Date
7-22-2025
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Janice Kooken
Keywords
teacher tolerance, teacher race, teacher experience, multicultural self-efficacy, student behavior
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Waterman, Sherise N., "Examining the Relationship Between Tolerance of Student Behavior, Teachers' Race, Teaching Experience, and Teachers' Multicultural Self-Efficacy: A Multiple Regression Study" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7205.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7205
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative, correlational predictive study was to investigate whether teachers’ tolerance of student behaviors is predicted by the combination of teachers’ race, teachers’ years of teaching experience, and teachers’ multicultural efficacy. Understanding the significance of the relationship between teacher tolerance of student behaviors, teacher race, teacher years of experience, and multicultural efficacy is necessary if educators want clearer insight to address inequitable discipline practices. The study consisted of 110 high school teachers in an urban district in southern Texas. A correlational study was conducted utilizing the Social Behavior Survival Inventory of Teacher Social Behavior (SBS) and Expectations and the Multicultural Efficacy Scale to identify the impact of teachers’ race, years of experience, teachers’ multicultural efficacy and on teachers’ tolerance of student behaviors. Demographic information and data were collected anonymously using Qualtrics’ online platform. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regression. The findings did not reveal a significant predictive relationship between the teachers’ years of experience, multicultural efficacy, and teacher tolerance of student behaviors. However, there was significant relationship of African American teachers and their tolerance of student behaviors in comparison to others. These results challenge the idea that shared racial identity ensures greater leniency. These findings can benefit administrators and educators by encouraging them to look beyond demographics when addressing classroom management and behavior expectations. Further studies are recommended to examine a larger and more diverse sample to obtain a more comprehensive result.
