Teacher Self-Efficacy and Student Outcomes: A Transactional Approach to Prevention

Teachers who are in their first couple of years of teaching are vulnerable to leaving the profession at considerably high rates. Teacher retention rates are related to teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy. This study examined the effect of the universal preventive intervention, the PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG), on teachers’ self-efficacy when delivered as professional development to practicing teachers. PAX GBG has demonstrated an effect on numerous student proximal and distal outcomes when implemented as classroombased prevention. However, the effects on teacher outcomes are less identified and researched as well as the reciprocal nature of teacher and student interactions during the implementation of a PAX GBG intervention. In this quasi-experimental design, practicing teachers reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy after receiving training in PAX GBG suggesting the malleability of self-efficacy. The results were examined within the framework of the transactional model and demonstrate the need to further investigate teacher and student relationships and the related distal student outcomes as a result of increasing teacher self-efficacy.