From the Back of the Room: A Paraprofessional Perspective of Collaboration and Self- Efficacy in the Secondary Classroom
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Description
This non-experimental, quantitative study investigated the relationship between secondary paraprofessionals' self-reported perceptions of collaboration and self-efficacy in secondary classrooms. The purpose was to explore statistically significant differences in self-efficacy, while controlling for demographic and work-related variables, including years of experience, level of education, age, gender, race, ethnicity, number of students served in a day, number of classroom teacher partners in a day, teacher or administrative supervisor, part-time/full-time status, and percent of time worked with students in a classroom in a typical week. Grounded in Bandura's social cognitive theory (1977), the research design utilized survey data from secondary paraprofessionals in Minnesota. Linear multiple regressions were conducted to examine the relationship between perceptions of collaboration and paraprofessionals’ self-efficacy. The findings revealed that collaboration sparked intellectual stimulation, which enhanced measures of self-efficacy in instructional strategies and classroom management. Additionally, the study found that the collaborative domain of professional relationships had a greater impact on measures of self-efficacy than professional networks, and that years of experience significantly and positively influenced paraprofessional measures of self-efficacy. A key finding indicated that self-efficacy measures declined when paraprofessionals were supervised by licensed special education teachers or principals. These results underscored the importance of fostering effective collaboration, particularly in domains of intellectual stimulation and professional networks, to enhance paraprofessional measures of self-efficacy. Additionally, they highlighted the need to support special education teachers and principals in their roles as paraprofessional supervisors to positively influence measures of self-efficacy and, ultimately, improve students’ outcomes.
Publication Date
2025
Publisher
Bethel University
City
St. Paul
Disciplines
Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Seim, Lindsay, "From the Back of the Room: A Paraprofessional Perspective of Collaboration and Self- Efficacy in the Secondary Classroom" (2025). Graduate Research Education Showcase. 13.
https://spark.bethel.edu/edd-showcase-2021/13