This qualitative case study examined the perspectives of Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers in a Virginia Region III Head Start agency, focusing on factors influencing their intentions to stay and ways to improve retention rates. The study addressed workforce challenges by identifying specific retention factors and exploring solutions. The…

Teaching is a stressful profession that requires individuals to balance their time, resources, and emotions. While many districts have plans in place to support the needs of their new teachers, few resources exist for those individuals who have given the most to the profession--veteran teachers. Attrition in education negatively impacts…

The purpose of this action research study was to explore and develop collective teacher efficacy (CTE) for the faculty and staff at a preschool through Grade 2 elementary school. During Cycle 1 data collection, 10 teachers were interviewed using a semistructured interview protocol. Action steps for Cycle 2 were designed based on the Cycle 1…

This quantitative correlational-predictive study aimed to determine if and to what extent Secondary Traumatic Stress predicted Intent to Leave when mediated by Resilience in PreK-12 public school teachers certified to teach special education and have been teaching for 1 to 3 years. How the three study variables were correlated has yet to be…

Many Head Start programs have closed classrooms due to staff shortages, with up to 30% of teacher positions unfilled. Reducing the elevated teacher turnover rate in Head Start centers is critical to maintaining program effectiveness and controlling costs; however, a limiting factor may be differences in administrators' and teachers' perceptions of…

Teacher burnout is a complex and pervasive phenomenon with significant implications for both educators and students. This qualitative research study delves into the intricate interplay of factors contributing to teacher burnout within the context of K-12 schools in Massachusetts. Drawing from foundational theories such as Maslach's burnout model…

The racialized hostile work environments that many Black women educators experience may lead to their departure from the P-12 schools where they work. Studying the experiences of Black women educators provides a distinct pathway for inquiry due to their positioned intersectionality of gender and race and their percentage of representation within…

The present illustrative case study explored elementary teachers' perception of preparation for a pandemic-driven pedagogical shift. Third grade teachers from a South Florida school district that were teaching in a Title 1 school during COVID-19 pandemic and made the pedagogical shift (N=10) were selected to share their perspectives of the…

The purpose of this Dissertation in Practice was to explore the relationship between cultural intelligence and burnout in teachers. This purpose was rooted in a growing trend of teachers reporting a significant degree of burnout and education frequently being noted as one of the most stressful professions in the job market (Johnson et al., 2005;…

This multi-case study explores the lives of six former preK-12 teachers and their health and well-being during and after teaching. Using the framework of self-care, the purpose of this research was to investigate how teachers' health, well-being, resilience, and other internal characteristics intersect with external factors of teaching and…

In this study, I examined the role of work stress on urban, public school K-12 teachers who left or considered leaving their careers within the last two years due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded in the theoretical framework of self- determination theory, which illustrates three basic human needs for professional vitality…

A critical teacher shortage continues to exist throughout the United States. Challenges with student behavior and classroom management are identified as a top reason for teacher attrition. Educational research has demonstrated that PreK-12 students who receive social-emotional-behavioral support through evidence-based classroom management (EBCM)…

This study examines the relationships of teacher-held mental models and organizational characteristics towards recommendations for regular early childhood programs for preschool students with disabilities. The researcher conducted quantitative survey research of 65 early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers throughout California utilizing a…

This study examined the relationship between PK3-12 teacher's perceived Leader Member Exchange with his/her principal and teacher job satisfaction. A demographic survey, the Leader Member Exchange Questionnaire 7 (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) and the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1994) were completed by 252 teachers from the researcher's…

Most efforts to improve school settings and increase student learning assume adequately trained and knowledgeable teachers with the personal capacity and professional support to effectively implement new programs. This is unlikely to be true in under-resourced communities where teachers face a range of personal and professional barriers to…