One of the most important factors in ensuring student success is quality instruction by teachers. However, quality instruction can be a difficult goal if teachers do not have the resources to improve their skills and if rising levels of teacher stress go unchecked.
Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that high levels of job-related stress affect 93 percent of teachers, a greater percentage than previously thought. Classrooms with highly stressed teachers tend to have the poorest student outcomes, such as lower grades and frequent behavior problems.
“It’s no secret that teaching is a stressful profession,” said Keith Herman, professor in the MU College of Education. “However, when stress interferes with personal and emotional well-being at such a severe level, the relationships teachers have with students are likely to suffer, much like any relationship would in a high stress environment.”
Longtime Southern Boone teacher Liz Austin says that stress levels among teachers have increased as the expectations of teachers and students have increased.
~ Get more of the story in today’s Journal ~
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