Middle School: Pre-Pandemic

Middle School Pre-Pandemic

The precise mechanisms of improved student achievement at the middle-school level continue to be a work in progress. The degree to which an assistant principal may influence and therefore be accountable for teacher performance and student achievement appeared to depend on larger factors in the middle school environment. For example, Chong et al. (2010) suggested that teachers’ appraisals of their own self-efficacy as teachers influenced the degree to which they contributed to student motivation and achievement. Teacher self-efficacy promotes persistence and resilience in teaching, as well as a greater likelihood of experimenting with new pedagogies. Studies have shown that the link between teacher self-efficacy and student achievement may be socially differential, with studies finding that high SES students perceived a link while low SES students did not. Studies have repeatedly shown that teachers serving primarily low SES students in middle school have a poor sense of self-efficacy.

Shared school goals, school-wide decision-making, and empowered principal leadership, have also influenced the collective beliefs of teachers at a particular middle school, indirectly influencing their impact on student achievement. Teacher self-efficacy has expanded to include individual and collective self-efficacy. Only in schools with collective efficacy expressed through mastery experiences and reinforcement did student performance improve. One reason might be that teachers were empowered in such a climate, and empowered teachers “are more likely to believe their collective capacity as a faculty to foster changes that promote school performance” (Chong et al., 2010, p. 184).

Chong et al. noted that whether such differentials emerge at the middle-school level is less clear. Chong et al. (2010) sought to determine whether the mechanisms were universal or influenced by culture. Chosen from five middle schools serving lower-middle-class students, 222 teachers were surveyed using the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale, the Teacher Collective Efficacy Scale, and the Academic Climate scale, to determine any relationships. The study showed that teachers in middle schools serving only high-track students had developed a more positive sense of self- and collective efficacy than had teachers in regular middle schools serving students of all ability groupings. The teachers also had higher expectations of students.

Chong et al. (2010) indicated the prior achievement of students at the point of entry into the middle school might have boosted the overall level of teacher self-efficacy. Higher performing students are less likely to misbehave, allowing teachers to devote more time to lessons, a fact that additionally reinforces the teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. That prior student achievement influenced self-efficacy indicated to Chong et al. that teachers’ sense of self- and collective efficacy was supported by the organizational expectations of a school climate and by the resources available. The study findings situated the ability of teacher performance to influence student outcomes within a broader institutional framework.