As a new principal starting in a school where academic achievement has been stagnant, how will you improve student learning?

Empirical evidence links the building of collective trust among school stakeholder groups to gains in student achievement and school performance.

a book by

Patrick B. Forsyth, Curt M. Adams,

& Wayne K. Hoy(3 generations of researchers)

www.waynekhoy.com

• Written for educational researchers & practitioners

• Traces more than 30 years of studies on trust

• Organized into 3 Parts

I. Early Studies &

Theoretical Model

II. Summary of Research

III. Practice Implications

Collective Trust: is the trust that groups have in individuals and other groups.

is sociological, not psychological

is like culture; it consists of “shared cognitive representations in the minds of individuals.”

is most important in organizations composed of highly interdependent groups whose common task is complex and uncertain.

3 Forms of Collective Trust in Schools: Faculty, Parent, Student

“Principal Authenticity is a key element to the development of faculty trust.”

3 Basic Aspects of Leader Authenticity:1) Accountability, 2) Nonmanipulation,

and 3) Saliency of Self Over Role

“Authenticity & trust may be two sides of the same coin.”

SEE HANDOUT ON SUMMARY OF RUTGERS UNIVERSITY STUDIES

Collective Trust & School Climate

“Personality is to the individual what climate is to the organization. Just as individuals have

personalities, so too do organizations; the ‘personalities’ of schools are called their

organization climates.”

See Handout for Two Measures of Climate: Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ)

Organizational Health Inventory (OHI)

Most scholars agree that trust has the following attributes:

Multiple levels (e.g., individual, group, and organization)

Different referent roles (e.g., in schools: teachers, principals, colleagues, students)

Multiple facets (benevolence, reliability, competency, honesty, and openness)*

Interdependence Confident expectations Risk Vulnerability

Collective Trust Model3 contextual elements that condition formation

1. External context

2. Internal context

3. Task context

Questions on Contextual Conditions for Collective Trust

What external factors and internal conditions build and sustain collective trust in school groups?

How does the interaction of these conditions shape collective trust?

Cognitive Schemata – the values and beliefs that frame how individuals see the world.

Parent communication example

How does collective trust function to influence student achievement?

1) Trusting others is an important element of human learning.

2) Student achievement is mediated by collective efficacy* of the school.

*the shared perception of the teachers that the faculty as a whole has a strong capability to be effective with students; also, part of academic optimism.

Academic Optimism

is a collective set of beliefs about strengths and capabilities in schools in which optimism is the overarching idea that unites collective efficacy and collective trust with academic emphasis.(is linked to student achievement/overcoming low SES)

A Balance of ControlFormal Control – employing codified rules, goals, procedures, and regulations that specify desirable patterns of behavior

Social Control – using organizational values, norms, and cultures to encourage desirable behavior.

When to use which?

Collective Trust Guidelines for Accountability

I. Frame problems as opportunities for progress.

II. Use social control to stimulate improvement.

III. Make the school the unit of improvement.

IV. Make trust the linchpin of trust diffusion.

Collective Trust Guidelines for Leadership Practice

I. Establish trust in the principal by being trustworthy.

II. Be mostly a leader, sometimes a manager.

III. Expect, respect, and model organizational citizenship.

IV. Develop and nurture a culture of trust and optimism.

As a new principal starting in a school where academic achievement has been stagnant, how will you improve student learning?