The mental health crisis has been a persistent headline over the last few years, as research and anecdotal evidence indicates that pandemic-related disruptions have taken a toll. Much of the focus in the education world has been on students, and rightfully so—kids should always be the focus of education-related discussions. But the mental well-being of teachers is also important, and the pandemic has not spared them.
Even before Covid-19, teachers were struggling. A 2017 survey indicated that 58 percent of teachers reported that their mental health was “not good” for seven or more days in the previous month, a significant increase from the 34 percent who reported the same in 2015. Results from a PDK International poll published in 2019 found that half of the teachers surveyed had considered leaving the profession. Fifty-five percent reported that they would not want their child to become a teacher, and cited insufficient pay and benefits, job stress, and feeling disrespected or undervalued as reasons why.
The pandemic has exacerbated these issues. In the spring of 2020, the New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative surveyed over 400 teachers from forty-five different schools to determine pandemic-related impacts. Of the eighteen Covid-related stressors identified by the survey—issues like being separated from family or friends, the difficulty of transitioning to remote work, increased workloads, and having to teach their own kids—teachers reported experiencing an average of seven stressors. Unsurprisingly, teachers who experienced the most stressors reported worse mental health and struggled to cope and teach. A follow-up survey conducted in June 2021 found that more than a third of teachers met the threshold for a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, and one in five teachers exhibited significant symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder—numbers that exceed those reported by health care workers.
As employers, districts and schools have an ethical obligation to ensure that their staff is working in a healthy, safe, and professional environment. But the responsibility doesn’t stop there, as research shows that teacher stress is linked to poor teacher performance and poor student outcomes. A 2008 study found that perceived teacher burnout had a negative effect on student motivation and learning. And in 2016, researchers found a negative association between teachers’ emotional exhaustion and the class average of students’ grades, standardized test scores, school satisfaction, and perceptions of teacher support. When teachers are burned out, students pay the price.
Teacher burnout is also linked to attrition, and attrition impacts student outcomes, too. A 2013 study in New York City found that students in grade levels with higher teacher turnover score lower in both English language arts and math, and that effects are particularly strong in schools with more low-performing and Black students. A 2020 study of teacher turnover in North Carolina found significant drops in math and reading scores due to middle school teacher turnover. Novice teachers are especially likely to quit, with research showing that more than 44 percent of new teachers in public and private schools leave teaching within five years of entry. Add in the price of turnover—which costs districts more than $2 billion a year—and it’s clear that tackling teacher wellness should be a priority for state leaders.
But what should policymakers do? They could make changes to state law, like eliminating mandatory salary schedules so districts can pay teachers more flexibly or cleaning up messy teacher retirement systems in states where they exist, which would make teaching a more attractive and sustainable career. Innovative initiatives like administering annual statewide surveys to gather teacher feedback and attrition data or funding public-awareness campaigns aimed at improving perceptions of teaching would also be worthy investments. But a good chunk of teachers’ daily stressors—things like inadequate support from administration, school culture, or student discipline issues—are school-based issues that either can’t or shouldn’t be governed by state lawmakers. The mental health needs of teachers also vary widely across geographic regions, schools, and grade or subject matter, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work.
Instead of a top-down approach, states could empower districts and schools to craft their own initiatives. Leaders could create statewide competitive grant programs that award funds to schools (or to partnerships between schools and community-based organizations) seeking to implement programs aimed at improving teacher well-being. All public schools would be eligible to apply, and like recently enacted grant programs in Fordham’s home state of Ohio, there should be a rigorous application process. To ensure teacher buy-in, states could require applicants to conduct a needs-based assessment that gathers feedback from a representative sample of staff, and then explain how that feedback was used to craft their proposal. Applicants should also be required to develop a monitoring system that gauges the effectiveness of the program and how it might be sustained after the grant.
Although schools should have plenty of flexibility to come up with innovative solutions, states’ requests for applications should offer some suggestions that leaders could adopt or adapt to fit their needs. Fortunately, the feds have already done some of the legwork. 2021 federal guidance regarding school re-openings after Covid disruptions includes a section on supporting educator and staff well-being, and it suggests the following ideas:
- Develop school leader-to-educator support systems.
- Offer staff the option to schedule recurring debrief sessions with school leaders that could be used to vent frustrations, voice concerns, or brainstorm solutions.
- Regularly survey staff to gather data on their perception of workload and morale, and use the data to identify needs and address them.
- Develop peer-to-peer support systems.
- Create or improve mentoring programs.
- Establish a “buddy system” and set aside time for teachers to check in weekly or monthly with peers.
- Establish affinity groups.
- Consider educator workloads.
- Embed staff planning time into work hours.
- Schedule a monthly planning day.
- Send information and updates via email rather than requiring in-person attendance at a daily or weekly staff meetings.
- Be transparent about available mental health supports.
- Confirm that staff are aware of human resources supports and how to access them.
- Ensure that mental health services are included in employee assistance programs.
- Leverage local health departments and community partners to provide wellness services to teachers remotely or on campus.
- Provide free wellness checkups.
- Provide free or reduced-price gym memberships.
These aren’t the only ideas worth pursuing, of course. Feedback from teachers could uncover plenty of other possibilities, as different schools will find value in different strategies. For example, a school where a significant percentage of the student body is comprised of English language learners could invest in robust and individualized professional development that equips staff to better serve those students and, in the process, reduce stress. Schools with extended-day and -year calendars could decrease the chances of burnout by building planning periods and days directly into the school schedule (and make sure to honor that time). Schools that employ a significant number of novice educators could go all-in on a rigorous mentorship program that offers far more or better support than what’s already available in some states. Those with considerable frustration about student misbehavior could rethink discipline structures or invest in evidence-based and individualized professional development. The possibilities are endless, but the common underlying thread is meeting the expressed needs of teachers so that teachers can meet the needs of students.
For many states, districts, and schools, investing time, energy, and resources into teacher wellness will require traversing new ground. Most administrators and policymakers pay lip service to the importance of teacher well-being, but they rarely follow through with action. Now is the time to change that. If we want the best and brightest students to become teachers, and if we want to hang on to the excellent educators we already have, we need to make teaching an attractive and sustainable career—and that means tackling teacher wellness.
