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COLLECTIVE EFFICACY
I N A P L C AT W O R K ®
clear determinations that “beliefs about ourselves, others, and how the world works predict how high we set our life goals and whether we actually succeed in achieving them” (Caproni, 2017, p. 27).
In this chapter, we highlight the story of Jefferson Elementary and the experiences they shared when transforming themselves from one of the lowest performing schools in the district and state to one of the highest performing. This experience occurred between 2000 and 2010 and focused on building the staff’s understanding of their true purpose.
The Challenge: Jefferson Elementary Jefferson Elementary, founded in 1955, is a small K–6 elementary school just inside the city limits of Sanger. In 2001, Jefferson was struggling to achieve meaningful academic outcomes for students. Located on the east side of town, across the railroad tracks, Jefferson’s surrounding area had a high degree of poverty, gang activity, and crime. Standard in the Jefferson community were high-density apartments, low-income housing, high populations of English learners, and a high percentage of socioeconomically disadvantaged families. It was a harsh reality that large numbers of students in the Jefferson area had family members either involved or formerly involved in gangs, drugs, or incarceration. Many struggles that plagued the community were outside the Jefferson staff’s locus of control. However, what was in their control was maintaining pride and honoring traditions that lifted the spirits of students, staff, and community. Amidst such a poverty-stricken neighborhood, Jefferson and its facilities were immaculate. It didn’t take visitors long to figure out why. Albert Mendoza, who retired in 2021 after forty-nine years of service, had been the custodian at Jefferson since 1972 and was a respected pillar in the community. In fact, many of the staff at Jefferson had many years of service at the school. Many teachers had students whose parents had also been their students years earlier. Because of the pride in the school and longevity of staff, which equated to strong relationships with the community, the school was essentially off-limits to vandalism, graffiti, and theft. The school community, regardless of the hardships it faced, took pride in their school, and it showed in the care of the facilities as well as in the community’s protection of its staff. By 2001, the state of California was moving forward with the legislation surrounding No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The state had rolled out scores for schools by assigning
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Purpose is bonded to collective efficacy because it actually resides within our convictions, perceptions, and beliefs; beliefs not only about why we exist but about our competence and capability to succeed. If our individual or collective purpose is perceived as miniscule or insignificant, to what degree of motivation does that serve? How much potential may be deterred or inhibited because schools lack a higher purpose?
