District Contributions to School Leaders’ Sense of Efficacy: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

This study, based on interviews with 31 principals, was undertaken in response to quantitative evidence from a larger mixed-methods project that found school leaders’ collective efficacy to be a crucial link joining district leadership and conditions to school conditions and student learning. Results of this study suggest that districts contribute to building-level leaders’ sense of efficacy by establishing clear, widely shared purposes; awarding priority to the improvement of instruction; and ensuring that teachers and administrators have access to appropriate amounts of meaningful professional development aimed at developing the capacities needed to achieve the shared purposes.