Read each situation carefully. Consider similar situations from your own teaching experiences. Indicate how effective you would be in handling each situation by circling the appropriate number

1. One of your students misbehaves frequently in your class and is often disruptive and hostile. Today in class he began roughhousing with a friend in the back of the class. You tell him firmly to take his seat and quiet down. He turns away from you‚ says something in a belligerent tone that you can't hear and swaggers to his seat. The class laughs and then looks to see what you are going to do. How effective would you be in responding to this student in a way that would win the respect of the class?

2. Maria‚ an educable mentally retarded student in your class‚ has been working diligently‚ but still performs below grade-level in all subjects. At a conference the mother says that she doesn't expect much of the girl‚ because Maria is "dumb" just like herself. How effective would you be in talking to Maria's mother about her feelings and about the effect that parents' expectations can have on their child's school achievement?

3. Your county has mandated that all teachers must restructure their course requirements to insure adequate development of students' basic skills by including these elements in each lesson plan. How effective would you be in incorporating achievement of basic skills objectives into your lesson plans?

4. Students in your school gang together in same sex‚ same race cliques. Your principal has requested that each teacher work to promote more positive interactions among these groups. How effective do you feel you would be in helping your students develop more positive interactions?

5. Half a dozen low-achieving female students are not getting much from your class. Lately they have begun to "hang around together" and to advertise that they don't like you or your class. They have begun to fool around‚ disrupt our lessons‚ and occasionally "talk back." When you attempt to involve them in class work they either make jokes or sit sullenly. How effective would you be in eliminating their disruptive behavior?

6. This year your principal has assigned you to teach a class of low ability students in your subject matter area. The teacher who taught this class last year tells you that these are the slowest students that she's taught in her twenty year teaching career. How effective would you be in increasing the academic achievement of the students in this class?

7. You have a student who never hands in assignments on time‚ seldom gets to class before the bell rings and inevitably forgets to bring books or pencil to class. He obviously has the ability to do above average work‚ but you have discussed this matter with his parents‚ and they don't seem to understand the importance of school achievement. How effective would you be in motivating this student to get to work?

8. A new student has been assigned to your class. Her records indicate that she never does her homework and does not seem to care about her education. Her IQ score is 83 and her achievement scores have been below the 30th percentile. How effective would you be in increasing her achievement test scores?

9. The student-teacher ratio in your class of compensatory education students is 20 to 1. You must plan your lessons to meet the individual interests and abilities of the students. How effective would you be in designing activities to match the individual interests and abilities of the students in your class?

10. Because of repeated failure‚ one of your students confides to you that she has given up and will attend school only until she can find a way to dr‎op out. How effective would you be in persuading her that she can be successful in school?

11. A number of your students have been sleeping in class. They do poorly on in class assignments and seldom turn in homework. You learn that they are taking drugs. How effective would you be in helping the students with their drug problem?

12. A learning disabled student has been mainstreamed into your classroom. He has been described by his previous teachers as being extremely hyperactive and ha‎ving severe reading problems. How effective would you be in teaching this student?

13. A new teacher in your school has been reviewing cumulative records for her students and asks you to explain the difference between grade equivalent and percentile ranks for several of her students on the standardized achievement battery. How effective would you be in explaining the difference between these two types of scores?

14. You have been se‎lected to work on a curriculum se‎lection committee to choose textbooks and materials to be used in your county for the coming year. The materials chosen must fit a wide range of instructional needs for students of differing abilities. How effective would you be in doing this work?

15. Your school has adopted an instructional textbook series in your area with excellent objectives and teaching materials‚ but almost nothing in the form of tests or exercises to monitor student progress. How effective do you feel you would be in developing a set of evaluation procedures to accompany the text for your grade level?

*In Ashton‚ P. T.‚ Olejnik‚ S.‚ Crocker‚ L. & McAuliffe‚ M. (1982). Measurement problems in the study of teachers' sense of efficacy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational ResearchAssociation‚ New York.