In their 2025 book, Collective Impact, Jenni Donohoo and Glenn Forbes describe how school leaders can increase teacher efficacy, one of the most important ingredients in highly effective schools. Collective efficacy is educators’ belief that they, as a group, can make a positive difference to student achievement. Studies show that when a faculty has this belief, its members put in more effort, think more strategically, and demonstrate greater commitment. It’s at the top of John Hattie’s list of key factors in high academic and SEL achievement.
Donohoo and Forbes name twelve “enemies” that frequently undermine teacher efficacy and organize their book around ways school leaders can counteract each one:
- Blaming poverty, parents, and students’ lack of effort – Pinning low student achievement on factors outside teachers’ control undermines their motivation to do better. The antidote: highlighting where teachers are succeeding and connecting specific practices to impact on student learning. Rather than saying, “Good job!” to a teacher, a principal might say, “I saw you provide scaffolding to your struggling students on the spot. That’s a skill that many teachers take a long time to develop. Did you notice how effective it was? That support meant they could participate and reach the lesson’s objectives.”
- The magnitude of the task – When improving student achievement seems too daunting, teacher efficacy falters. The antidote: reframe the challenge in terms of small, specific actions teachers and teacher teams can take with available resources within a finite amount of time – for example, a one-month plan for fifth graders to work on one skill in their essay writing.
- Fragmentation – A Christmas tree of initiatives in a school undermines focused collaboration and fosters cynicism (This too shall pass). The antidote: find out which 20 percent of teacher actions are producing 80 percent of the results (the Pareto Principle) and focus the school on those super-productive practices, de-emphasizing those that are adding less value.
- Ambiguity on school goals – If staff members don’t have a clear sense of what their school’s major priorities and initiatives are, there’s going to be less productive collaboration. If there’s uncertainty about people’s roles and the definition of practices – for example, student-led versus student-centered – collective efficacy will suffer. The antidote: ensure that staff members have a shared understanding and consensus on key ideas and practices and reinforce those by encouraging colleagues to recognize and appreciate classroom successes in those areas.
- Uncertainty about what administrators are thinking – For example, The assistant principal didn’t give me eye contact – is she mad because I voiced concerns about the schedule? The antidote: communicate openly and clearly, minimize ambiguity, and check in on whether what you are saying and doing are received as intended.
- Hierarchical thinking – When school leaders wield their authority in a controlling, top-down manner, teachers work with a fearful attitude, don’t take risks, close their classroom doors, and avoid collaboration. The antidote: distribute leadership, delegate tasks, encourage mentorships, hold teacher-led professional development, empower teams to experiment with new instructional initiatives, and provide discretionary funds for promising projects. It’s also important for leaders to know what individuals are good at and encourage them to play to those strengths.
- A compliance mentality – When teachers feel they’re being managed to follow top-down policies, they go through the motions – or silently undermine mandates. The antidote: get out of compliance mode and find ways to persuade teachers to use best practices because they work. If there are concerns about a program, invite teachers to articulate their reasons and try variations, measuring the impact on students who weren’t doing well.
- Teacher isolation – Educators may feel cut off from their colleagues because of their own insecurities, the schedule (no common meeting times), or being a “lonely singleton” (the only music teacher in a school). Isolated teachers learn less from their colleagues, and their colleagues learn less from them, limiting the spread of good ideas. The antidote: fix the schedule so there are common planning times at least once a week and orchestrate tasks that foster interdependence – for example, drafting and giving common assessments, planning grade-wide projects, visiting each other’s classrooms, and shadowing a student for a day – followed by sharing insights.
- Avoiding collaboration – Teachers may not contribute ideas and energy to their grade-level or department team because they worry their methods might be questioned or aren’t comfortable with interpersonal conflict. This might take the form of skipping team meetings, contributing only the bare minimum, or not addressing problems that can only be solved through collaboration. The antidote: flip the dynamic in unproductive team meetings by emphasizing strengths and attributing positive student results to those actions. Spotlight specific actions, encourage teachers to journal about positive learning moments, and draw on your own interpersonal and pedagogical strengths.
- Negativity – Sour attitudes, pessimism, and defeatism can spread like a virus within a school, blocking positive emotions and a can-do attitude. The antidote: find small accomplishments and celebrate them, reinforcing optimism that specific practices make a difference. A principal might open a staff meeting by describing a delightful moment in a classroom or orchestrating recognition circles where colleagues appreciate each other in specific ways.
- Judgmental comments – When teachers hear comments like Her ideas are always unrealistic or He’s impossible to work with, they stop sharing opinions, don’t speak up in meetings, and refrain from sharing ideas with their team. The antidote: model norms of collaboration that foster psychological safety so teachers feel protected from being judged. Advocate for being curious about other viewpoints, holding off on criticism, and responding productively to ideas that might seem off base.
- Invidious comparisons – Humans tend to compare themselves unfavorably with others, and a competitive environment in a school can bring this out, fostering self-doubt and withdrawal from collective effort. The antidote: downplay competition among teachers and don’t publicly compare teachers or teacher teams. Instead, compare classroom practices and results to mastery goals and focus on specific practices (like wait-time and checking for understanding) and student work (like exit tickets and interim assessments) that are within teachers’ span of control.
Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1138 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.
