The Relationships Among School Types,Teacher Efficacy Beliefs,and Academic Climate: Perspective from Asian Middle Schools

ABSTRACT

The authors explored how prior student achievement, through school types, predicted teacher self- and collective efficacy and perceived academic climate of 222 middle school teachers in Singapore. Teachers assigned to high-track and regular middle schools differed in their perception of self- and collective efficacy to promote organizational changes and student achievement, and of the academic climate of the school. Prior achievement was shown to be best predicted by perceived teacher collective efficacy and academic climate, but not self-efficacy. Further analyses revealed that the teacher collective efficacy partially mediated the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and academic climate. These findings were discussed with respect to the sociocognitive perspective.     

Teaming up: Linking collaboration networks, collective efficacy, and student achievement

Improving student achievement through teacher collaboration networks is a current focus of schools in many countries. Yet, empirical evidence on the relationship between teacher networks and student achievement and mechanisms that may explain this relationship is limited. This study examined the relationship between teacher networks and student achievement and the mediating role of teachers’ collective efficacy beliefs. Data were collected from 53 Dutch elementary schools. Using social network analysis and multiple regression we analyzed teacher survey and student achievement data. Findings indicate that well-connected teacher networks were associated with strong teacher collective efficacy, which in turn supported student achievement.     

Understanding the link between professional learning communities and teacher collective efficacy

Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Some studies indicate that these communities also predict greater collective efficacy, while others suggest teacher efficacy is predictive of teachers working together. Although studies have identified effective, research-based PLC practices, how these specific practices effect collective efficacy has not been thoroughly studied. This study, using structural equation modeling (SEM), investigated the relationship between PLCs and teachers’ collective efficacy drawing on 310 surveys from 16 schools in 1 district that had systematically implemented PLCs. Our findings showed that higher functioning PLCs predict higher levels of teacher collective efficacy (TCE). This suggests that engaging and supporting teachers in PLC work, as this district did, can lead to enhanced collective efficacy, which in turn can contribute to improved student achievement.     

Collective teacher efficacy research: Productive patterns of behaviour and other positive consequences

Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) beliefs serve to encourage certain behaviours and constrain others. Bandura (Educ Psychol 28(2):117–148, 1993) was the first to generate interest in this area by demonstrating that the effect of perceived CTE on student achievement was stronger than the link between socio-economic status and student achievement. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the productive patterns of behaviour and other consequences resulting from educators’ shared sense of efficacy. Studies showed that CTE was associated with a number of productive behaviours including implementation of school improvement strategies, increased teacher leadership, communication of high expectations, and a strong focus on academic pursuits. In addition, CTE was associated with other positive factors including greater job satisfaction, commitment to students and the teaching profession, and positive attitudes toward teaching students with special education needs and professional development. Collective efficacy was negatively related to performance goal orientations and positively related to students’ emotional engagement. Finally, there were a number of studies that established the relationship between CTE and individual teacher efficacy. It is important to acknowledge that the relationship between CTE and other variables included in the studies contained within this review are most likely bidirectional. Policy makers, system and school leaders, and staff developers’ efforts toward successful education reforms might be better served by strategically and intentionally considering how to foster collective efficacy throughout the conceptualization, design, delivery, and assessment of change initiatives. Suggestions for future research and limitations including potential measurement problems of included studies are shared.     

The effect of same-gender teacher assignment on student achievement in the elementary and secondary grades: Evidence from panel data

We utilize information from a rich administrative panel dataset following the universe of test-taking public school students in Florida over a period of five years to estimate the relationship between same-gender teacher assignment and student achievement. We estimate how a student's achievement changes as he/she is assigned to teachers of different genders throughout his/her academic career, holding constant both observed and unobserved factors related to academic outcomes. We also provide estimates from models that evaluate how the relative performance of male and female student assigned to the same teacher or in the same classroom relates to the gender of the teacher. We find no statistically distinguishable relationship between same-gender teacher assignments and student math or reading achievement in elementary school. We find a statistically significant relationship between being assigned to a female teacher and student achievement in middle and high school, however the magnitude of the effect is small.     

