Subject Area

Education

Abstract

Collective efficacy (Bandura 1986, 1997), a group’s shared beliefs in the ability of an organization to accomplish its goals, has been researched in schools over the past twenty years, the majority of which has occurred at the school level (Angelle & Teague, 2014; Goddard, 2001; Goddard, LoGerfo, & Hoy, 2004; Ware & Kitsantas, 2007). While a great deal of this research has been paramount to understanding collective efficacy and how the social cognitive theory is applied to K-12 educational context, further exploration is needed to capture the development of this phenomenon. Specifically, Bandura (1997) pointed out that efficacy is a task specific construct. Thus, a study is warranted in which efficacy is examined in a task specific way. While the literature suggests a relationship between Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) and positive student outcomes, many urban secondary schools remain plagued by poor school climates and student achievement results, yet within some of these schools, there are pockets of effective teams with high CTE. In middle schools and high schools, the work of teachers is task specific across grade levels, teams, and academic departments. Much of the work of teachers at the department level is driven by goals and beliefs and team interaction which influence pedagogical effectiveness and student achievement outcomes. Moreover, the task specific constructs are areas in which the phenomenon of CTE is manifested as teachers perceive the tasks and assess their collective abilities to accomplish their goals. While research has examined how CTE develops in a variety of contexts, the majority focuses at the school-wide level warranting further exploration at the urban secondary departmental context as this may prove to be critical in understanding how CTE develops impacting teacher and student outcomes. As a result, I completed a study that examined how collective teacher efficacy develops at the departmental level in an urban secondary school. A qualitative case study was conducted within an urban secondary school using semi-structured interviews and observations to collect data. Thick, rich descriptions were utilized to validate transferability of findings, as well as data theming, and triangulation across stakeholder holder groups. Six total interviews were conducted which included the principal, assistant principal, and four teachers, two from the social studies department, and two from the Career and Technology Education (CATE) department. Additionally, each teacher was observed in PLC and during class instruction. The findings demonstrate variance in CTE within and across academic departments and recommendations were made for campus leaders, district leaders, and additional research.

Degree Date

Spring 5-15-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Department

Education Policy and Leadership

Advisor

Alexandra Pavlakis

Second Advisor

Dawson Orr

Third Advisor

Dan Berebitsky

Number of Pages

91

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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