The Relation between Teachers' Beliefs about the Importance of Good Student Work Habits, Teacher Planning, and Student Achievement

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between teachers' beliefs about the importance of good student work habits and (a) teachers' reports of their responsiveness to student academic performance during planning and (b) the academic growth of 2 students at different achievement levels within each classroom. Teachers' beliefs were measured (using a 9-item scale) among 121 general educators (grades 1-6), each of whom taught reading or math to a group of students that included at least 1 student with a learning disability. Teachers who scored .99 standard deviations above the mean (N = 24) were designated as having strong beliefs about the importance of good work habits; teachers scoring .99 standard deviations below the mean (N = 18) constituted a group with less strong beliefs. For these 42 teachers, we measured teacher responsiveness to student performance during planning (using 5 scale items) as well as the academic achievement of 1 learning-disabled and 1 average-achieving student in their classrooms. Analyses indicated that teachers with strong beliefs reported that they planned with greater responsiveness to student performance. Their learning-disabled and average-achieving students also achieved better. Results are discussed in relation to previous studies of teachers' expectations about academic capability and beliefs about work habits and in terms of practical applications.