How leaders create schools with high collective efficacy
Research is clear about what is needed to lead a school where the best teachers demand to be on the leadership team, and students know they will be successful. By George Manthey
H
aving written a dissertation on teacher collec- tive efficacy, it was an honor for me to be asked to review an article on individual and collective student efficacy for publication in the European
Journal of Educational Psychology. According to the researchers, a student’s belief in him or herself (“I will be able to improve my poorest marks throughout the year”) is a better predictor of that student’s success than his or her efficacy feel- ings about school (“As a group my class is able to achieve good grades in all subjects”). That’s probably not surprising news to anyone. But contrast it with research about in-
dividual and collective teacher efficacy, in which the collective efficacy beliefs of teach- ers (“Teachers at this school are able to get through to difficult students”) are a better predictor of academic success than a teacher’s belief about his or her own efficacy (“I can motivate students who show low interest in school work”). A casual glance at these two contrasting conclusions might
lead one to predict that the best chance of a school to have “suc- cess for every student” would be to have students with high per- sonal efficacy and teachers with high collective efficacy. Again, this is another no brainer. But what if that is not your situation? What leadership im-
plications are there for those who might be in schools where student self-efficacy is mixed, at best, and collective teacher ef- ficacy is near the bottom of the scale? I’m reminded of an out- standing teacher at a school where I consulted who refused to be on the school improvement team unless I would guarantee him that it would make a difference. “George,” he said, “I have too much work to do with my
students to take any time away from that unless I know it will help.” If I’d known about these studies at that time, I might have been able to convince him that he’d never be truly successful with his students unless all teachers at his school became more effective. What I’m really wondering is this: What would the chances
be of “success for every student” if students knew they would be successful if they attended a particular school? Could there be a better way to raise a sense of individual efficacy? Isn’t this the draw of the most successful magnet or charter schools? Think of the school lotteries shown in the movie, Waiting for Superman. The belief that “If I can only go to that school then I will
be successful,” and “If I have to go to my neighborhood school then I won’t be,” provides a narrative for the research about student individual and collec- tive efficacy. As leaders, we have little control over
who our students are and what they bring to school with them. But we can influence who they become by creating schools with high collective efficacy. And the research is very clear about how that can be done. It requires: • teachers and leaders with deep knowl-
edge of the best instructional practices; • strong home and school communica-
tion;
• a clear and focused vision; • collaboration and purposeful conversations; • an abiding belief that all students are able to succeed; • high expectations; • time on task; • authentic student engagement; • frequent monitoring of results; • an aligned curriculum; and • strong leadership. A personal assessment of your school or district status in
each of these areas will lead to the clear and focused vision required for a school with high student self-efficacy and even higher collective teacher efficacy. That’s a school where the best teachers will demand to be on the leadership team. And where leadership, by definition, is strong. n
George Manthey is assistant executive director, ACSA Educational Services.
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