<div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Efficacy plays an important role in the effectiveness of an individual and an organization. Specifically, self-efficacy among teachers has been remarkably high throughout previous school years at Chillicothe High School. According to the 2016-2017 State Report Card for CHS, 73.2% of teachers earned an Accomplished rating, while 26.8% of teachers earned a Skilled rating (none earned Developing or Ineffective ratings), ratings which undoubtedly contributed to high self-efficacy among teachers. Similarly, collective efficacy increased as teachers were repeatedly and vehemently praised by the principal for being the best staff in the state of Ohio and for growing students at exceptional levels. Mastery experience, as reflected in teacher evaluations, and verbal persuasion have both led to high self- and collective-efficacy; as a result, teachers have been unified and persistent even in the face of challenges. Notably, the staff repeatedly persevered to engage low-achieving students from low-income families, (e.g., making a point to talk to every student every single day, making concepts relevant, purchasing drinks for students when they held their classmate accountable, etc.), which can likely be attributed to high self- and collective-efficacy.</div><div><span style="white-space:pre"> </span>In contrast, on the same 2016-2017 state report card, Chillicothe High School earned an overall F for value-added measures, specifically earning F’s in the categories for students with disabilities and the lowest 20% in achievement, which illustrates the reality that our students are not, in fact, growing at the levels they should be, let alone at the exceptional levels for which our staff was praised. With a change in principal for the 2017-2018 school year, the false praise has ended, and the administration and staff is tasked with taking a difficult look at ourselves, to reflect and improve upon our weaknesses in order to reverse the lack of student growth. Most certainly, both self- and collective-efficacy has diminished as teachers receive honest evaluations that stand in stark contrast to previous ratings, as teachers misunderstand and blame the value-added system, and as our new principal serves as a scapegoat for the drastic shifts that have occurred. Ultimately, efficacy can likely predict performance, yet it must be understood that efficacy is based on perceptions, and perceptions are not always reality.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">T<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">hank you,</font></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br></font></div><b style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Jessica Orr</font></b><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">English Teacher</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Department Coordinator</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Chillicothe High School</font></div></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Phone: (740) 702-2287, ext. 16231</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">"You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say."</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font color="#000000"> --F. Scott Fitzgerald</font><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51)"></font></div></div></div>
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