The collegial focus and high school students' achievement

The authors examine the consequences of teachers' collegial social relation s for high school students' mathematics and science achievement. They prese nt a growth model for achievement that incorporates student, teacher classr oom, and department effects. Particular attention is given to mechanisms of collegial social control. Using data from a national sample of 52 public h igh schools and some 3,000 students, they found that when departmental facu lties form collegial foci-that is, when they present a combination of commu nication density, intensity of instructional practice norms, and consistenc y of practice-the effects of their instructional practices on students' ach ievement growth intensify.