................................................................................................. 130 Method ..................................................................................................................... 130 Participants ........................................................................................................... 130 Measures .............................................................................................................. 131 vii