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The theoretical and empirical underpinnings of teacher efficacy are examined to bring coherence to the construct and its measurement. First, we explore the correlates of teacher efficacy revealed using various instruments and search for patterns that suggest a better understanding of the construct. Next, we introduce a model of teacher efficacy that reconciles two competing conceptual strands found in the literature. Then we examine implications of the research on teacher efficacy for teacher preparation and suggest strategies for improving the efficacy of inservice teachers. Finally, we propose new directions for research in light of the proposed model.
Twenty years ago researchers from the RAND organization added two items to an already extensive questionnaire (Armor et al., 1976). It may have been simply a hunch or a whim, but they got results, powerful results, and the concept of teacher efficacy was born. Teacher efficacy has been defined as "the extent to which the teacher believes he or she has the capacity to affect student performance" (Berman, McLaughlin, Bass, Pauly, & Zellman, 1977, p. 137), or as "teachers' belief or conviction that they can influence how well students learn, even those who may be difficult or unmotivated" (Guskey & Passaro, 1994, p. 4). This appealing idea, that teachers' beliefs about their own capacities as teachers somehow matter, enjoyed a celebrated childhood, producing compelling findings in almost every study, but it has also struggled through the difficult, if inevitable, identity crisis of adolescence. What is teacher efficacy, and why does it continue to produce such compelling results? How is it best measured? Twenty-one years after its birth, as teacher efficacy stands on the verge of maturity, it is time to assess where we have been and to offer tentative answers to some of the questions this research has generated.
With the work of Rotter (1966) as a theoretical base, teacher efficacy was first conceived by the RAND researchers as the extent to which teachers believed that they could control the reinforcement of their actions, that is, whether control of reinforcement lay within themselves or in the environment. Student motivation and performance were assumed to be significant reinforcers for teaching behaviors. Thus, teachers with a high level of efficacy believed that they could control, or at least strongly...