From Instructional Leadership to Teacher Efficacy and Student Achievement: The Mediating Role of Teacher Collaboration

• In Event: Organizational Context and Instructional Leadership: The Importance of Teacher Collaboration and Student Achievement

Abstract

We hypothesized that instructional leadership is likely to affect teachers’ sense of efficacy and average student achievement largely through its direct impact on teacher collaboration. Using teacher surveys from a sample of 41 traditional public and 10 charter elementary schools serving students in a large, urban Midwestern district, we examined associations between teachers’ reports of instructional leadership and their collaborative practices as well as their teaching efficacy. Using Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling, we found that teachers’ perceptions of instructional leadership were positively associated with their reports of collaborative practices and their teaching efficacy after controlling for school and teacher demographics. In addition, average student achievement was predicted directly by teacher collaboration and indirectly by instructional leadership through teacher collaboration.

Authors

• Roger D. Goddard, The Ohio State University

• Yvonne L. Goddard, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Robert Nichols, The Ohio State University