Science Teachers' Perceptions of Their Teaching Skills and Their School Conditions. Research Paper No. 5.

This study provides information on science teachers' perception of themselves and their working conditions. A stratified random sample of junior and senior high school science teachers from three regions (12 states) of the United States was selected to respond to a questionnaire and an attitude measure. The questionnaire contained 20 items dealing with teacher satisfaction on teaching skills and 25 items dealing with teacher satisfaction on school conditions. Results showed that both junior and senior high school teachers rated their knowledge and abilities as satisfactory to good on all the 20 ability items. However, five of these items showed a significant difference between the ratings of the junior and senior high school teachers. Results showed also that the junior high teachers rated their school conditions as significantly poorer than did the senior high school teachers on eight of the 25 items. It was concluded that these science teachers are generally satisfied with their own abilities, but believe their school conditions need improvement. (HM)