STEM Teacher Professional Development Engagement and Self-Efficacy in Teaching Class with English Learners Context: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling from TALIS 2018

This study investigated whether lower secondary school Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers' professional development (PD) engagement varied by school context in regard to the proportions of English learners (ELs) and examined the relationship between STEM teachers' PD engagement in teaching for diversity and teacher efficacy in the context of teaching ELs. The public dataset 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), including 1,202 lower secondary school STEM teachers of ELs in the U.S., was used for hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis. The results showed that STEM teachers who work in schools that are more culturally and linguistically diverse may not get enough PD training about how to teach in such schools. PD engagement in teaching for diversity was found to have a statistically significant impact on the association between the school context of ELs' proportion and the STEM teachers' efficacy. The study helps in determining the ways to improve STEM teachers' skills for teaching in a culturally and linguistically diverse setting.