Browsing by Author "Manzanero, Olga"

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    Effects of risk factors on Belizean adolescents’ academic behaviors and grit after prolonged absence during the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2022) Vairez, Mathias; Gomez, Frank; Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn; Quiroz, Janeen; Manzanero, Olga
    This causal-comparative study explored the effects of risk factors—family status, parental marital status, family income, and parent education level—on Belizean adolescents’ academic behaviors and grit (passion and perseverance in goal achievement) following prolonged absence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected online using a demographic survey, the Grit-S Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), coupled with eight additional items to measure academic behaviors (attendance, preparedness, attention, note-taking, participation, organization, use of out-of-school time, and homework completion and submission) for success (Farrington et al., 2012) from secondary and tertiary students in Belize. With rare exception, Belizean education took place in person before the pandemic. This changed to remote teaching and learning during the pandemic. Findings showed that adolescents from the defined risk factor of single-parent households experienced greater declines across all eight academic behaviors. Additionally, this effect was more pronounced for adolescents who experienced the loss of a parent from divorce or death of a parent. For grit, there were two key outcomes: (a) adolescents from nuclear and higher income families had slightly higher levels of grit; and (b) adolescents from parents with lower educational attainment had significantly higher levels of grit than their peers. Based on these findings, recommendations include more study of schools that invest in becoming trauma responsive when evaluating engagement and performance during prolonged absences. Future research should assess adolescents’ level of academic behaviors, grit, and other noncognitive factors.
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    Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Psychological Well-being, and Apprehensions during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Belize
    (2024) Quiroz, Janeen; Manzanero, Olga; Vairez Jr., Mathias R.; Gomez Jr., Frank; Elliott, Rashela A. D.
    This quantitative study investigated teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding remote teaching, psychological well-being, and apprehensions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belize. It also identified factors related to teachers’ self-efficacy to facilitate remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belize. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional survey and correlational research designs were applied using an online survey that included items on the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), psychological well-being, apprehensions, and demographics. Data were collected from 311 teachers and analyzed using IBM SPSS 23 statistical software. The results indicated that teachers had a medium level of self-efficacy, decreased mental health, and heightened apprehensions. Further analysis revealed that teachers’ self-efficacy was negatively related to their psychological well-being and apprehensions. However, their psychological well-being was positively related to their apprehensions. These findings support continuous professional development programs that address teachers’ self-efficacy, psychological well-being, and apprehensions. Doing so will equip teachers to better serve their students and support student achievement.