Self-Efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to succeed in achieving an outcome or reaching a goal. High self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and environment, and allows students to become advocates for their own needs and supports.

Efficacy can be defined as the performance of an intervention under ideal and controlled circumstances, whereas effectiveness refers to its performance under ‘real-world’ conditions.

Teacher efficacy is a simple idea with significant implications. A teacher’s efficacy belief is a judgment of his or her capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated (Armor et al., 1976; Bandura, 1977).

Even at times when the bottom doesn’t seem to be dropping out, educators can work to build collective efficacy and improve the learning environment for students by looking collaboratively at their grading practices, creating restorative justice programs, or finding strategies to improve their teaching of conceptual …

Teachers’ self-efficacy, namely teachers’ beliefs in their ability to effectively handle the tasks, obligations, and challenges related to their professional activity, plays a key role in influencing important academic outcomes (e.g., students’ achievement and motivation) and well-being in the working environment.

While self-efficacy is not considered a personality trait, it is considered a situation-specific construct. This is context dependent and functions as, a “cognitive mediator of action” (Bandura, 1982). “Self-efficacy is a related but subtly different personality characteristic.

The General Self-Efficacy Scale is a 10-item psychometric scale that is designed to assess optimistic self-beliefs to cope with a variety of difficult demands in life. Perceived self-efficacy is a prospective and operative construct. See FAQ and other resources below. The scale is currently available in 32 languages.

The relations between self-efficacy and other personality measures remained stable across cultures and samples. Thus, perceived general self-efficacy appears to be a universal construct that yields meaningful relations with other psychological constructs.

Negative coefficients were found for depression, stress, health complaints, burnout, and anxiety. The total score is calculated by finding the sum of the all items. For the GSE, the total score ranges between 10 and 40, with a higher score indicating more self-efficacy.

The Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (EXSE) Total strength for each measure of self-efficacy is then calculated by summing the confidence ratings and dividing by the total number of items in the scale, resulting in a maximum possible efficacy score of 100.

Agency is “the power to originate action” (Bandura, 2001, p. 3). Agency in social cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986) is present in the ability of people to regulate and control their cognition, motivation, and behavior through the influence of existing self-beliefs (i.e. self-efficacy).

Tips to improve self-efficacy for struggling students

1. Use moderately- difficult tasks.
2. Use peer models.
3. Teach specific learning strategies.
4. Capitalize on students’ interests.
5. Allow students to make their own choices.
6. Encourage students to try.
7. Give frequent, focused feedback.
8. Encourage accurate attributions.

The MSLQ self-efficacy items seek students’ endorsement ratings on statements describing general academic events in the context of specific domains. Of the nine items on the original scale, three ask students to compare their capabil- ity to that of their peers.