Abstract
The study aimed to develop a structural model on science teachers' coping strategies considering their content knowledge, teaching abilities, and job constraints experienced. It delved into the relationships of the three independent variables toward the dependent variable, the coping strategies of Science teachers. Moreover, it investigated the variables that predict the coping strategies of teachers. The best fit structural model for coping strategies was also explored and formulated. The study participants were the 1,168 Science teachers in the Department of Education Region 9. The data were gathered through a survey questionnaire. The researcher utilized descriptive statistics to describe teachers' coping strategies, content knowledge, teaching abilities, and job constraints. Moreover, Pearson product-moment correlation was used to relate coping strategies with content knowledge, learning abilities, and job constraints. The stepwise multiple linear regression was utilized in finding out the best predictors of the coping strategies of Science teachers. A structural equation modeling, specifically the maximum likelihood, was used in examining the best fitting model on coping strategies. Results revealed that most of the Science teachers possessed good levels of content knowledge, teaching abilities, job constraints and coping strategies. The coping strategies of teachers were significantly correlated to their content knowledge, teaching abilities, and job constraints. The best predictors of teachers' coping strategies were their teaching abilities, competency, capacity, and efficacy. was best anchored on the job constraints and teaching abilities. Therefore, the null hypothesis stating that no model predicts teachers' coping strategy is rejected.
