The purpose of this descriptive correlational quantitative study was to examine contributing factors of students and teachers affecting teacher self-efficacy and students' reading achievement in rural Oklahoma elementary schools in grades first through fifth. The contributing factors of students being analyzed included (a) poverty and (b) race or ethnic backgrounds. The teachers' contributing factors include their self-efficacy levels on students' reading achievement, instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement levels. The proposed theory was that student and teacher variables beyond their control influenced teachers' self-efficacy levels in poverty-stricken classrooms. The study employed a quantitative approach, which used an online questionnaire for teacher participants (N=75), which, due to unanswered questions, became (N=63) and scored on the Likert scale (1-9). The independent variables that were analyzed were socio-economic status, race, and ethnicity. The dependent variables that were analyzed included: student reading achievement, instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement levels. Positive teacher self-efficacy levels are important for a productive classroom, even in low socioeconomic rural districts. The current study is expected to contribute to relevant literature concerning the contributing factors of teachers' self-efficacy in low socioeconomic rural school settings. The findings of the study for Research Question One showed that students' race or ethnic backgrounds were not significantly associated with teachers' self-efficacy levels. The findings for Research Question Two showed that teachers' self-efficacy overall score did not significantly predict % of students with reading achievement levels below expectations. Teachers' self-efficacy overall score significantly predicted the percentage of students with reading achievement levels meeting expectations. Teachers' self-efficacy overall score significantly predicted the percentage of students with reading achievement levels exceeding expectations. Research Question Three data showed that all domains from the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale had significant positive correlations with each other, meaning that as scores for one domain increased, so did the scores for the other domains. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]