“Maybe I can teach those kids.” The influence of contextual factors on student teachers’ efficacy beliefs

This study investigated student teachers’ efficacy beliefs, collective teacher efficacy beliefs, and perceived cooperating teachers’ efficacy beliefs. These student teacher beliefs were examined with the focus on context, primarily the school setting (i.e., rural, suburban, and urban), to determine whether setting played a role in the development of the student teachers’ efficacy beliefs. The research participants included 102 student teachers. All three setting groups exhibited significant increases in teachers’ sense of efficacy following student teaching. Urban student teachers exhibited significantly lower perceived collective efficacy. Perceived cooperating teachers’ efficacy was predictive of and positively related to the student teachers’ post-TSES scores.     

Leadership as Accountability for Learning: The Effects of School Poverty, Teacher Experience, Previous Achievement, and Principal Preparation Programs on Student Achievement

In the current era of accountability for achievement, school principals play the pivotal role of instructional leader. In a high-stakes testing environment, leadership preparation programs in universities and school districts need to be positively related to academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school leadership preparation programs and student achievement in urban settings. Because leadership is contingent on the setting, school contextual factors and their impact on student achievement framed this study. Regression techniques were employed to construct a conceptual model with predictors of criterion and norm-referenced student achievement scores. Confirming previous research findings, student poverty, teacher experience, and previous achievement were the strongest predictors and accounted for a significant amount of variance in student achievement; however, university and district preparation programs were not significant predictors. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.     

Academic optimism and collective responsibility: An organizational model of the dynamics of student achievement

This study was designed to examine the construct of academic optimism and its relationship with collective responsibility in a sample of Taiwan elementary schools. The construct of academic optimism was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and the whole structural model was tested with a structural equation modeling analysis. The data were collected from a sample of 1,093 teachers from the 103 schools in Hualien County, Taiwan. The results of this research demonstrated that academic optimism was confirmed as a latent construct manifested by collective efficacy, faculty trust in students and parents, and academic emphasis in Taiwan elementary schools. Furthermore, the research also extended the theory of academic optimism by demonstrating that academic optimism works through collective responsibility to significantly influence student achievement, while controlling for socioeconomic status, school size, and prior student achievement.     

A national perspective on teachers' efficacy beliefs in deaf education

Teachers' sense of efficacy, or the belief that teachers have of their capacity to make an impact on students' performance, is an unexplored construct in deaf education research. This study included data from 296 respondents to examine the relationship of teacher and school characteristics with teachers' sense of efficacy in 80 different deaf education settings in the US. Deaf education teachers reported high overall efficacy beliefs but significantly lower efficacy beliefs in the area of student engagement than in instructional strategies and classroom management. Teachers' years of experience showed a significant relationship with efficacy beliefs, yet it was the teachers' perceived collective efficacy of their educational setting that ultimately predicted teachers' sense of efficacy. These findings lend credence to the need for further examination of school processes that influence teacher beliefs and attitudes in deaf education settings.     

The mediating roles of collective teacher efficacy in the relations of teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate to their burnout

This study examined the relationships between school organizational climate, collective teacher efficacy, and burnout in a sample of Korean middle school teachers. Using SEM, the results showed that school organizational climate reflecting higher levels of reflective dialogues was associated with both higher levels of collective teacher efficacy and lower levels of teachers' burnout. In contrast, school organizational climate reflecting higher levels of organizational politics was associated with lower levels of collective teacher efficacy, and did not have a direct effect on teachers' burnout. The relationship between school organizational climate and teachers' burnout was mediated by collective teacher efficacy.     

