take data on the use of the system. For team members who may not have played a large role in the selection, or who may not be on board with the decision the expectation may be that the implementation of the system should go quickly, be easy to do, and not disrupt what is already happening, “solve” potential issues that the team has identified, and that the student will use it on their own. It is safe to say that somebody's expectations will not be met. When there are unmet expectations there is often frustration. The goal of this article is to address the challenges of AAC implementation and ensure ongoing, consistent use. It is essential to consider strategies that foster a collaborative and shared commitment among team members. One powerful approach is collective efficacy. To generate collective teacher efficacy, teams must undertake three specific actions: (1) learning evidence-based practices to implement with students; (2) determining and attaining a shared goal; and (3) opening up practice through peer-to-peer observations. This article specifically focuses on determining and attaining a shared goal through four sources of collective efficacy. By strengthening collective efficacy, common barriers can be overcome, expectations aligned, and a supportive environment created where AAC is effectively integrated. COLLECTIVE EFFICACY There are over 320 different influences on student achievement identified in the Visible Learning research by John Hattie. Each influence is assigned an effect size based on a large-scale meta-analysis. Donohoo (2017) states, “An effect size emphasizes the difference in magnitude of given approaches for purposes of comparison. An effect size of 0 reveals that the influence had no effect on student achievement.” Larger effect sizes have larger influences. Hattie identified an effect size of .2 as having a relatively small impact on student achievement, while .4 has a medium impact, and .6 a large impact. Visible Learning’s Meta X platform notes that collective teacher efficacy has a weighted mean effect size of 1.01, deeming it an influence with the potential to considerably accelerate student achievement. The Visible Learning® Meta X platform provides a database of invaluable research around influences on student achievement and is an excellent resource to share with educators, administrators, and families. IEP teams, related service providers, and educational professionals have long emphasized the importance of collaboration among team members. Effective collaboration encompasses cooperativeness, learning from errors, and seeking feedback to enhance team progress. The goal of developing collective efficacy is to elevate collaboration to create a shared vision and belief among all team members supporting AAC implementation. Hattie (2015) notes “The aim is not aspiring to utopia but scaling up the success already about us. It is expertise, it is reliable judgment, it is passion for making the difference,
and it is collaborative sharing of this knowing and doing and caring. This requires the greatest investment, and the benefits for the students will be manifest, powerful, and exciting.” Collective efficacy is the belief that a group possesses the competence to successfully improve student outcomes. It embodies the idea that collaboration leads to positive, lasting change. John Hattie describes collective efficacy as “the shared attitude among teachers that, by working together, they can make a difference for students.” When participating on any educational team, it's essential to believe that everyone is working toward a shared goal. This belief fosters confidence that the group’s collective efforts will result in meaningful progress and skill development for the student. FOUR SOURCES OF COLLECTIVE EFFICACY Bandura (1977), identified four sources of collective efficacy, mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social or verbal persuasion, and physical and emotional states. Intentional investment in these four sources of collective efficacy can truly impact AAC Implementation and student success. MASTERY EXPERIENCES Mastery experiences have been identified as the strongest predictor of building collective efficacy (Donohoo, 2017). A mastery experience happens when you directly experience success. As a team, mastery experiences come from the opportunities where teams develop shared goals, engage collaboratively in learning activities, and experience success together. Educators often cultivate mastery experiences during Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and IEP team or multidisciplinary team meetings. When challenging situations are encountered and success is found it reinforces one’s ability to persist and attain goals. Doing this as part of a team will build momentum, increase confidence, and improve resilience for both providers and the students they support. The key is for teams to experience success together and attribute the success to dynamics within their control. When working with a student using an AAC device, teams must have explicit discussions about expectations to achieve desired outcomes and sustain positive momentum. To guide these discussions and set expectations, teams can use a simple format for collaboratively developing look-fors (Derbiszewska and Tucker-Smith, 2020) outlining expectations for the student, staff, and communication partners to build a vision for what AAC implementation will look like across a specific activity.
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