Poster Paper:
Political Efficacy of Teachers: A Look at How Teachers Position Themselves within the Policy Process
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Riverfront South/Central (Hyatt Regency Miami)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
The purpose of this study is twofold. First, the study is designed to develop and support a more nuanced understanding of the construct of political efficacy. In particular, I aim to capture a better picture of the ways in which political efficacy might inform the design and practice of school governance. The existing, conventional measure of political efficacy is a global scale. It asks questions about respondents’ political efficacy beliefs across all political domains. However, a global scale is not as useful a measurement tool as a domain or task specific measure (Bandura, 1997). The second purpose of this study is to detail the development of a measure of teacher political efficacy. Collective efficacy of teachers has long been associated with desirable outcomes such as teacher longevity, increased trust among school personnel, and increased student achievement (Goddard, 2000). In an era steeped in accountability and a constant influx of new initiatives, the agency beliefs of teachers regarding policy and policymakers have great import for students and schools.
