Borich, Gary D.2012-08-092017-05-112012-08-092017-05-112012-05May 2012http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2012-05-5054textA current national priority is improving secondary school mathematics performance. Middle school students’ trust in their mathematics teachers can lead to better relationships and increased feelings of competence, or mathematics self-efficacy, which is consistently linked to achievement. Student trust is based on perceptions of a teacher’s competence, benevolence, openness, reliability, and honesty. To determine the effect of trust in a teacher on student mathematics self-efficacy while accounting for the non-independence due to shared classroom experiences, hierarchical linear modeling will be utilized. Controlling for prior achievement, mathematics self-efficacy is expected to be higher for students who perceive their mathematics teacher meets more of the criteria for trust, with a stronger effect for low-achieving students. The implications of the outcomes of the proposed study suggest the creation of a training program to facilitate trust building between students and teachers. This report also includes an evaluation plan which details the components of the trust building program, a model for the program, and the proposed method to measure the reported outcomes.application/pdfengSelf-efficacyTrust (social behavior)Mathematics educationSelf-determination theoryProgram evaluationthesis2012-08-092152/ETD-UT-2012-05-5054