Browsing by Author "Worrell, Frank C."

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    Differences between elementary and secondary school teachers in Trinidad and Tobago on teacher self-efficacy
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2003) Pierre, Phaedra N.; Worrell, Frank C.
    This study examined self-efficacy in 77 primary and secondary school teachers, most of whom were taking an educational psychology course at The University of the West Indies (UWI). Participants completed Gibson and Dembo's (1984) Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES), Bandura's (n.d.) Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES), and two single items developed by researchers at the Rand Corporation. Primary school teachers reported higher levels of self-efficacy than did secondary school teachers on all variables. TES and TSES subscale scores resulted in moderate to high internal consistency estimates, with the TSES scores having higher scores on average. TSES scores also had stronger intercorrelations than did TES scores or RAND items. Number of Years of Teaching (NYT) was not related to self-efficacy, but a single global self-rating of teaching ability had moderate correlations with some efficacy variables. It is suggested that future research should examine the factor structure of TSES scores and the potential of increasing the self-efficacy of secondary teachers through teacher training
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    Ethnic and gender differences in self-reported achievement and achievement-related attitudes in secondary school students in Trinidad
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2006) Worrell, Frank C.
    This study examined self-reported achievement, achievement-related behaviours, and achievement-related attitudes of 1,434 students attending secondary schools in Trinidad. Females reported higher achievement than males, and males reported cutting class more than females, and both of these differences yielded medium effect sizes. Females also reported completing homework more frequently and higher academic perceived life chances than males. East Indian students reported higher achievement, homework completion, time on schoolwork, and academic perceived life chances than their Black and Mixed counterparts, as well as spending less time with friends during the week and lower rates of cutting class. However, all of the ethnic comparisons yielded low effect sizes. Given the differences found and the potential for achievement differences to increase over time, more research on gender and ethnic group differences is recommended
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    Participation in extracurricular activities by students attending assisted and prestige schools in Trinidad
    (School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, 2004) Worrell, Frank C.; Bucknavage, Leah B.
    Participation in 19 extra-curricular activities was investigated in 1,312 secondary school students attending assisted and/or prestige schools in Trinidad. The sample was 60 percent male, 21 percent African descent, 41 percent East Indian descent, and 30 percent Mixed descent. Research questions focused on mean number of activities and participation rates in activities by ethnicity and gender, and the relationship between extra-curricular participation and student achievement and attitudes. Results indicated that ethnic and gender groups participated in the same number of activities on average, although there were gender-stereotypical rates of participation in some activities. Participation in steelband, solo instruments, debating, and chess were associated with higher student achievement, as was length of time on student council. Females reported playing in steelbands at significantly higher rates than males, and students of East Indian descent reported higher rates of involvement in cricket and lower rates in steelband than their peers of the same gender