The relationship between perceptions of a Chinese high school's ethical climate and students' school performance

This study examined the relationship of school ethical climate and students' school performance within the context of a Chinese high school. Gender and grade‐level differences in ethical climate perceptions were also explored. Survey data on perceptions of school ethical climate based upon the dimensions of student‐to‐teacher, student‐to‐student and teacher‐to‐student interactions and relationships were obtained from 754 students. Results of the study showed that students' perceptions of their high school's ethical climate were related to academic achievement, gender and grade level. Students' involvement in extracurricular activities and student leadership generally did not seem to relate to their perceptions of ethical climate. Based upon these findings, the school's moral education intervention programs should increase their focus on the area of teacher‐to‐student relationships and interactions and the subgroups of male students, students in higher grades and students with lower academic achievement. Implications for future research on school climate are also discussed.     

校长领导力是如何影响学生成绩的?--基于国外校长领导力实证研究五大理论模型的分析

校长领导力是如何影响学生成绩的?为什么说一个好校长就是一所好学校?对于这些问题,国外关于校长领导力与学生成绩关系的大量实证研究已经初步形成了五个具有影响力和说服力的理论模型:校长领导力三元理论模型、学校氛围中介效应模型、校长领导行为涟漪效应模型、以学习为中心的校长领导力模型和成功校长领导模型,可以很好地解释校长领导力影响学生成绩的方式与关系,对于校长如何提高学校办学质量以及如何提高学生成绩具有实践的指导价值。其中学校发展的政策背景、校长的专业培训、学生的家庭背景、利益相关者的需要等都会对校长领导力产生影响,而校长领导力与这些变量的相互作用又会对学校条件、教室条件以及教师质量产生影响,进而影响学生成绩。     

The gateway to the profession: Assessing teacher preparation programs based on student achievement

With teacher quality repeatedly cited as the most important schooling factor influencing student achievement, there has been increased interest in examining the efficacy of teacher training programs. This paper presents the results of research investigating the relationship between teachers who graduate from different training programs and student achievement on state reading and math tests. Using a novel methodology that allows teacher training effects to decay, we find that training institution indicators explain a statistically significant portion of the variation in student achievement in reading, but not in math. Moreover, there is evidence that graduates from some specific training programs are differentially effective at teaching reading than the average teacher trained out-of-state and that these differences are large enough to be educationally meaningful.     

The mediating role of socio-motivational support in the association between individual school self-concept and achievement motivation amongst adolescent students

It is now well known that adolescence is frequently marked by a decline in students' achievement motivation, which in turn is often associated with a decline in individual school self-concept. Less is known about the mediating role of socio-motivational support in the association between individual school self-concept and achievement motivation. The current study examined the interplay of individual school self-concept, socio-motivational support and achievement motivation in a large sample of seventh and eighth grade students (N?=?1,088; M _Age?=?13.7) in secondary schools in Brandenburg, Germany. Structural equation modeling was used to test the associations between individual school self-concept, socio-motivational support, and achievement motivation. The results showed that the teacher–student relationship as well as “teachers as positive motivators” mediated the association between individual school self-concept and achievement motivation. In contrast, neither “peers as positive motivators” nor the student–student relationship mediated this association. These results support the notion that maintaining a positive teacher–student relationship as well as encouraging teachers in the role of positive motivators could be an effective starting point for prevention and intervention programs aimed at offsetting the decline in individual school self-concept and achievement motivation during adolescence.     

Singapore’s School Excellence Model and student learning: evidence from PISA 2012 and TALIS 2013

This study examines the relationship between key elements of the School Excellence Model (SEM) and student achievement in reading, mathematics and science as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 and the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, using a sample of 166 schools in Singapore. Strategies, quality and resources are identified as school-level dimensions commonly involved in the SEM to select variables in PISA 2012 and TALIS 2013. A multilevel data analysis was conducted using hierarchical linear modelling. The results indicate that a triangulated school strategy focused on strengthening teacher participation, principal commitment and school responsibility has significant relationships with student performance. In particular, teachers’ instructional improvement contributed to student achievement, while teacher ratio to support teaching staff accounts for the largest variance in student achievement. Finally, school extra-curricular activities promote well-rounded student development that enhances learning achievement. Findings highlight the importance of school-based accountability that empowers teachers, in building school capacity for student achievement.     

