The contribution of elements of teacher collaboration to individual and collective teacher efficacy

Research on teacher efficacy (both individual and collective) suggests there are many factors which influence its development. One factor influencing both individual and collective teacher efficacy is teachers' sociostructural environment which includes the multidimensional construct of teacher collaboration. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which elements of teacher collaboration contributed to variance in individual teacher and collective team efficacy over and above that explained by class size, class percent reading on grade level, class percent limited English proficient, class percent special education, class socio-economic status, class percent minority, and teacher years of experience.;To achieve the purpose of this study, a non-experimental survey methodology was utilized. Three scales from Rosenholtz (1991) were used to measure the extent of agreement for degree of isolation or cohesiveness, involvement in decision-making, and teacher learning opportunities. Two scales derived from the 2001--2002 Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy Teacher Survey (Center for Research..., n.d.) were used to measure frequency of teacher collaboration around instruction and peer observation. One scale from the 1991 CRC Survey Measures of Teachers' Professional Community, Commitment, and Instructional Adaptation (Center for Research..., n.d.) was used to measure extent of agreement for teachers' perceptions of collegiality. The Teacher Efficacy Scale developed by Gibson and Dembo (1984) was used to measure individual teacher efficacy, and the Collective Teacher Efficacy Scale (Short Form) developed by Goddard (2002) was modified and used to measure collective team efficacy. The unit of analysis for the study was the individual teacher. Data were collected from 10 elementary schools in one rural Virginia school district. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were utilized as the statistical procedures for analyzing each research question, and the alpha level to determine statistical significance was p ≤ .05.;Findings from the study suggested that certain elements of collaboration accounted for variance in individual teacher efficacy and collective team efficacy over and above that explained by class size, class percent reading on grade level, class percent limited English proficient, class percent special education, class socio-economic status, class percent minority, and teacher years of experience. Collegiality independently contributed the greatest amount of variance to four dependent variables (total efficacy, personal efficacy, total collective team efficacy, and task analysis). Collegiality also contributed the greatest amount of variance out of all collaboration variables to any one dependent variable (total collective team efficacy). Collaboration around instruction contributed the second greatest amount of variance to any one dependent variable (group competence). Peer observation, degree of cohesion, and involvement in decision making also contributed to the variance in different individual and collective efficacy constructs. The amount of variance in personal teacher efficacy and group competence contributed by teacher learning opportunities approached statistical significance.;A number of implications and suggestions for future research were discussed based on the findings of the study. Administrators' awareness of the importance of individual and collective teacher efficacy and their support of specific types of collaboration is critical for the development and enhancement of efficacy beliefs. Future research to investigate collaboration as a vehicle to differentiate and support different efficacy informing sources was recommended.