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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect teacher professionalism, through professional dress and attire, had on middle school students performance on assessments on weekly quizzes and the effect on student behavior as recorded on behavior cards and referrals as compared to the average condition. A quasi-experimental approach was used in the study. This study wanted to establish if any effects exist from manipulating teacher attire, professionally or casually, based on student academic achievement and behavior, or verify that teacher attire has little or no effect on grades or student behavior. The treatment was the manipulation of clothing worn by instructors. The response was the effect teacher attire influence had on student scores on math quizzes and behavior violations for two weeks during the experiment. The control was the average scores on weekly math quizzes and behavioral data recorded for the weeks before the intervention. The results suggest that teacher attire, both professional and casual, does affect academic achievement based on math scores compared to the average of the weeks before the intervention. Results from Research Question 1 indicate students scored higher on math quizzes during the week teachers were professionally dressed (Mean = 70.33) compared to the baseline (Mean = 59.68) scores. These results also indicate students scored higher on math quizzes during the week teachers were casually dressed (Mean = 69.33) compared to the baseline (Mean = 59.68) scores. A One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical test was conducted to compare the effect of teacher attire on student academic achievement and behavior. ANOVA showed that there was a statistically significant effect of teacher attire on student scores, F(2,87) = 6.64, p = .002. Math scores improved an average of 11 points during the weeks of professional dress and math scores also improved an average of ten points during the weeks of casual dress compared to the baseline average. The effect sizes for these two comparisons were d = 0.81, and d = 0.53, respectively. r2 correlation on a 95% confidence interval for behavior-professional is -0.38 [1.35, -0.28] and for behavior-casual is -0.26 [-0.58, -0.13]. Cohens Effect sizes for math B-P were small at -0.38 while effect sizes for B-C were small at -0.26.Results for Research Question 2 indicate there were no statistically significant differences between behavior scores on behavior cards of students when teachers were professionally dressed (P) compared to the baseline (B) scores. Results indicate students scored higher on behavior cards during the week teachers were professionally dressed (Mean = 32.67) compared to the baseline (Mean = 33.28) scores with a probability value (P-value) of .92; not significant at the .05 alpha value. These results also indicate students only behaved slightly better during the week teachers were casually dressed (Mean = 34.20) compared to the baseline (Mean = 33.28) scores with a probability value (P-value) of .74; not significant at the .05 alpha value. Behavior scores declined an average of 0.61 points during the weeks of professional dress while behavior scores improved almost one (0.92) point during the weeks of casual dress compared to the baseline average. The effect sizes for these two comparisons were d = 0.10, and d = -0.16, respectively. r2 correlation on a 95% confidence interval for behavior-professional is 0.05 [-0.21, 0.31] and for behavior-casual is -0.08 [-0.33, 0.18]. Cohens Effect sizes for behavior B-P were large at 0.10 while effect sizes for B-C were medium to large at 0.08. Since the P and C scores were similar for math and behavior compared to the baseline, this suggests that students reacted to the change of teacher attire more than the type of clothing teachers were wearing during the experiment. Qualitative responses to questionnaires supplement the findings. The results and the conclusion of the study were also presented, in addition to recommendations for further research and practice.