Roger D. Goddard

Collective Teacher Efficacy: Its Meaning, Measure, and Impact on Student Achievement

This article is a theoretical and empirical analysis of the construct of collective teacher efficacy. First, a model of collective efficacy was elaborated for use in schools. Then, an operational measure of collective teacher efficacy was developed, tested, and found to have strong reliability and reasonable validity. Finally, using the instrument to examine urban elementary schools in one large midwestern district, collective teacher efficacy was positively associated with differences between schools in student-level achievement in both reading and mathematics.

Collective Efficacy Beliefs:Theoretical Developments, Empirical Evidence, and Future Directions

This analysis synthesizes existing research to discuss how teachers’ practice and student learning are affected by perceptions of collective efficacy. Social cognitive theory is employed to explain that the choices teachers make—the ways in which they exercise personal agency—are strongly influenced by collective efficacy beliefs. Although empirically related, teacher and collective efficacy perceptions are theoretically distinct constructs, each having unique effects on educational decisions and student achievement. Our purpose is to advance awareness about perceived collective efficacy and develop a conceptual model to explain the formation and influence of perceived collective efficacy in schools. We also examine the relevance of efficacy beliefs to teachers’ professional work and outline future research possibilities.

A Multilevel Examination of the Distribution and Effects of Teacher Trust in Students and Parents in Urban Elementary Schools

In this article we develop the theoretical argument that teacher trust in students and parents is critical to school success. Next, using survey data collected on 452 teachers and data on achievement in reading and mathematics and on socioeconomic status of 2,536 fourth-grade students in 47 urban elementary schools, we show that trust varied greatly among the elementary schools and that this variation was strongly related to differences among schools in socioeconomic status. Finally, results of the study showed that even after accounting for variation among schools in student demographic characteristics, prior achievement, and school socioeconomic status, trust was a significant positive predictor of differences among schools in student achievement. We discuss the implications of these findings for improving academic achievement in elementary schools and for future research.

A Multilevel Analysis of the Relationship between Teacher and Collective Efficacy in Urban Schools.

Abstract Although a great deal of research has linked both teacher and collective efficacy to student achievement, one overlooked question concerns the nested association between teacher and collective efficacy. The authors apply social cognitive theory to offer a theoretical analysis of this relationship. Next, using hierarchical linear modeling, they empirically test the strength of the relationship between these two theoretically related yet conceptually distinct constructs. Analysis of data collected from 438 teachers in 47 schools in a large urban school district shows that collective efficacy predicts variation in teacher efficacy above and beyond the variance explained by a number of school contextual factors including socioeconomic status and student achievement. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Relational Networks, Social Trust, and Norms: A Social Capital Perspective on Students’ Chances of Academic Success

This study elaborates a theoretical rationale for relational networks, norms, and trust as structural and functional forms of social capital that can facilitate student achievement. The results of hierarchical generalized linear modeling show that 4th-grade students’ odds of passing state-mandated mathematics and writing assessments are modestly increased in urban schools characterized by high levels of social capital. The results suggest the need for more research investigating the extent to which social capital is independent from socioeconomic status and whether social capital may be developed in schools serving high concentrations of poor and minority students.

A theoretical and empirical analysis of the measurement of collective efficacy: The development of a short form

The present study reports on the development of a 12-item Likert-type measure of collective efficacy in schools. Designed to assess the extent to which a faculty believes in its conjoint capability to positively influence student learning, the scale is based on a social cognitive model that posits perceptions of collective efficacy develop from the cognitive processing of group members. Faculty perceptions of group competence and the level of difficulty inherent in the educational task faced by the school are tapped by the scale. The 12-item scale is more theoretically pure than an earlier 21-item scale to which the 12-item scale is compared. The internal consistency of scores on the 12-item scale is tested with Cronbach’s alpha, and a test of predictive validity using multilevel modeling is reported.

Academic Emphasis of Urban Elementary Schools and Student Achievement in Reading and Mathematics: A Multilevel Analysis.

This research examines the importance of a school climate characterized by high levels of academic emphasis. Effective schools research is reviewed to develop a conceptual model undergirding the measurement of academic emphasis. In addition, social cognitive theory is employed as a theoretical framework explaining the development and effect of academic emphasis on student achievement. With the use of hierarchical linear modeling, the authors show that academic emphasis is important to differences among urban elementary schools in student mathematics and reading achievement. The relationship between current academic achievement and students’ prior achievement and demo- graphic characteristics is also modeled in this study.

High school accountability: The role of perceived collective efficacy

This study examined the relationship between collective efficacy and high school student achievement in a state with an accountability system heavily focused on achievement, measured by mandatory assessments in multiple content areas. Using social cognitive theory, a theoretical model was developed linking school context and collective efficacy to differences among schools in 12th grader student achievement. Structural equation modeling was used to test the fit of the model to data drawn from students and teachers in 96 state high schools. Collective efficacy was positively influenced by past mastery experience and negatively related to school socioeconomic disadvantage. Additionally, after accounting for the influence of several aspects of school context, collective efficacy remained a significant positive predictor of student performance across all content areas tested by the state. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for social cognitive theory and school improvement in an era of school accountability for student performance on subject-specific achievement assessments.

Trust as a Mediator of the Relationships Between Poverty, Racial Composition, and Academic Achievement Evidence From Michigan's Public Elementary Schools

Purpose: Research shows that trust is significantly related to academic achievement. This study expands knowledge of this connection in two ways. First, because a stratified, random sample of elementary schools from an entire state was used, the results have considerable generalizability. Second, this study tested the relationship between trust and achievement and assessed whether links between academic achievement, socioeconomic status (SES), and racial composition are mediated by the levels of trust teachers report in students and parents. Data Collection and Analysis: Schools were systematically randomly selected and stratified by location, prior achievement, SES, and size to represent all traditional public elementary schools across Michigan. Teachers responded to surveys measuring the levels of trust in schools. A path analysis was conducted at the school level to model variation in trust and the proportion of students passing the state mathematics and reading assessments. Findings: Using path analysis and controlling for measures of school context, greater trust was associated with increased school achievement in mathematics and reading on state assessments used for accountability purposes. Also, school SES, racial composition, and size were indirectly related to achievement through their associations with trust. However, racial and economic disadvantage were not directly related to achievement after controlling for prior achievement and trust. Conclusion: Because racial and economic disadvantage were related to achievement only indirectly through their negative associations with trust, trust relations appear to mediate the relationship between school disadvantage and academic achievement. Future researchers may wish to study whether programs seeking to increase trust in schools can effectively minimize the academic disadvantage typically associated with poverty and racial composition.

The influence of school social composition on teachers' collective efficacy beliefs

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine how school social composition is related to perceived collective efficacy. Several hypotheses tested in this research were derived from social cognitive theory and based on the extant literature. Participants: Data were drawn from 1,981 teachers in 41 K-8 schools in a diverse urban school district in the southwestern United States. Findings: The results of two-level hierarchical linear models indicated that a school’s past academic achievement, rate of special program placement for gifted children, and faculty ethnic composition explained 46% of the variation among schools in perceived collective efficacy. The article also reports a much smaller but statistically significant relationship between collective efficacy beliefs and teacher race and experience. Teachers of color and those with more than 10 years experience reported slightly higher levels of perceived collective efficacy. Conclusions: The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.