Teacher Job Stress and Satisfaction in Urban Schools: Disentangling Individual-, Classroom-, and Organizational-Level Influences

Abstract

Schools remain among the most frequent providers of children's mental health services, particularly in low-income urban settings. Several decades of research have focused on training teachers to implement evidence-based interventions for minimizing disruptive behavior. Studies consistently demonstrate robust improvements in student behavior and learning; however, the impact on teachers' work-related stress or satisfaction is not well understood. Six urban, high-poverty elementary schools were randomly assigned to a school mental health services model (Links to Learning; L2L) for referred, disruptive students or to services and professional development as usual (SAU). Teachers (n = 71, K-4 general education teachers) in L2L schools participated in professional development and consultation in two universal and two targeted interventions to reduce disruptive behaviors and promote learning. Teachers (n = 65) in SAU schools participated in professional development as usual. Multiple regression models examined teacher reports of individual-level self-efficacy, classroom-level student functioning, and school-level organizational health as predictors of stress and satisfaction. Findings revealed no significant difference between conditions on teacher work-related stress or satisfaction. Organizational health was the strongest predictor of stress and satisfaction. Training on and implementation of evidence-based classroom interventions did not appear to significantly impact teachers' work-related stress or satisfaction. Instead, findings point to organizational climate and teacher connectedness as potential levers for change, supporting prior work on teacher stress and satisfaction in schools. The significance of targeting organizational factors may be particularly significant in urban school districts.

The Incredible Years® Teacher Classroom Management programme and its impact on teachers’ professional self‐efficacy, work‐related stress, and general well‐being: Results from theSTARSrandomized controlled trial

“…Some teachers reported difficulties deploying it effectively within their classrooms if teaching assistants did not agree or follow the same strategies (Ford et al ., ). A consistent whole‐school approach to TCM, that involves teaching and playground assistants as well as teachers, may be more effective, particularly as a recent trial of two evidence‐based approaches to children's behavioural management suggested that organizational level factors were the strongest predictors of teachers’ stress and job satisfaction (Ouellette et al ., ). It is intuitively plausible that if behavioural management strategies perceived to be helpful and effective were conflicting with the wider school approach, access to TCM training might undermine rather than improve teacher well‐being.…”

Boon or Burden: The Effect of Implementing Evidence-Based Practices on Teachers’ Emotional Exhaustion

“…Ross et al (2012) also found that teachers in elementary schools implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports with high fidelity reported significantly lower levels of burnout than teachers in low fidelity schools. These results have not always been consistent however, as Ouellette et al (2018) found no association between elementary school teachers’ adherence to four classroom interventions to reduce disruptive behaviors and promote learning, and teacher stress, a construct highly correlated with emotional exhaustion.…”

What are urban teachers thinking and feeling?

“…While all teacher experience stressors, teachers in urban schools, as opposed to their suburban counterparts, may more acutely experience such challenges, given that students in urban environments are more likely to experience social–emotional difficulties (Atkins, Graczyk, Frazier, & Adil, ; Balfanz, Herzog, & Mac Iver, ). In turn, teachers in urban schools, who disproportionately serve low‐income and minority students, encounter notably higher levels of stress than teachers in other schools (Ouellette et al, ; Shernoff, Mehta, Atkins, Torf, & Spencer, ). Faced with higher levels of stress and oftentimes without adequate support to meet their students’ needs, urban teachers increasingly experience burnout, a process of repeated emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of a lack of personal accomplishment, which leads them to leave the teaching profession at alarming rates (Fantuzzo et al, ; Yang, Ge, Hu, Chi, & Wang, ).…”

“…It is important to identify ways that stress can be reduced for teachers so that they can function more effectively and be less likely to leave the profession (Ouellette et al, ). Thus, the current study was designed to explore urban teachers’ thoughts and feelings in response to challenging classroom situations, the prevalence of these thoughts and feelings, and their help‐seeking attitudes in coping with emotional distress.…”

“…Various factors of urban school teachers’ environment have the potential to cause stress. Main sources of stress identified by educational researchers include teaching students who lack motivation, maintaining discipline, being evaluated by others, poor administration and management, and poor working conditions (Duyar, Gumus, & Sukru Bellibas, ; Grayson & Alvarez, ; Ouellette et al, ). Additionally, research suggests that organizational stress within urban schools is a common experience.…”