0.19 Watts, l., kolsun, c., cline, v., & Williams, l. (october 20  (Page 2/11)

A report entitled New Leaders for New Schools (2009) funded by the Rand Corporation focused on the kinds of skills needed to be an effective principal:

Research increasingly demonstrates that the combined human capital of both teachers and principals is critical to solving our education crisis…Teachers account for about a third and principals a quarter of the school’s total impact on student achievement, despite the fact that teachers directly instruct students and principals influence achievement indirectly through their leadership actions. How does one person, then, have such a large impact? Principal actions to build a positive school-wide learning culture, manage the school’s use of time, and model personal leadership shape the environment in which students learn. Furthermore, their instructional leadership and management of teachers directly impact teacher effectiveness and thus also drive student achievement (p. 12).

Many other references could be cited to support the premise of the importance of the principal to student success. But, the question then arises as to what the principal does to provide the leadership necessary to promote success in his or her school. One factor that has received some attention is the self-beliefs of the principal as to his or her ability to influence and lead the school effectively. If a principal feels powerless and helpless to provide the leadership that will create a thriving learning environment, can such an environment exist? Does the principal’s sense of self-efficacy make a difference?

Teacher and principal self-efficacy

The concept of self-efficacy developed from social cognitive theory studied by Albert Bandura (1977). Bandura discussed efficacy in terms of two aspects: (1) outcome expectancy—the belief that a particular behavior will lead to a particular outcome, and (2) efficacy expectancy—the conviction of the individual that he or she can successfully execute the behavior that will lead to the outcome (p. 193). The importance of the second aspect is highlighted in Bandura’s assertion that “beliefs of personal efficacy shape whether people attend to the opportunities, or to the impediments that affect their life circumstances…” (2000, p. 121).

Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk, Hoy, and Hoy (1998) cited multiple studies that had been conducted on teacher efficacy. Much of the extant research on self-efficacy in education has focused on classroom teachers. Tschannen-Moran and McMaster (2009) wrote:

Teachers’ self-efficacy has been linked to their behavior in the classroom and the implementation of instructional change (Ashton&Webb, 1986; Guskey, 1986; Haney, Wang, Keil,&Zoffel, 2007; McKinney, Sexton,&Meyerson, 1999; Timperly&Phillips, 2003). Teachers’ self-efficacy has also been related to student outcomes such as students’ self-efficacy beliefs and student engagement, motivation, and achievement (Anderson, Greene,&Loewen, 1988; Midgley, Reldlaufer,&Eccles, 1989; Ross, 1992, Shahid&Thompson, 2001) (pp. 228-229).