Personal and contextual factors associated with growth in preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs during a longitudinal professional development study

There has been limited research on the development of in-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs across multiple school years. The current longitudinal study investigated (a) how teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs change over time and (b) how teacher and classroom characteristics relate to these changes in a sample of 341 US American preschool teachers involved in a professional development intervention. Latent growth curve models indicated that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs increased, particularly for those receiving a coaching intervention. Teacher ratings of children's behavior problems had a negative effect on self-efficacy beliefs. Together, findings highlight the need for support of changing self-efficacy beliefs among in-service teachers.