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School leaders play a pivotal role in building a strong school culture and cultivating a collective sense of agency among teachers; the belief that 鈥渢ogether, they can help students succeed鈥� is a critical part of that, write Bryan Goodwin and Susan Shebby for 础厂颁顿鈥檚 Educational Leadership.

Creating a schoolwide culture of collective success draws on work by education researchers like , among others, who found that when educators share this feeling of efficacy, the impact on student achievement can be astounding: 鈥淐ollective teacher efficacy is greater than three times more powerful and predictive of student achievement than socioeconomic status,鈥� . 鈥淚t is also greater than three times more predictive of student achievement than student motivation and concentration, persistence, and engagement.鈥�

Though they caution that 鈥渢here鈥檚 no simple checklist to follow,鈥� Goodwin and Shebby, who are the chief executive and a managing evaluator, respectively, at education research organization McREL International, outline several ways school leaders can set the conditions for collective efficacy to emerge among educators.

Move From Vertical to Horizontal Power Structures

鈥淔eeling powerless dampens teachers' sense of efficacy,鈥� write Goodwin and Shebby, and the research on teaching frequently concludes that feelings of isolation, marginalization, and exhaustion creep into the lives of working educators year to year, depressing morale and driving up burnout and attrition. Schools must invest in practices and power-sharing structures that allow for greater, more frequent communication and collaboration among peers who understand them鈥攂oth to provide emotional support, and to allow for more collaborative planning to manage the workload and the stress.

While leaders must still be the stewards of a school鈥檚 mission and day-to-day operations, relying too much on hierarchical structures and top-down messaging leaves teachers feeling disconnected from their most likely source of daily solace: their peers working alongside them.

Traditional professional development, for example, 鈥渋sn鈥檛 the only, or even best, path to building efficacy,鈥� write Goodwin and Shebby. Instead, 鈥渆fficacy often emerges from vicarious experiences鈥攕eeing people we relate to overcoming challenges like our own,鈥� they write. In other words, several hours of virtual PD might feel overwhelming for teachers right now. Instead, consider setting up opportunities for teachers to 鈥渓earn from one another through (virtual) classroom observation or collective problem-solving.鈥�

Building in blocks of time for planning and reflection can be especially helpful for teachers. 鈥淲e are often starved for time in schools, and the stress that comes from this rubs off on students,鈥� writes Katy Farber, a professional development coordinator and former sixth grade teacher. But for teachers to feel their schools are places that support and motivate them, they need time to 鈥渞eflect, make meaning, and connect.鈥� It鈥檚 incumbent on school leaders to 鈥減lan these moments into meetings or agendas,鈥� Farber notes, so that 鈥渢eachers don鈥檛 feel as though they鈥檙e just hopping on yet another treadmill.鈥�

And teachers need breaks. In his early days as principal at Fall-Hamilton Elementary, in Nashville, Mathew Portell focused his social and emotional work on the students. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 support teachers in the way that I should鈥檝e, and could鈥檝e, because I was a new principal and I just didn鈥檛 know how,鈥� says Portell. One way the school is changing that is with a system called 鈥�,鈥� which allows teachers to call on a colleague when they need a quick break from the classroom. 鈥淎t the end of the day, you know that these kids rely on you, so we also need to take care of ourselves,鈥� says Natalie Vadas, a teacher at Fall-Hamilton.

Don鈥檛 Go Big

Part of the work of school leaders is to sketch out goals for the school year and hatch ambitious, long-term plans that reach far into the future. But paying attention to small, short-term goals is just as important, because when people experience incremental positive progress, it can 鈥渂oost emotions, motivation, and perceptions,鈥� write Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer for the . The more people experience these small, positive boosts, 鈥渢he more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress鈥攅ven a small win鈥攃an make all the difference in how they feel and perform.鈥�

So when school leaders set incremental goals and 鈥渉elp teachers achieve small successes,鈥� Goodwin and Shebby write, it can be enough to make them feel that they鈥檙e 鈥渕aking strides to overcome challenges,鈥� even if it鈥檚 just one small thing that鈥檚 going right in the classroom. Focusing on long-term goals to the exclusion of these smaller wins can create a sense that teachers are just spinning their wheels and making no real progress in their daily work.

Identify Influential Teacher Leaders

Because a few 鈥渋nfluential or vocal teachers鈥� can sometimes have an outsized impact on colleagues, write Goodwin and Shebby, it鈥檚 important to reach out and engage with them to 鈥渒eep teacher conversations productive鈥攆ocused on both listening to, and solving, one another鈥檚 problems to build a shared sense of optimism and efficacy.

It can be productive to identify positive, high-achieving teachers as team leaders who can 鈥渟teer the ship,鈥� writes coach and education consultant Elena Aguilar. In schools where teachers tend to stay for long periods of time, they report feeling 鈥渃onnected to colleagues and supported by them,鈥� writes Aguilar. They describe feeling like they鈥檙e part of a team with a shared mission. And when 鈥渁 team is effective, then people learn from each other. They accomplish far more than would be possible alone. They inspire and challenge each other.鈥� But strong teams benefit from positive, smart team leaders so there鈥檚 鈥渢he kind of intentionality, planning, and facilitation in the moment that鈥檚 essential for a team to be high functioning,鈥� writes Aguilar.