Collective Efficacy, Social Context, Teacher's Work, and Student Achievement: A Mixed-Method Study.

Collective efficacy – a group’s belief in its capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to reach a goal – is understood to be an important organizational property because it facilitates attainment. Social cognitive theory has been leveraged in many quantitative studies illustrating that teachers’ collective efficacy has a strong relationship to student achievement. The purpose of this mixed method study was to (1) confirm that collective efficacy was to related to 4th grade students’ odds of passing state standardized assessments in reading and mathematics across an entire state, and (2) learn how collective efficacy operates to impact student achievement. Employing data drawn from a stratified random sample of schools in a large state, Hierarchal Generalized Linear Modeling (HGLM) results demonstrate that for every standard deviation increase in collective efficacy, a student’s individual odds of passing a state assessment increased by 35% and 42% in mathematics and reading respectively. In an effort to understand the relationship between collective efficacy and student achievement, two high poverty schools in the same district from the quantitative sample were selected for case study – Barcliff and Meadows. Schools were differentiated by levels of collective efficacy and student performance. Through analysis of teacher interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations, several key differences emerged. Importantly, Barcliff teachers described their students as full of potential compared to the greater degree of deficit thinking that was apparent at Meadows. These belief systems seemed to be related to the nature of the professional learning community (PLC) in each building as established by the principal. The Barcliff principal was an instructional leader; as such the intention of their PLC was to improve teacher learning in order to enhance student learning. In contrast, Meadows principal’s leadership around instruction was incidental and the PLC was thought of as a structure without an explicit focus on teachers’ learning to bolster student learning. This study illustrates that the degree to which schools were organized to support teachers’ work contributed to their levels of collective efficacy; in other words, collective efficacy and PLCs were mutually supportive with both contributing to student achievement levels.Ph.D.Education StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89792/1/ssalloum_1.pd

Building Coherence: An Investigation of Collective Efficacy, Social Context, and How Leaders Shape Teachers’ Work

Purpose: Collective efficacy (CE)—a group’s belief in its capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to reach a goal—is an important organizational property because it facilitates goal attainment. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was (1) to affirm the link between CE and student achievement, (2) to understand the antecedents of CE, and (3) to illustrate how school leaders shape conditions to promote CE. Research Methods/ Approach: Using statewide data drawn from a stratified random sample of schools, analyses were conducted utilizing hierarchical generalized linear modeling. To probe the relationship between CE and student achievement, two high-poverty schools, differentiated by levels of CE and student performance, were selected for case studies. Findings: Quantitative results confirm CE was related to fourth-grade students’ odds of passing state standardized assessments in reading and mathematics. Case studies revealed principals created structures that enhanced instructional program coherence, which may have enriched CE. Implications: These findings underscore the importance in leadership in supporting CE. Specifically, leaders foster the conditions to enact an instructional framework that serves as an opportunity to not only build CE but also articulate CE beliefs

The Relationship Between Collective Efficacy and Teachers’ Social Networks in Urban Middle Schools

Collective efficacy, a group’s belief in its capabilities to reach a goal, is an important organizational property repeatedly linked with student achievement. However, little scholarship specifies the antecedents of collective efficacy. To fill this gap, this study examines a potential predictor of collective efficacy: teachers’ social networks. The authors employ social network and regression analysis to explore the relationship between network density, network centralization, and collective efficacy in 20 middle school mathematics departments in two large, urban districts across 3 years. Collective efficacy had a significant relationship with density, but not centralization, when controlling for school demographics. The findings underscore the importance of network density to school improvement reforms. Policymakers need to consider policies that support the building of a dense network, which could increase collective efficacy and, ultimately, student achievement

The Changing Ecology of the Curriculum Marketplace in the Era of the Common Core State Standards

This manuscript explores how the changing policy context of common standards may have influenced the provision of curriculum materials in the United States. Many educational reforms do little to change the nature of classroom instruction, and prior research has argued that this constancy is, at least in part, due to the common use of instructional materials from a small set of large publishing companies (Rowan in J Educ Change 3(3–4):283–314, 2002). However, common standards have been in place in many states since 2010, creating the potential for states to create and share curricular materials with each other, as well as for new organizations to enter the curriculum marketplace. Instructional materials provide a direct link to the instructional core, and recent research demonstrates that individual teachers, schools, and districts are increasingly selecting instructional materials from a variety of online sources, including databases of open educational resources and open-access, yearlong curricula. These materials are created, curated, and/or disseminated by state education agencies, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and education employees. In this essay, we describe this new context and provide several cases of the shifting landscape of supply and demand related to curriculum materials. Various configurations of organizations are taking innovative approaches to providing curriculum materials in the context of the Common Core State Standards, as well as to influencing the materials school systems adopt. Finally, we discuss the implications of this backdrop for curriculum policy and practice

