Building Academic Efficacy in Adolescents
Part Five in A Six-Part Series in The Thriving School Brief
Digging into the Academic Efficacy portion of the Durable Skills for School and Beyond
When I think about academic efficacy—the belief that you can learn, problem-solve, and persist—I think of Julia.
Julia was one of my students many years ago. Her high school experience was anything but easy. She experienced homelessness on and off throughout high school, managed untreated ADHD, and often felt invisible in classrooms that didn’t know her story. School could have become one more place that confirmed her fear that she wasn’t capable.
But instead, it became a place where she began to believe otherwise.
She told me recently, “If it wasn’t for you and Eric (a colleague) pushing me, I wouldn’t have graduated. You believed in me before I believed in myself.” Over time, Julia learned to “figure things out”—to keep trying different ways until she found one that worked. That’s academic efficacy in its truest form: the belief that I can learn this, even when I don’t know how yet.
Today, Julia is a mother of two, working in the food industry in Chicago. When she describes her life now, it’s full of the same problem-solving and persistence she practiced back then: balancing work and parenting, finding stability, and continuing to learn as she goes. “If one way doesn’t work,” she said, “you just try another.”
That’s what we want for every young person—that sense of agency, persistence, and confidence in their ability to learn their way forward.
The Durable Skills of Academic Efficacy
Academic efficacy means believing you can do high-quality work, manage your time and materials, and keep improving over time. It’s what turns curiosity into persistence and feedback into growth.
For adolescents, developing academic efficacy can be uniquely challenging. Their workloads increase, expectations grow, and yet their executive-functioning skills—organization, time management, and planning—are still under construction. But when schools provide clear structures for setting goals, tracking progress, and reflecting on learning, students begin to see themselves not as “good” or “bad” students, but as learners who can improve.
What Academic Efficacy Looks Like:
I show up to class every day and am on time.
I stay organized and keep track of my materials.
I try every part of a question, task, or assignment.
I complete my assignments on time and regularly.
I revise and correct my work to make it accurate and high-quality.
I make sure I know the criteria for high-quality work.
I manage my time and prioritize what needs to get done.
I use different study strategies to help me remember and apply what I learn.
I push myself to take academic risks, even when it’s challenging.
I use critical, reflective, and creative thinking in my schoolwork.
I set learning goals, track my progress, and use evidence to show how I’m improving.
When students develop these skills, they gain the capacity to direct their own learning: to ask questions, seek feedback, and persist through difficulty. That’s what transforms effort into exceeding even your own expectations.
Building Environments That Grow Academic Efficacy
In the Classroom
Teachers can build students’ confidence in their ability to learn by making growth visible and attainable.
Goal-Setting and Progress Tracking: Invite students to set weekly academic goals and reflect on their progress. Use visual trackers or progress portfolios so growth feels tangible.
(Target behavior:#7, #11)Productive Struggle Frameworks: Normalize difficulty as part of learning. Use prompts like “What’s your next move?” or “What strategy could you try?” to reinforce persistence over perfection.
(Target behaviors:#3, #9, #10)Visible Academic Celebrations: Post examples of revision work (“before and after” samples) to normalize iteration and effort.
(Target behaviors:#5, #10)
In Public Spaces
Academic efficacy extends beyond the classroom. Shared spaces can reinforce organization, accountability, and collective responsibility for learning.
Study Zones and Support Spaces: Create clear expectations for libraries, study halls, and tutoring centers—quiet focus zones where students manage their time and ask for help as needed.
(Target behaviors:#2, #7, #8)Peer Tutoring or Homework Help: Train students to support peers through structured tutoring roles. Teaching material to others strengthens academic efficacy for both tutor and learner.
(Target behaviors:#8, #9, #11)
Supporting Students Who Need More Support
For students who struggle academically, the goal is to rebuild confidence through small wins and visible progress.
Study Strategy Coaching: Teach explicit strategies for note-taking, chunking tasks, and using retrieval practice to strengthen memory and independence.
(Target behaviors:#2, #8, #10)Restorative Academic Conversations: When students disengage or give up, reframe the narrative from “you failed” to “what did you learn about how you work best?”
(Target behaviors:#9, #11)
Effort + Reflection = Growth
When adolescents see effort as evidence of learning—not failure—they begin to trust themselves as learners. They stop asking, “Am I smart enough?” and start asking, “What strategy will help me learn this?”
That’s how durable skills become durable outcomes—and how every student, like Julia, can learn their way forward.
