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Abstract
Students in high-poverty, high-needs schools tend to be taught by the least experienced, least effective teachers. School districts invest thousands of dollars in teachers’ learning and development but gain an insufficient return on their investment. Knowledge and skills learned during professional development events do not transfer into the classroom. There tends to be little to no implementation of instructional strategies in the classroom even after teachers receive highly effective professional development. This qualitative study explored teachers’ level of efficacy at a high-poverty, high-needs school, and how it correlated to the level of implementation of Guided Reading. This action research study examined the impact of two interventions, simulations and goal-setting, on teachers’ level of implementation of Guided Reading and their level of efficacy to do so. The researcher employed Tschannen-Moran’s Teacher Sense of Efficacy Assessment, Semi-structured interviews, Guided Reading Observations, Reflective Journaling, and participant observation as methods to collect data. Thematic Network Analysis generated global themes from the collected data. The results revealed that simulation and goal-setting improved teachers’ belief in their ability to implement Guided Reading with fidelity.