This study tested how well Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action predicted the attitudes and morale of urban teachers in high poverty schools under the pressures of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB forced local administrators to target schools that had not made adequately yearly progress (AYP) for two or more consecutive years. Teachers from 4 schools in an urban school district in Southern Illinois were surveyed under the scope of the theory of reasoned action. Quantitative and qualitative results were analyzed to determine that the pressure of NCLB adversely affected teachers’ morale.
Ahola-Sidaway, J.A. ( 1988). From Gemeinschafl to Gesellschaft: A case study of student transition from elementary school to high school. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 297 450)
2.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. ( 1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Center on Education Policy. (2008, February). Instructional time in elementary schools: A closer look at changes for specific subjects. A report in the series from the capital to the classroom: Year 5 of the No Child Left Behind Act. Washington, DC: Author.
4.
Clewell, B.C., de Cohen, C.C., & Murray, J. ( 2008, April). Promise or peril? NCLB and the education of ELL students. Program for Evaluation and Equity Research, Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
5.
Coke, P.K. ( 2005). Practicing what we preach: An argument for cooperative learning opportunities for elementary and secondary educators. Education, 126, 392-398.
6.
Epstein, J.L. ( 1995). School/family/community partnerships: Caring for the children we share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 701-712.
7.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. ( 1975). Beliefs, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
8.
Gorrell, J.J., Bregman, N.J., & McAllister, H.A. (1985). An analysis of perceived stress in elementary and secondary student teachers and full-time teachers . Journal of Experimental Education, 54, 11.
9.
Hargreaves, A. ( 1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers’ work and culture in the postmodern age. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
10.
Interactive Illinois Report Card. (2008). Retrieved on January 15, 2008, from http://iirc.niu.edu/
11.
Johnson, S.M. ( 1990). Teachers at work. New York: Basic Books.
12.
Knowles, T., & Brown, D.F. ( 2000). What every middle school teacher should know. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
13.
Lane, K.L., Pierson, M.R., & Givner, C.C. ( 2003). Teacher expectations of student behavior: Which skills do elementary and secondary teachers deem necessary for success in the classroom ? Education and Treatment of Children, 26, 413-430.
14.
Lee, J. ( 2006, June). Tracking the achievement gaps and assessing the impact of NCLB on the gaps: An in-depth look into national and state reading and math outcome trends. Cambridge, MA: The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.
15.
Lieberman, A., & Miller, L. ( 1992). Teachers-Their world and their work: Implication for school improvement. New York: Teachers College Press.
16.
McNeil, L.M., Coppola, E., Radigan, J., & Heilig, J.V. ( 2008). Avoidable losses: High stakes accountability and the dropout crisis. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 16, 1-37.
17.
Nias, J. ( 1989). Primary teachers talking: A study of teaching as work . London: Routledge.
18.
Park, H.S. ( 2000). Relationships among attitudes and subjective norms: Testing the theory of reasoned action across cultures. Communication Studies, 51, 161.
19.
Poppleton, P. ( 1988). Teacher professional satisfaction. Cambridge Journal of Education, 1, 5-16.
20.
Pryor, B.W., Byrd-Blake, M., Hunt, J., Afolayan, M.O., Fabunmi, M., Leander, R. ( 2008). NCLB and urban teachers morale: A study of beliefs and attitudes in AYP and Non-AYP Illinois schools. Journal of Urban Education: Focus on Enrichment, 5(1), 69-81.
21.
Pryor, C.R., Sloan, K., & Amobi, F. ( 2007). Three professors’ teaching philosophy of education: Strategies and considerations for undergraduate courses. Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7, 77-101.
22.
Smedley, S., & Willower, D. ( 1981). Principal’s pupil control behavior and school robustness . Education Administration Quarterly, 17, 40-56.
23.
U.S. Department of Education. (2007). Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies. State and Local Implementation of the NO Child Left Behind Act, Volume I-Title 1 School Choice, Supplemental Educational Services, and Student Achievement . Washington, DC: Author.
24.
U.S. Department of Education. (2007). Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. State and Local Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, Volume II-Teacher Quality Under NCLB: Interim Report . Washington, DC: Author.
25.
U.S. Department of Education. (2007). Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. State and Local Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, Volume III-Accountability Under NCLB: Interim Report . Washington, DC: Author.
