I'm glad you're here. The only way to grow a revolution is by expanding our reach. And we cannot leave the reading revolution to chance. Our children need us.
Teacher Self-Efficacy / Leadership in a Reading Revolution Newsletter | January 2025
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“When you fundamentally believe you can make the difference, and then you feed it with the evidence you are — then that is dramatically powerful.” Your work matters.According to the Cambridge dictionary, self-efficacy can be defined as a person's belief that they can be successful when carrying out a particular task. John Hattie’s research that identifies the effect sizes of factors that relate to student achievement found that self-efficacy has an effect size of 0.92 (the hinge point is 0.4). His research noted this effect size for a student’s self-efficacy. But does self-efficacy matter for teachers? A recent publication from University of Oregon’s HEDCO Institute says it does. The authors highlighted the benefits of teacher self-efficacy including: more job satisfaction and commitment to teaching, less emotional exhaustion and stress symptoms, increased instructional quality, differentiated instruction and innovation. This report shares the findings from a meta-analysis with over 11,000 teachers that show that training programs can improve teacher self-efficacy. The focus of this report is on what education and training programs for both pre-service and in-service teachers can do to strengthen self-efficacy. Strategies for strengthening teachers’ self-efficacy (regardless of career stage) include:
The authors offer their own recommendations: 1) ample practice opportunities, 2) observing others implement strategies, 3) visiting other classrooms, 4) collaborative conversations with colleagues, and 5) time for self-reflection. They also note some limitations including study quality rating and effect sizes due to sample sizes. Why is self-efficacy important for us to consider as literacy leaders? Many of us are working on improving literacy instruction. This means that we are introducing new learning, new strategies, possibly using a new curriculum, and asking teachers to try a LOT of new things. Therefore, teacher self-efficacy is DOWN, even with our best, brightest, and most experienced teachers. How are we accounting for the impact of this in our roll-outs and strategic plans? Centering the people in these efforts will be essential to keeping them AND improving instructional outcomes. In the images below, we see the inevitable pit or valley of despair that we go through as adults learning something new. (I addressed how needed coaches are during this time in this post.) How might developing a plan that accounts for this expected dip use strengthening teacher self-efficacy strategies to mitigate its effect? There are many structures already embedded in our systems that allow us to implement the strategies from the report (or maybe there is room to create them in your system). Ample Practice Opportunities When do teachers practice what they are learning? Often, they must turn-around their learning "the next day" with the students in their classroom. Sure this means they are practicing, but it is high stakes. How can we support teachers with SAFE practice opportunities? Here are some ideas: 1) Try it with support in the classroom (or without depending on the teacher), 2) Practice it prior to implementing it with students (such as during a coaching meeting), 3) Try the new routine with a smaller group of students while someone supports the rest of the class. Observing Others Implement Strategies When do teachers observe others doing the same work? This goes beyond visiting their colleagues; for any new learning, seek examples of folks who have had more time to practice. Watching a model helps us visualize how it is expected to go (with the dreaded fidelity word) which is important if we are implementing an evidence-based strategy. We can get creative here - if a recording doesn't yet exist, we can create one with models from our own systems or reach out to other schools/districts and livestream (or record) to develop a library of models. If you're seeking literacy models, look no further than The Goyen Foundation! The Goyen Fellows are real teachers recording their science of reading practices. You can see samples of the fellows’ work on Youtube, Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram, as well as across various Facebook groups. Visiting Other Classrooms Release time and coverage can be hard to come by, but it's worth it if teachers have time to visit other classrooms. Get creative about how to leverage technology using video/audio in your own building to allow for "virtual classroom visits" or partner with other schools who have instruction occurring during already scheduled release time. A great example of maximizing classroom visit is Labsite Learning, explained in this Edutopia article by Dani Fry. Collaborative Conversations with Colleagues How are you leveraging your PLC time with teachers? Staff meetings? Professional development days? There are a myriad of opportunities for teachers to have collaborative conversations in our systems. However, it is key that there is a structure to how these conversations flow; without one, we will find that the learning pit/valley will encourage negative venting. Using focused discussion protocols, we can encourage teachers to discuss what's working, what isn't, and how to increase their confidence in what they are doing. Collaborative conversations are paired well with the two previous strategies of visiting classrooms and observing a model. One of my favorite discussion protocols for problem-solving challenges is the consultancy protocol. It leverages the expertise of our colleagues and often helps everyone in the room. Time for Self-Reflection Taking time to reflect almost never happens during a school week. There is too much to do and time is the hottest commodity we have in education. Yet, this report highlights its importance. It reminds me of why pursuing my National Board certification was such a powerful experience - I was required to video my practice, then reflect on it in writing. How are we creating regular and ritual experiences that encourage reflection? Might this be paired with our data analysis practices? Could we create time for journaling during scheduled staff meetings? This seems too powerful a practice to ignore. I'm heartened by the idea that strengthening teacher self-efficacy can create pathways for teacher retention, improved instruction and educator wellness. What practices do you implement? Where do you have room to try something? Leadership Moves:
What does this mean for me?Literacy leaders are in the midst of the science of reading movement. We are engaging in many new practices and the learning pit/valley is an expected part of this journey. Let's get ahead of it and make it part of our plan by taking care of our educators. Revolution ResourcesThis guide is a companion to the anchor text, The Knowledge Gap. Participants can engage with the course individually or as a group. Texts sets for each chapter are provided. A workbook is provided including journal prompts to encourage reflection. Click on the picture below to check it out. Use the coupon code "NEWSLETTER" to access the course for free! Where have we been?Sharing the Work of OthersThe Goyen Literacy FellowshipWe're excited to share that applications and nominations for the Goyen Literacy Fellowship are now open! The fellowship pays exceptional reading teachers (classroom teachers AND interventionists) to film their teaching practice, share their videos on social media with other teachers, and participate in professional learning together. Let's Work TogetherI welcome discussions about how I can serve you and your school or district with instructional coaching or literacy. Schedule early and get dibs on my calendar! Click here to sync our schedules for a conversation.
| Where can we connect?Bold font shows events at which I'm presenting. 7/9 - 7/10 - Get Engaged Coaching Con | Learn more here 10/8 - 10/10 The Reading League 9th Annual Conference | Learn more here
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Hi! I'm Linda
I'm glad you're here. The only way to grow a revolution is by expanding our reach. And we cannot leave the reading revolution to chance. Our children need us.
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