An Analysis of Teacher Self-Efficacy, Teacher Trust, and Collective Efficacy in a Southwest Texas School District

The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships among teacher selfefficacy, trust, and collective efficacy among teachers in a southwest Texas school district. The research included three established surveys combined to create a single survey. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to analyze the data from the survey. The study analyzed the results of surveys completed by 746 teachers. The surveys completed were the Teachers? Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale, Collective Efficacy Scale, and Omnibus T-Scale. Factors considered in the analysis of data included gender, number of years of experience, ethnicity, and the level of mentorship provided. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to assess if differences exist in the Teachers? Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale subscales of student engagement, instructional strategies, classroom management, Omnibus T-Scale subscale of trust in principal, trust in colleagues, trust in clients, and collective efficacy between schools. The results suggest that simultaneous differences exist in dependent variables between schools. However, further analysis also showed all schools with the exception of one scored higher than 84 percent of the standardized school sample in trust in students? ability to perform. In comparing survey responses across teacher demographics, results showed gender differences in trust in principal, trust in clients, and collective efficacy. When comparing the responses to national averages, the results were as follows: self-efficacy showed patterns that were below average, trust showed patterns that were above average, and collective efficacy was average. This research study contributes to the theoretical rationale explaining the relationship between self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and trust. Further research could be done in the area for school administrators to improve student achievement through working to raise collective efficacy beliefs and trust of their faculty.