Students' perception of teacher leadership: A research in the context of self efficacy and academic success

The study aimed to examine the relationships between the level of teacher leadership as perceived by students, students' self efficacy and academic achievement in mathematics. Some demographic factors that are thought to have an effect on self efficacy and academic achievement in mathematics were also included in the study. In order to find answers to the main purpose and sub-objectives of the study, predictive correlational design and causal comparison design, which are quantitative research methods, were applied. The sample consists of 890 volunteer 7th grade students studying in public secondary schools in the central districts of Balıkesir province. The Teacher Classroom Leadership Scale developed by Karabağ-Köse (2019) was used to collect the desired data; the Self Efficacy Scale for Children developed by Muris (2001) and adapted into Turkish by Telef (2011) was used to measure students' social, academic and emotional self efficacy. In addition, a Demographic Information Form was obtained from the students and the Mathematics Academic Achievement Test consisting of 24 multiple-choice questions developed by the researcher was administered to the students to determine their academic achievement in mathematics. In the study, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine the significant differences of self efficacy and teacher leadership on family education level, socioeconomic level and gender factors. The results revealed significant differences in self efficacy according to all variables. These differences were in favor of families with high socioeconomic and educational levels and boys. In addition, as the family economic level and educational level increased, an increase in achievement was also observed. No significant difference was found in mathematics achievement according to gender. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationships among the variables in the study and highly significant positive relationships were observed between teacher leadership, self efficacy and mathematics achievement. In order to find the predictive power of teacher leadership on student self efficacy and academic achievement in Mathematics, path analysis was used in Mplus program. According to the results of the analysis, teacher leadership significantly predicts self efficacy and achievement.