The predictive power of teachers' autonomy perception on secondary education students' end-of-semester success point

This study aims to investigate the predictive power of teachers' autonomy perception on secondary education 11th grade students' end-of-semester success point and on its differentiation in terms of school type and field of study. The study groups of the research, conducted at predictive design and survey model among quantitative methods, consisted of 230 teachers working at official secondary schools affiliated to Ministry of National Education (MNE) in Battalgazi and Yeşilyurt in Malatya and 11th grade 3005 students studying at these schools. The data concerning teachers is obtained from Teacher Autonomy Perception Scale developed by thesis supervisor and researcher. This scale was composed of 11 items and three factors (autonomy in the classroom, autonomy at school, professional autonomy) by calculating exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's Alpha and item-total correlations. In terms of the factors of the scale, Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were between 0.70-0.79 and 0.68-0.78; item-total correlation values were between 0.41-0.74 and 0.35-0.72. Students' data consisted of 11th grade students' end-of-semester success point in 2020-2021 education year. According to multiple regression analysis, Autonomy in the Classroom, Autonomy at School and Professional Autonomy together explained %7 of the change in students' end-of-semester success point. While Autonomy at School was significant predictor of students' end-of-semester success point, Autonomy in the Classroom and Professional Autonomy were not significant predictor. According to Kruskall-Wallis H test findings, while there is a significant difference in teachers' perception of Autonomy at School in terms of school type, there is no significant difference in their perception of Autonomy in the Classroom and Professional Autonomy. According to MANOVA findings, there is significant difference in teachers' perception of Autonomy in the Classroom in terms of field of study, there is no significant difference in their perception of Autonomy at School and Professional Autonomy. It is supposed that the findings of the research might shed light to the researchers and other relevant stakeholders.