Structural Equation Modeling in Teaching Effectiveness of Upper Secondary Level Math Teachers in East of Mazandaran during the Educational Year 2015-16

The purpose of this study was to model teaching effectiveness of upper secondary level math teachers in east of Mazandaran during the educational year 2015-2016. The research methodology in this descriptive study was a survey type. The research sample included 214 people among whom, based on random sampling and using Krejcie and Morgan table, 134 math teachers (male and female) were selected. The questionnaire was checked by the supervisor, advisor and a panel of experts to ensure its content validity. The data gathering tool was a researcher made questionnaire (with the validity of 0.929) with six parts including teaching skills, class management, in-service training, problem solving skills, and educational tools, including 44 questions. To analyze the data, the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, were calculated, using SPSS and LISREL softwares. The results showed that there was a meaningful relationship between teaching skills, class management, in-service training, problem solving skills, educational tools, and educational planning and teachers’ teaching effectiveness. Structural equation revealed that 94 percent the effectiveness can be explained by problem solving skills and teaching process skills. Regarding the teaching of math teachers, it is recommended that due attention should be paid to parentsʼ involvement in the educational process of their children in order to encourage teachers to provide more activites, to welcome studentsʼ interaction with each other to study and provide solutions for the posed problems in the class and to each problem solving skills to improve studentsʼ learning.