Teachers’ beliefs about educational quality

Abstract

This study aims to characterize teachers' beliefs on determinants of educational quality and the influence of school settings. A factorial survey experiment with a probabilistic sample of 1285 Chilean primary school teachers is used to identify the causal attributions of the quality of teacher-student relations and learning methodologies in schools. Results indicate that teachers believe that decisional power and income satisfaction are the most important determinants of relational quality, while planning preparation and a multidisciplinary team of professionals are the most crucial for the quality of learning methodologies. Moreover, schools' characteristics affect teachers’ causal beliefs about educational quality.