Getting Connected: Finding Literacy Resources in the Common Core Era

The authors provide practical, evidence-based advice for teachers and educational leaders looking for helpful curricular and professional resources that support students’ literacy development in the era of the Common Core State Standards

(Un)Commonly Connected: A Social Network Analysis of State Standards Resources for English/Language Arts

As states continue to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), state educational agencies (SEAs) are providing professional development and curricular resources to help districts and teachers understand the standards. However, little is known about the resources SEAs endorse, the states and/or organizations sponsoring these resources, and how states and organizations are connected. This study investigates the secondary English/language arts resources provided by 51 SEAs (2,023 resources sponsored by 51 SEAs and 262 intermediary organizations). Social network analysis of states and sponsoring organizations revealed a core-periphery network in which certain states and organizations were frequently named as the sponsors of resources, while other organizations were named as resource sponsors by only one state. SEAs are providing a variety of types of resources, including professional development, curriculum guidelines, articles, and instructional aids. This study offers insight into the most influential actors providing CCSS resources at the state level, as well as how SEAs are supporting instructional capacity through the resources they provide for teachers

(Un)Commonly Connected

As states continue to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), state educational agencies (SEAs) are providing professional development and curricular resources to help districts and teachers understand the standards. However, little is known about the resources SEAs endorse, the states and/or organizations sponsoring these resources, and how states and organizations are connected. This study investigates the secondary English/language arts resources provided by 51 SEAs (2,023 resources sponsored by 51 SEAs and 262 intermediary organizations). Social network analysis of states and sponsoring organizations revealed a core-periphery network in which certain states and organizations were frequently named as the sponsors of resources, while other organizations were named as resource sponsors by only one state. SEAs are providing a variety of types of resources, including professional development, curriculum guidelines, articles, and instructional aids. This study offers insight into the most influential actors providing CCSS resources at the state level, as well as how SEAs are supporting instructional capacity through the resources they provide for teachers

State Educational Agencies in an Uncertain Environment: Understanding State Provided Networks of English Language Arts Curricular Resources

Rapid adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition, and backlash around these policies created widespread uncertainty among state educational agencies (SEAs). SEAs may have not had a clear direction about how to support standards implementation in a new context, and therefore, may have looked to their professional networks, their geographic neighbors or other highly regarded SEAs, or other sources for information and resources to guide their decisions about where to send teachers for information about standards. Drawing on institutional theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1977) and isomorphism specifically (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983), we posit that coercive forces (primarily due to RTTT application and CCSS status) as compared to mimetic and normative forces influenced the organizations to which SEAs turn for curriculum materials. Using Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure and a data set of over 2,000 state-provided resources for secondary English Language Arts teachers from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., we indeed found that coercive forces had a relationship with shared organizational ties, demonstrating that RTTT application and CCSS adoption influenced resource provision

A Multilevel Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Teachers' Perceptions of Principals' Instructional Support and Group Norms for Instruction in Elementary Schools

At a time when educators and policy makers are focused on improving outcomes for all children, we believe it is essential to understand better the ways in which principals may influence instructional norms in their schools. Our literature review led us to believe that a combination of leadership approaches is important for supporting teachers' use of differentiated instruction schoolwide to meet their students' diverse needs. Therefore, we examined whether principals' instructional support predicts differences among schools in group norms for the use of differentiated instruction. Data were drawn from a stratified random sample of a Midwestern state's noncharter public elementary schools. Hierarchical linear modeling results of surveys from 616 teachers in 77 schools revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between these two constructs. In addition to presenting these findings, we discuss their importance and the need for further research in this area

Creating Systems of Sustainability: Four Focus Areas for the Future of PK-12 Open Educational Resources

Over the past few years, state and school district education leaders have renewed their focus on the quality of learning materials available in our nation’s classrooms (Chiefs for Change, 2017; RAND Corp., 2016; RAND Corp., 2017). Many leaders have been dismayed to find that existing proprietary textbooks and supplementary resources often do not match their teachers’ and students’ needs (Ishmael, 2018a). Fortunately, there is a growing recognition of teachers and school leaders who are addressing this challenge head-on through open educational resources. Simply put, open educational resources, or OER, are “high quality teaching, learning, and research resources that are free for others to use and repurpose”(Hewlett Foundation, 2015). OER range from entire curricula and textbooks to smaller grain-size learning materials, including assessments, videos and images