Students’ individual and collective efficacy: joining together two sets of beliefs for understanding academic achievement

In this paper, we assume that students’ achievement is influenced not only by a set of individual appraisals such as beliefs about their personal efficacy but also by a set of more systemic factors related to beliefs about their class efficacy as a group. Literature and research review supports that students’ beliefs about their efficacy, both as individuals and as groups, are important predictors of their achievements at school. However, little research has been presented to date that jointly explores the impact of these two sets of beliefs on academic achievement. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present an integrated view of individual and collective efficacy beliefs, exploring the relationship between them and their causal relationship with students’ achievement. Two cross-sectional studies were developed in the Portuguese secondary school context with 385 and 1,794 students, using Academic Self-Efficacy Scale and Students Collective Efficacy Scale to assess individual and collective efficacy beliefs. The main results showed that individual efficacy beliefs were stronger predictors of students’ grades than collective efficacy beliefs, especially when the specific domain of achievement they refer to was considered (for instance, levels of mathematics self-efficacy had a stronger impact on mathematics grades than on Portuguese grades). Moreover, moderating effects of gender and type of school (public vs. non-public) were found, suggesting that collective efficacy beliefs play a more significant role among boys and among students from public schools.     

Examining the Relationship Between Teacher Evaluation and Student Assessment Results in Washoe County

In this article, we describe findings from an analysis of the relationship between scores on a standards-based teacher evaluation system modeled on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996) and student achievement measures in a large Western school district. We apply multilevel statistical modeling to study the relationship between the evaluation scores and state and district tests of reading, mathematics, and a composite measure of reading and mathematics. Using a value-added framework, the teacher evaluation scores were included at the 2nd level, or teacher level, of the model when other student and teacher-level characteristics were controlled. This study provided some initial evidence of a positive association between teacher performance, as measured by the evaluation system, and student achievement. The coefficients representing the effects of teacher performance on student achievement were positive and were statistically significant in 4 of 9 grade-test combinations studied.     

Teacher qualifications and early learning: Effects of certification,degree, and experience on first-grade student achievement

A fundamental issue inherent to education policy is whether teacher qualifications such as certification status, degree level, preparation, and experience predict student achievement. While existing research provides some direction regarding the potential importance of these qualifications for productivity in secondary schools, less is known about their importance for productivity in elementary schools. This study draws on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) to analyze the relationship between elementary school teacher qualifications and first-grade achievement in reading and mathematics. While we find no effects for certification status, we report positive effects for teachers’ degree type and experience on reading achievement. We also discover potential contextual effects of teachers’ qualifications on student achievement, with first-graders demonstrating higher levels of reading and mathematics achievement in schools where teachers report higher levels of coursework emphasis in these subject areas. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and future research.     

Student commitment and school organization in relation to on-task behavior and achievement

Three experiments considered student commitment to school, IQ, and school organization type in relation to student task behavior and to school achievement. The first two correlational studies indicated the relationship between student commitment and student task behavior; the third study used student task behavior, student commitment, IQ, and school organization to predict achievement. This prediction equation was quite robust with a final R² = .85. School achievement is predicted by intelligence and academic time on task in traditionally structured schools, and by intelligence and student commitment in open structured schools. Increasing the amount of teacher directed time would increase achievement in traditional schools, but decrease achievement in open schools.     

What's in a teacher test? Assessing the relationship between teacher licensure test scores and student STEM achievement and course-taking

We investigate the relationship between teacher licensure test scores and student test achievement and high school course-taking. We focus on three subject/grade combinations—middle school math, ninth-grade algebra and geometry, and ninth-grade biology—and find evidence that a teacher's basic skills test scores are modestly predictive of student achievement in middle school math and highly predictive of student achievement in high school biology. A teacher's subject-specific licensure test scores are a consistent and statistically significant predictor of student achievement only in high school biology. Finally, we find little evidence that students assigned to middle school teachers with higher basic-skills test scores are more likely to take advanced math and science courses in high school.