Teaching during a Pandemic: United States Teachers' Self-Efficacy During COVID-19

Pressley, T.; Ha, C.

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant implications on schools during 2020, with districts moving to all virtual instruction during the spring and facing the debate of how to return safely to school in the fall. With these decisions, teachers, schools, and districts faced many challenges when providing face-to-face, hybrid, and virtual teaching. The purpose of this study was to explore how the new teaching approaches and requirements have impacted teachers' self-efficacy, specifically instructional and engagement efficacy. The current study included 361 participants from across the United States who completed the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) subsections of instruction and engagement. The results found the average teacher self-efficacy scores for both instruction and engagement were lower than TSES scores of instruction and engagement in previous studies. The results also indicated teachers who are teaching virtually had the lowest efficacy scores compared to teachers teaching in a hybrid or all in-person model. However, the results suggested no difference in efficacy score based on years of teaching experience, teacher location, previous accolades, or instruction level. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd