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Teaching in the time of COVID-19: secondary educators’ experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

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Teaching in the time of COVID-19: secondary educators’ experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

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Teaching in the Time of COVID-19: Secondary Educators ’ Experiences During and After
the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abigail Clark

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2023

© Copyright by Abigail Clark, 2023
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Abigail Clark certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Gregory Franklin
Maria Ott
David Cash

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2023

iv
Abstract
This research examines the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted secondary
teachers in San Diego and Santa Maria areas. Through a series of in-depth interviews and
quantitative surveys, this study details the challenges teachers have faced in the wake of
extended school closures and the subsequent return to school amid ongoing and frequently
shifting COVID-19 protocols, the increasingly divisive political climate, challenges with student
behaviors, and student academic setbacks. This research aims to find ways in which
administrators can better support teachers to lessen the likelihood of teacher attrition and burnout
now and in the coming years as districts continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

v
Acknowledgments
First, I would like to thank my research partner, Gina Cherashore. You have been the
most inspirational and steadfast dissertation partner and friend. I could not have done it without
you and I have learned so much from working with you. Here’s to working on our book!
I would also like to acknowledge and sincerely thank my dissertation chair, Dr. David
Cash, for being the most wonderful chair. Your encouragement and practical guidance were
invaluable. Thank you for getting me to the finish line. I also want to relay my warmest gratitude
towards my dissertation committee, including Dr. Gregory Franklin and Dr. Maria Ott, for
providing invaluable feedback and interest in my research.
Furthermore, I am sending my appreciation and heartfelt thanks out to all the educators in
my life who have taught me and inspired me and picked me up when I needed it. Some have
given the tough lessons, and some have given the compassion, and both are invaluable. I am
working to pay these kindnesses forward.
Also thank you to my wonderful husband, Daniel, and our new baby girl, Eloise. Daniel,
thank you for babysitting and celebrating small milestones and listening to all the brainstorming.
Eloise, I hope you go forth into the world with a determination to make it better, one step at a
time. Also, try to get some sleep every once in a while.

vi
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... v
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x
Preface............................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 4
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 5
Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 7
Limitation and Delimitations .............................................................................................. 7
Definitions of Terms ........................................................................................................... 8
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 9
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 11
History of Teacher Burnout and Attrition ......................................................................... 11
Causes of Attrition and Burnout ....................................................................................... 18
Consequences of Burnout and Attrition ............................................................................ 22
The Impact of COVID-19 ................................................................................................. 26
Long-Term Federal and State Policy Solutions ................................................................ 32
Cultural Historical Activity Theory .................................................................................. 35
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 41

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Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 42
Purpose of Study ............................................................................................................... 42
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 43
Selection of Population ..................................................................................................... 43
Design Summary ............................................................................................................... 44
Instrumentation and Protocols .......................................................................................... 47
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 48
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 49
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 53
Chapter Four: Findings ................................................................................................................. 54
Participants ........................................................................................................................ 54
Findings............................................................................................................................. 55
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 79
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 82
Findings............................................................................................................................. 83
Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 90
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................... 91
Future Research ................................................................................................................ 94
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 94
References ..................................................................................................................................... 96
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 113
Introductory Questions.................................................................................................... 114
Main Questions (Part 1) .................................................................................................. 114

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Main Questions (Part 2) .................................................................................................. 115
Closing Question ............................................................................................................. 116
Closing Statement ........................................................................................................... 116
Appendix B: MBI-ES Survey Instrument ................................................................................... 117

ix
List of Tables
Table 1: Interview Participants 55

x
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Map 7
Figure 2: Vygotsky’s Triangle 37
Figure 3: Second–Generation CHAT Model 38
Figure 4: Third–Generation CHAT Model 38
Figure 5: MBI-ES Results 57
Figure 6: MBI-ES Item 8: “I Feel Burned Out From Work” 58
Figure 7: MBI-ES Item 2: “I Feel Used Up at the End of the Workday” 69

xi
Preface
Portions of Chapters 1 through 3 were coauthored, with Chapters 4 and 5 authored
individually to reflect the separate data collection and analysis each author conducted in their
respective geographic regions. This collaborative effort reflects real-world practices and enabled
both authors to grapple with the problem of practice to create meaningful solutions for
educational leaders. To meet their objective of developing highly skilled practitioners equipped
to take on real-world challenges, the USC Graduate School and the USC Rossier School of
Education permitted our inquiry team to carry out this shared venture.
This dissertation is part of a collaborative project between two doctoral candidates, Gina
Cherashore and Abigail Clark. We created our research questions and designed our study
collaboratively, then researched two different areas of California. The problems addressed in this
study are emblematic of a phenomenon sweeping the entire nation and thus were appropriate to
research in multiple areas.

1
Chapter One: Overview of the Study
This research examined how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted secondary teachers in
San Diego and Santa Maria counties. Through a series of in-depth interviews and quantitative
surveys, this study detailed the challenges teachers faced in the wake of extended school closures
and the subsequent return to school amid ongoing and frequently shifting COVID-19 protocols,
the increasingly divisive political climate, challenges with student behaviors, and student
academic setbacks. This research aimed to find ways administrators can better support teachers
to lessen the likelihood of teacher attrition and burnout now and in the coming years as districts
continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
Background of the Problem
Much research has examined the problem of retention and job dissatisfaction among
K −12 teachers at all stages of their careers. Findings within this topic of study rarely provide an
optimistic outlook. Even when the outcome for teachers is not attrition, they often experience
elevated levels of stress and burnout in their daily lives, making attrition a likely outcome
(Farmer, 2020). Research from 2018, just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, found
8% of teachers were leaving the profession each year (DeMonte et al., 2016). Attrition numbers
increased by 50% for teachers in Title I schools, disproportionately impacting students of color
from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Darling-Hammond et al., 2018). These teachers have
been replaced most often with teachers who are less prepared and less qualified than their
predecessors (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003). Fewer than one third of teachers who leave do
so at retirement age; however, early attrition accounts for nearly 90% of district hiring needs
(Sutcher et al., 2019). Overall, between 45% and 50% of teachers leave the teaching profession
within the first 5 years (Ingersoll et al., 2018).

2
Today, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the United States, reports of
projected levels of teacher attrition have been higher than ever, with some surveys reporting job
dissatisfaction as high as 90% (National Education Association [NEA], 2022). Steiner and Woo
(2021) found “nearly one in four teachers said they were likely to leave their jobs by the end of
the 2020 −2021 school year, compared with one in six teachers who were likely to leave, on
average, prior to the pandemic” (p. 1). Part of what may contribute to high rates of dissatisfaction
in educators may be the increased emotional toll working in a “helping profession” has on
teachers and those who serve others as a career (Kutscher et al., 2013). People working in
helping professions are especially vulnerable to burnout, which is defined as a state of fatigue or
frustration when one is not receiving the expected reward from devotion to a cause or way of life
(Kutscher et al., 2013). Work-related stress, ever present in teachers’ daily lives, has
compounded with the onset of pandemic-related challenges, and consequently teachers’
compassion fatigue and burnout have reached unprecedented levels (Farmer, 2020).
These levels of dissatisfaction and a desire to leave the profession represent an increase
by nearly 40% from August 2021 (NEA, 2022). In California, teacher shortages have reached
dire levels, exacerbated by the pandemic, resulting in hiring more underprepared teachers; the
number of emergency or incomplete credentials and permits issued nationwide nearly tripled
from the 2012 −2013 to the 2019 −2020 school year (Carver-Thomas et al., 2022). Administrative
help in the classroom is increasingly necessary, as central office staff and site administrators are
forced to step in to relieve substitute shortages and as teachers are asked to cover classes for one
another during preparatory periods, time intended to be reserved for planning and preparing for
their own classes. Enrollment in teacher education programs also has declined continually, with a
national average decline in enrollment from 2008 to 2019 at 35%, reaching a high of 80% in

3
some states (Knox, 2022). One of the most pressing concerns is whether these problems will
continue past the duration of the pandemic, causing a long-term shortage of teachers. Based on
history, these shortages are most likely to impact students of color in higher need areas
negatively (Darling-Hammond et al., 2018).
Frequent changes in COVID-19 protocols at the national, state, and district level have left
teachers with little guidance from administrators and more established teachers who may
otherwise provide mentorship onsite. School administrators, typically charged with providing
structures for mentoring new teachers, have spent much of the past few years contacting parents
and district officials to report data and manage an increase in behavioral issues and parent
concerns (Farmer, 2020). The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association declared the sharp
decline in student mental health a national emergency (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2021)
and has been linked to increases in student behavioral problems. Students also have fallen behind
academically due to prolonged remote instruction during the 2020 −2021 school year, leaving
teachers who are charged with meeting learning targets struggling to catch students up while
learning gaps widen between students of color and their White peers (Kuhfeld et al., 2020).
The surrounding community, including parents, guardians, and students, also have been
subject to frequently changing school policies and instability of school schedules. Policy
arguments about masking, distance learning, and vaccine mandates have, in some instances, pit
community members against teachers and teachers’ unions (Lovell, 2021). All these factors
created the contextual backdrop for the adversarial experience of educators teaching during the
COVID-19 pandemic and constitute a serious problem worthy of further research and
exploration.

4
As burnout and attrition are complex and dynamic problems, we examined the experience
of teachers who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic through the cultural-historical activity
theory (CHAT; Vygotsky, 1987). The goal of CHAT is to create a holistic analysis of a
constantly evolving activity theory, considering the dynamic influences and interactions of the
tools, community, rules, and division of labor on the activity of the object and subject (Foot,
2014). It allows researchers to consider the crucial role of cultural and historical influences when
analyzing phenomena in professional practices. The benefit of CHAT is that it empowers
researchers to examine these supports in the context of the multifaceted world in which new
teachers exist, one that has increased already adverse working conditions (Boateng & Donkor,
2020). As Boateng and Donkor (2020) concluded, teacher attrition is due to poor working
conditions, lack of leadership, and lack of professional development. Even before the COVID-19
pandemic, teachers were fleeing the profession at a staggering rate of about 50%, and new
numbers were released indicating 55% of teachers wanted to leave the profession as of 2022
(DeAngelis & Presley, 2011; Jotkoff, 2022). Educators reported incredibly high levels of
burnout, citing COVID-19-related policies, staff shortages, low salaries, limited mental health
resources for students, and too much paperwork, among others (Jotkoff, 2022). The range and
variety of cited issues for attrition have indicated no one issue should be prioritized; instead, a
whole system analysis is necessary.
Statement of the Problem
Teachers have been leaving the classroom at higher rates than ever before (Gallant &
Riley, 2014). Teachers also have faced monumental challenges during this time, with 25%
reporting they are likely to leave the profession by the end of 2020 −2021 (Steiner & Woo, 2021).
They also have faced more complex challenges as the world has adjusted and adapted to life

5
during the ongoing pandemic and as teachers have returned to in-person learning impacted by
learning loss and changes in student behavior. The Learning Policy Institute (2019) found the
small district of Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District had a 4% attrition rate (i.e.,
teachers leaving the profession) and a 5% turnover rate (i.e., teachers leaving their specific
school or district) with the projected teacher hire hovering around 15 new hires for the coming
school year. More alarming was the percentage of new hires with incomplete credentials, which
was 67%, much higher than the state average of 34%. The San Diego Unified School District, in
turn, had a 13% attrition rate, 15% turnover rate, projected teacher hires of 828, and 36% of new
hires with an incomplete or emergency substitute credential for the 2018 −2019 school year
(Learning Policy Institute, 2019). COVID-19 has impacted educators, and it is imperative to
explore how it has affected the experience and vulnerability to burnout of our nation’s educators.
In this study, we focused on secondary public-school teachers. Although all grades of teachers
are experiencing burnout, our experience and expertise in secondary education provided the
necessary background knowledge to help us to understand our participants’ experiences better.
This study examined secondary teacher experiences in Santa Maria Joint Union High School
District and several San Diego-area public schools, closely investigating their teaching
experiences during and after the pandemic and, specifically, how these impacted their burnout
and desire to leave the profession.
Purpose of the Study
Using qualitative in-depth interviews and surveys of teachers in both San Diego and the
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, this study examined how the COVID-19
pandemic and its aftermath impacted the teacher experience. We paid attention to identifying

6
what supports administrative leadership could offer to teachers to enhance job satisfaction,
alleviate burnout, and increase retention. The research questions we sought to answer were:
1. How do secondary teachers describe their experience teaching in San Diego and
Santa Maria during and after the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What do secondary teachers in San Diego and Santa Maria describe as factors
influencing their experiences?
3. What additional administrative support do secondary teachers in San Diego and Santa
Maria identify as helpful to improve work and life experience?
Using the theoretical lens of CHAT (Vygotsky, 1987), we examined secondary teachers
as subjects, identifying how various obstacles teachers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic
and afterward impacted their experience and subsequent actions related to possible attrition.
Functioning as both a conceptual and theoretical framework for this research study, CHAT
examines the relationship between what people think and do and the actions they take as a result
(Vygotsky, 1978). The conceptual map in Figure 1 uses CHAT as a tool to examine the
experiences and perceptions of secondary teachers hired during the COVID-19 pandemic and
their resulting actions, particularly as they relate to possible attrition and burnout. It was our
hope that through examination of this topic and using in-depth interviews and surveys, ways to
support these teachers may lead to higher retention rates among secondary teachers who may feel
increasingly burned out as effects from the pandemic linger.

7
Figure 1
Conceptual Map

Significance of the Study
It is the hope that this research can address the immediately pressing issue of secondary
teacher burnout and attrition, as experienced amid the ongoing pandemic and its aftermath, by
providing recommendations for action to principals and other school site administrative leaders.
Limitation and Delimitations
This study was limited to secondary teachers teaching in San Diego-area public schools
and the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District and their self-reported interpretations of
their experiences. The study was limited to teachers who agreed to be interviewed about

8
potentially negative experiences. Conclusions of this research study relied largely on self-
reported and self-described teacher experiences. Inherent limitations of interviews include
validity of self-reported data or experiences and the chance that teachers’ actions may be
attributed to unreported or unidentified variables (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). Comprehensive
interviews also rely largely on protocols developed by the researchers. Although we took all
precautions to limit any bias or leading in these interview protocols, it is possible some
limitations may be present related to development of these protocols, although we do not cite any
to our knowledge. Much care also was taken to corroborate findings by selecting multiple
respondents who had direct knowledge of the research topic.
Delimitations include the geographic region of secondary schools (San Diego, CA and
Santa Maria, CA), the number of teachers interviewed and surveyed, and the experiences of
teachers who are still in the field, excluding those who left the field already. This research was
conducted with the intention to provide limited generalizability to suburban public districts in
California and perhaps in other states in similar contexts. Findings in rural and urban districts
may differ due to political, economic, and social contexts.
Definitions of Terms
• Attrition: In this context, attrition means leaving the teaching profession (Boe et al.,
2008).
• Burnout: Burnout is “a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a
cause, way of life, or relationship that has failed to produce the expected reward”
(Kutscher et al., 2013, p. 12).

9
• Cultural-historical activity theory: Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) was
designed to understand networks of interacting activity systems, dialogue, and
multiple perspectives and voices (Engestrom, 2014).
• Novice/new teachers: For this study, “novice” or “new” are used interchangeably and
refer to teachers in their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year of teaching.
• Remote learning/virtual learning: These terms are used interchangeably to refer to
learning and teaching taking place online instead of in physical classrooms.
• Retention: Retention refers to continuous employment of teachers at one placement
school.
• Revolving door: This term explains the phenomena where “large numbers of qualified
teachers depart their jobs for reasons other than retirement” (Ingersoll, 2003, p. 3).
• School transfer/teacher migration: These terms are used interchangeably and refer to
continuing to teach but changing school of employment (Boe et al., 2008).
• Teacher turnover: This term “refers to major changes in a teacher’s assignment from
one school year to the next” (Boe et al., 2008, p. 8) and can include school or district
transfer or changing subjects or roles.
• Teacher shortage: Teacher shortage is “an imbalance between supply and demand”
(Boe et al., 2008, p. 7), specifically between school and student demand and teacher
supply.
Organization of the Study
Teaching in the Time of COVID: Secondary Educators ’ Experiences During and After
the COVID-19 Pandemic is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 overviews the study and
introduces data to present the causes and history of teacher attrition in K–12 public schools, both

10
nationally and in California. Chapter 2 presents a literature review in the following areas: teacher
attrition in U.S. public schools, consequences and causes of teacher attrition and burnout, federal
and state policies and solutions, impacts on equity, COVID-19 and recent attrition increases, and
CHAT. Chapter 3 describes the methodology selected for this research study and includes
sample and population selection, interview protocols, data collection, and data analysis. Chapter
4 details the research findings. Chapter 5 includes a summary of findings, implications for
practice, conclusions, and recommendations for future research. References and appendices are
included at the conclusion of this research study.

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Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
Teacher burnout and attrition in U.S. public schools are long-studied and persistent
problems; both problems deeply connected and the latter costing schools thousands of dollars
and depriving U.S. schoolchildren of stability and learning (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003).
Teachers continue to experience high levels of burnout and teacher attrition, despite many
solution-oriented policies and programs instituted over the years. It is imperative to study the
secondary teacher experience during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide recommendations for
reducing new teacher attrition and enhancing their educator experience. This literature review
examines the history of teacher attrition and burnout, paying special attention to secondary
teachers’ experiences during the pandemic and its aftermath. First, it explores burnout and other
causes of attrition as well as some well-known policies and solutions in California. Then, the
chapter examines the impact of teacher attrition on equity in schools as well as emerging trends
in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, it details cultural-historical activity theory
(CHAT) as the theoretical framework grounding this dissertation.
History of Teacher Burnout and Attrition
To understand better the current context of how teachers experience burnout and attrition
in their field, it is necessary to look at how these problems have been discussed and treated
historically. The following sections discuss the history of attrition and burnout as related to
schoolteachers throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.
Attrition
Teacher attrition is an established and well-studied problem. Educators, politicians, and
researchers have been raising a cry of alarm for decades over teacher shortages and their adverse
experiences as well as the consequences these problems pose for our national education system.

12
Discussion surrounding the mounting challenges teachers face began early in the 20th century,
with focused research beginning to take place in the 1950s and 1960s (Murnane, 1981). As early
as 1959, Bain and Mason conducted a national study examining teacher turnover and found
10.9% of teachers left the classroom in 1958. Research continued into the following decades
with many large-scale studies exploring teacher attrition and retention rates, such as one finding
that teachers in Oregon often do not make it to their 5th year of teaching, instead finding
alternative occupations. Research in Missouri concluded both age and sex determined retention
rates; men and more veteran teachers fared better than female and more novice teachers
(Charters, 1970). Both Whitener’s (1965) and Charters’s (1970) studies determined sex to be a
factor in the staying power of teachers. By 1978, Mark and Anderson found a similar survival
curve to Charters (1970) but found very little difference between male and female teachers. The
idea that researchers found this topic pressing and relevant to society in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
and beyond emphasizes how long-standing teacher attrition is as a national problem. As this
research was conducted, the conversation surrounding this phenomenon was becoming
increasingly concerned with the difficulties facing teachers, especially how overwhelming the
work was to new teachers (Dropkin & Taylor, 1963). Researchers in the second half of the
century spent much time examining the very problems dominating the public narrative today.
Teacher attrition was still a problem in the 1980s, but an additional element to the
national dialogue was concern that the nation’s public schools did not employ highly qualified
teachers. This was notably a popular talking point when the Reagan administration released their
infamous report entitled, A Nation at Risk: An Imperative for Educational Reform, suggesting
seven ways to “improve teacher preparation and make teaching a more rewarding and respected
profession” (U.S. National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983, p. 24). The idea that

13
there was a surplus of inferior educators in the nation’s schools was also echoed by research
claiming teacher shortages in the 1950s and 1960s drove schools to accept lesser qualified
applicants, and the 1980s saw the results of these hiring decisions in their now veteran teachers
(Murnane, 1981). Darling-Hammond (1984) also predicted an oncoming crisis regarding a lack
of qualified educators, citing reasons such as low salary, low professionalism, bureaucratic over
management, lack of input, and less than ideal working conditions as some reasons for the
coming shortage of qualified teachers. Although the preoccupation with under-qualified teachers
was new, the central problem of teacher attrition remained.
This trend was echoed throughout the years as the annual teacher turnover rate had
increased to 1 in 4 teachers by 2001; by 2018, teachers were leaving the profession in droves,
hitting the highest attrition rate recorded in 20 years (Boe et al., 2008; Hackman & Morath,
2018). In the first month of 2018 alone, public school teachers quit at an average rate of 83,000
per 10,000 a month (Hackman & Morath, 2018). The Alliance for Excellent Education released a
report in 2014 finding, since the mid-1980s, the expansion of the teacher workforce has been
accompanied by increased turnover of teachers, especially new teachers. This new teacher
attrition has had consequences that have rippled through school systems, putting further stress
and responsibility on veteran teachers’ shoulders, making their jobs increasingly unbearable and
unsustainable. Interestingly, Darling-Hammond and Sykes (2003) found the nation does not
necessarily have a shortage of teachers but rather a maldistribution of teachers in both specific
communities and specific content areas. This maldistribution has only increased in recent years
as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated teacher shortages in critical areas and subjects.
Since 2003, new research has shown, between 2009 and 2015, enrollment in teacher preparation
programs has fallen by 35%, and the number of people who successfully complete their teacher

14
preparation programs to 18% (DeMonte et al., 2016). Although there may be a maldistribution of
teachers, there is also a shortage of people who are interested in teaching careers or who want to
stay in the field for the entirety of their career.
To meet the rising need of schools, new administrations through the decades have passed
reform after reform, and still the nation’s teachers leave the classroom at higher rates every year.
Especially troubling, data reveal novice teachers leave within their first few years of teaching,
showing “after just five years, between 40 and 50% of all beginning teachers have left teaching
altogether” (Ingersoll, 2003, p. 13). Data collected in the 21st century have shown unequivocally
that attrition rates are high and are only growing (Johnson & Kardos, 2008). These data have
driven many variations of national education reform; consequently, researchers, policy experts,
and schools have worked hard to change the new teacher experience (Boe et al., 2008). However,
as the world evolves, so too must the approach to teacher retention.
Burnout
One of the leading causes for decades of increasing teacher attrition is a mental condition
that has broadly been dubbed “burnout.” High levels of burnout, specifically high levels of the
emotional exhaustion measure of burnout, is strongly correlated with career decisions such as
teachers leaving their school or the profession (Gilmour et al., 2022). Burnout was first noted as
a social problem, then written about primarily by practitioners using clinical description in the
1970s, with the emphasis finally shifting to systematic research and assessment of burnout in the
1980s (Maslach et al., 2016). There is a plethora of definitions of burnout (Dworkin, 1987;
Maslach et al., 2016), but the definition popularized by the psychiatrist Freudenberger (1974),
known as the founder of the concept of burnout, is that burnout is “becoming exhausted by

15
making excessive demands on energy, strength, or resources” (p. 159) and results in the subject
experiencing burnout becoming inoperative in their position.
Freudenberger was part of the first wave of burnout research relying mainly on clinical
description, called the “pioneer phase” (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Freudenberger investigated
burnout and how it manifests in clinical staff, noting although burnout can happen to anyone in
any line of work or lifestyle, it is prevalent among clinical staff who have a responsibility to
society, their patients, and their own personal needs (Freudenberger, 1974, 1975; Heinemann &
Heinemann, 2017; Kutscher et al., 2013). Occupations contending with all these responsibilities
as an accepted facet of their work later came to be known as “helping professions” and include
professions in fields such as medical, education, and therapy (Kutscher et al., 2013).
Freudenberger wrote extensively about the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms associated
with burnout, noting the physical symptoms include exhaustion and fatigue, frequent illnesses,
headaches, sleeplessness, and shortness of breath, whereas the emotional signs of burnout are
emotional displays, quickness to anger or irritation, depression, and suspicion and paranoia. The
suspicion and paranoia may manifest as either a victimization complex or overconfidence, in
which one takes unnecessary risks either in their personal or work lives (Freudenberger, 1974).
The mental signs display as boredom or stubbornness, rigidity, or inflexibility that resist change
(Freudenberger, 1974). These symptoms are echoed in later themes of burnout research
(Kutscher et al., 2013; Madigan & Kim, 2021; Maslach & Jackson, 1981).
Maslach, a social psychology researcher, also published seminal works on burnout in the
1970s, then later began to investigate the problem in a more empirical way (Kristensen et al.,
2005; Maslach et al., 2017). Maslach’s work served as a cornerstone of the second wave of
burnout research and assessment, and within this research a more specific definition of burnout

16
emerged, described as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism that occurs frequently
among individuals who do ‘people-work’ of some kind” (Maslach & Jackson, 1981, p. 99).
Maslach invented a tool called the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which allowed burnout
researchers to quantify experiences and elements of burnout in different professions (Maslach &
Jackson, 1981). Maslach noted three core elements of burnout syndrome: (a) increased feelings
of emotional exhaustion, (b) depersonalization, and (c) decreased feelings of personal
accomplishment. The MBI was designed to measure these aspects of burnout syndrome and
became one of the most widely accepted tools used in burnout research, considered the gold
standard in measuring burnout (Maslach et al., 2017; Williamson et al., 2018).
The MBI has received criticism like any other research tool. One critique included the
length (22 items), which may be lengthy to administer in a wide-scale, multifaceted study (West
et al., 2012). The MBI also faced criticism for its proprietary nature because it requires licensure
to administer and researchers’ inability to access the full survey because it is not in the public
domain (Williamson et al., 2018; Kristensen et al., 2005). Other comments noted there is a lack
of an established level of burnout correlating with negative outcomes, especially because the
MBI is supposed to result in three distinct scores for each of the subscales instead of one overall
burnout score (Kristensen et al., 2005), and the three categories used to define burnout
(emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased feelings of personal accomplishment)
do not necessarily translate into target areas for intervention (Williamson et al., 2018).
Kristensen et al. (2005) further argued Maslach’s definition of burnout and the consequent MBI
both revolve around the idea that burnout happens to workers in human service occupations only,
which is troubling because it makes it difficult to use the MBI to test workers from other
occupations using the tool and the definition. There are now several different versions of the

17
MBI, such as the MBI designed for educators, that was used in this study. Kristensen et al.
argued the three subscales represent distinct experiences and feelings and therefore should be
studied separately. Finally, they reported their respondents took issue with how some of the
questions are phrased on the MBI, such as, “I feel as though I treat some students as if they were
impersonal objects,” wording perceived as harsh or extreme that evoked negative reactions from
respondents. These criticisms of the MBI have been met with mixed responses, especially
regarding criticism of its theoretical underpinnings, and the response that the MBI has been well-
studied for validity (Schaufeli & Taris, 2005). Studies on the validity of the MBI can be found in
Chapter 3 of this study. The commentary most widely agreed upon is that the length of the
survey is too long, and its limited availability poses challenges for researchers (Schaufeli &
Taris, 2005; Williamson et al., 2018).
As research on burnout became more prevalent with the expansion and availability of
relevant empirical research, researchers began to narrow their investigations to examine how
burnout affects specific helping profession populations, or the aforementioned “people-work”
(Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Thus emerged a body of knowledge centered specifically around
burnout within the education field. Belcastro and Gold (1983) conducted an early study of 428
teachers in public schools in Southern Illinois and, using the MBI, found more than 11% of
teachers were burned out and complaining of somatic and psychological symptoms. Mental
health research historically has been controversial; thus, it was telling to find links between
burnout and physical symptoms. Burnout research in the education field continued, and, in 2022,
U.S. K −12 workers had the highest burnout level of all industries nationally, with 52% of
teachers reporting burnout (Marken & Agrawal, 2022).

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Causes of Attrition and Burnout
Due to decades of research and discussion surrounding attrition and burnout, there is a
large body of knowledge surrounding the causes of attrition and burnout. Much of this
knowledge is still relevant today, but a new perspective should be applied to this research
considering a rapidly changing sociocultural and sociopolitical landscape surrounding the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Newberry & Allsop, 2017). For this study, the factors explained
in the following sections represent causes of both teacher burnout and attrition. The terms are not
mutually exclusive and indeed are highly related. Although attrition is not always an outcome of
burnout, similar factors spur feelings of dissatisfaction leading to experiences of burnout or
attrition (Madigan & Kim, 2021).
Traditional School Conditions
School climate, school conditions, working conditions, and professional environment are
a few of the terms that have been used to describe one of the strongest factors impacting whether
teachers stay or leave their school and the profession (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2014;
Johnson & Kardos, 2008; Loeb et al., 2005). All these terms allude to the same idea; everything
that happens in a school contributes to or takes away from the school culture and the satisfaction
and success of all stakeholders. “School conditions” is a broad term that includes tangible and
intangible instructional resources, physical facilities, availability of technology, quality of
professional development, parental involvement, testing requirements, curriculum expectations,
work relationships, discipline and behavior issues, and more (Farmer, 2020; Loeb et al., 2005;
Newberry & Allsop, 2017). School conditions vary greatly in different areas and different
schools and impact both teacher attrition and teacher turnover, potentially contributing to a
“revolving door” of teachers coming in and out of schools (Ingersoll, 2003).

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Student Behavior
One of the most significant school conditions causing teacher stress and burnout is
student behavioral issues (Hastings & Bham, 2003). Teachers who struggle with managing
student behavior in the classroom often report high levels of burnout (Gilmour et al., 2022).
Discipline is ranked consistently as one of the most severe challenges teachers face, and new
teachers are especially vulnerable to the stress and burnout this challenge evokes (Weinstein &
Evertson, 2013). Poor student behavior is a central part of the narrative of the troubles of public
school in the United States, and a significant factor in teacher burnout and attrition.
Salary
An oft-touted complaint of the teacher industry is low salary relative to hours worked and
required demands on emotional and physical investment (DeMonte et al., 2016; Newberry &
Allsop, 2017). Some research has shown poor salary is the strongest reason for teacher attrition,
as 54% of teachers involved in teacher turnover, whether that be moving schools or attrition from
the profession, cite salary as their main reason for leaving (Ingersoll, 2003; Johnson & Kardos,
2008). Research showed most teachers are paid less than professionals with comparable
education, with the pay discrepancy widening at each higher degree earned (Johnson & Kardos,
2008). Low salary makes teaching a relatively unappealing career to embark on in the first place
and more difficult to stay in when faced with other obstacles.
Administrative Support
An exploration of teacher attrition during the COVID-19 pandemic found three
fundamental causes of attrition: poor working conditions, lack of professional development, and
poor leadership (Boateng & Donkor, 2020). Lack of professional support manifests in many
ways, including a lack of mentoring, not feeling valued in school decision making, and feeling

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overwhelmed by the teacher workload (Kelchtermans, 2017; Newberry & Allsop, 2017).
Teachers’ complaints often have included lack of professional support as one of the primary
reasons for dissatisfaction, with as many as 43% of teachers citing poor administrative support as
one of their top reasons for leaving (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2014; Ingersoll, 2003;
Loeb et al., 2015; Newberry & Allsop, 2017).
Inversely, administrative support is one of the key elements in teacher retention (Becker
& Grob, 2021; Grissom & Bartanen, 2019). Research showed principals who are aware of their
teachers’ needs, are proactive, and are lifelong learners impact teacher retention positively
(Brown & Wynn, 2009). It also showed the impact of administrative support was more strongly
felt when principles strategically supported high-performing teachers and did not retain low-
performing teachers (Grissom & Bartanen, 2019). The principal’s responsibility is to create an
environment of effective collaboration and communication with their high-performing teachers
to promote teacher satisfaction and consequent retention (Leithwood et al., 2004). In the absence
of this culture, teachers fail to feel that administrative support.
Collaborative Structures
One distinct way in which teachers feel unsupported professionally is through isolation or
working in “egg-crate” schools in which teachers are dropped in their respective classrooms and
do not collaborate with other staff and rarely change their routine as they assume responsibility
for a group of students throughout the year (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). Teachers are expected
from the beginning to be independent and expert, with mentoring programs often operating in a
superficial or ineffective manner (Kardos & Johnson, 2008), resulting in a feeling of both
physical and emotional isolation, both of which are detrimental to teachers’ long-term health and
commitment to the classroom (Kelchtermans, 2017; Newberry & Allsop, 2017). Teachers, like

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all others, want and need to feel emotionally connected and supported to their community. When
teachers feel isolated, they fail to thrive, and this becomes a driving force behind attrition and
burnout.
Contemporary School Conditions
School conditions have grown beyond the traditional demands of a public-school
workplace. All the traditional demands still exist, such as lesson planning, grading, managing
behavior, collaborating with colleagues and parents and guardians, but more demands are added
every year according to the sociopolitical climate.
High Stakes Testing
With the adoption of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Every Student
Succeeds Act of 2015, high stakes testing continues to be emphasized in the school system and
test-based accountability policies account for much stress in teachers’ lives (Farmer, 2020;
Kelchtermans, 2017) with contested benefits (Brewer et al., 2015).
COVID-19 Policies
In recent years, school conditions include COVID-19 policies such as masking, social
distancing, contact tracing, and vaccination policies. Personal health concerns added to the
anxiety of adhering to mandated policies as well as to the regular responsibilities of a
schoolteacher (Diliberti et al., 2021). Unclear expectations, lack of effective communication, and
rapidly shifting policies related to the environment of teaching in a pandemic have further
exacerbated teacher burnout (Galazka & Jarosz, 2021).
High-Trauma Situations
As members of a civilian workforce, teachers face a unique need to plan and prepare for
highly dangerous situations such as active shooters. School shootings have become an

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increasingly visible threat, and teachers often are required to participate in training from local
law enforcement, active shooter lockdown practices, and other preparatory requirements
normally beyond the scope of a typical civilian job role. Both the events and consequent disaster
preparation expose children and adults to high-trauma situations (Farmer, 2020). In addition to
stress, teachers experience the burden of secondary traumatic stress inherited from students
coping with high amounts of stress in their own life (Farmer, 2020), increasing the likelihood of
suffering from compassion fatigue, which is “job burnout and secondary traumatic stress
stemming from vicarious exposure to client trauma” (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019, p. 1).
Compassion fatigue, in turn, is associated with increased job efficacy-cynicism and
psychological detachment, key elements of burnout (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019; Maslach &
Jackson, 1981). These types of trauma-inducing circumstances culminate in high levels of stress
and compassion fatigue, leading to teacher burnout.
Consequences of Burnout and Attrition
Teacher burnout adversely affects the teacher workforce in many ways, both internally
and externally (M. Chang, 2013). Externally, the impacts of burnout are measurable by high
attrition rates and teacher shortages. In the United States, nearly 25% of teachers leave the
profession before their 3rd year, and nearly 50% leave within the first 5 years of teaching
(Carroll, 2007; Ingersoll, 2003). Inside the classroom, teacher burnout and fatigue may lead to
ineffective teaching and harm to student learning and school culture (Olivier & Venter, 2003).
Understanding the effects of teacher burnout and attrition is critical to finding policy solutions to
address issues impacting teacher satisfaction and retention. Teacher attrition rates vary by state,
region, and subject. Data from the NCES Schools and Staffing Surveys found the highest
attrition rates in the U.S. South, particularly among low socioeconomic schools serving a

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majority of students of color, with math, science, special education, and English language
development suffering the most (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). This is critical to
consider when examining the impacts attrition has both broadly and by student group.
Data from 2019 showed the relatively high rate of teacher attrition had been the main
factor in teacher shortages across the United States prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting
for nearly 90% of teacher demand annually, with the same study finding less than one third of
teacher attrition is the result of retirement (Sutcher et al., 2019), resulting in resources diverted
from student-centered programs to recruiting and training new teachers.
Much has been discussed about the causes of teacher burnout and subsequent attrition
and relevant data points, but the root of the problem is the impact high burnout and attrition rates
have on students and their communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened already
troubling trends, increasing rates of teacher dissatisfaction and attrition to alarming rates.
Because of this, understanding the impact of burnout and attrition on students is imperative. next,
we describe what the research has identified as the main negative impacts associated with high
teacher burnout and attrition rates.
Staffing Shortages
Educator shortages predate the pandemic, particularly for substitute teachers and in high-
attrition subjects such as math, special education, science, and bilingual education. However,
these shortages have grown alarmingly since 2020 and now include additional support staff such
as food service workers, bus drivers, and school nurses. Recent research from the NEA (2022)
found there were nearly 600,000 fewer educators in 2022 than just prior to the start of the
pandemic. Nationally, the ratio of hires to job openings for the 2021 −2022 school year was 0.57
hires for every opening position (NEA, 2022). Other data found nearly 75% of teachers have had

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to fill in for colleagues or take on other duties due to these shortages, and 80% of teachers
reported unfilled job openings led to more work obligations for the educators who remained on
staff (NEA, 2022). For districts and school administrators, this means more financial resources
and time must be spent on recruiting, hiring, and training new teachers who are statistically
likely to leave within the first few years of being hired. This lack of more permanent staff means
difficulty in building an established school culture and maintaining progress, as time and
resources become continually diverted to hiring and training year after year.
Equity Issues
Although schools nationwide suffer from low teacher retention rates and challenges
filling positions in high-needs content areas and certain geographic locations, schools serving a
high percentage of students of color, students with special learning needs, and those in low-
income areas suffer even worse rates of retention.
Special Education
Although teacher burnout and attrition impact students of all socioeconomic and racial
backgrounds, it impacts students and teachers of color in Title I schools, special education
teachers, and English language development teachers most negatively, where gaps in
achievement are already widest. Research from 2013 indicated nearly 20% of teachers in special
education either moved schools or left the profession that year (Kena et al., 2014), in addition to
another 10% of special education teachers who moved into general education setting that same
year, totaling a loss of 30% of the overall special education teaching staff in 1 year alone.
Kersaint et al. (2007) noted one significant reason for such high turnover and attrition in special
education is high levels of emotional stress, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and
feelings of low levels of personal accomplishment.

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Remote Learning
Remote learning has created further inequities. In a 2020 survey of nearly 6,000 teachers
across 194 schools, researchers found teachers estimated only 60% of students were engaged in
remote learning, with wide gaps in perceived engagement along racial and socioeconomic lines
(Kraft & Simon, 2020). The same study found teachers working in high-poverty schools and in
schools serving a majority of students of color reported their students had more difficulty
engaging in school and remote learning. Students of color were less likely to have access to the
internet and technology needed to engage in remote learning. Additionally, teachers who had
over 20 years of teaching experience were more than 3 times as likely to report feeling unable to
use the technology required to effectively teach remotely, meaning older teachers were at a
distinct disadvantage (Kraft & Simon, 2020).
Title I Schools and Teachers of Color
Research showed Title I schools suffered the most from teacher attrition and turnover, or
loss of a teacher from one school or district to another. Turnover rates are 50% higher for
teachers in Title I schools, and 70% higher for teachers in schools serving the largest
concentration of students of color (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). Teachers of
color, who disproportionately teach in high-minority, low-income schools, are also more likely
to leave the profession than their White counterparts (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond,
2017). Additionally, the average cost to replace a teacher in an urban district is estimated to be
around $20,000, so Title I schools are forced to divert significant financial resources to
continually replacing lost teachers. As schools struggle to keep up with teacher demand,
positions are increasingly filled with underprepared teachers who are not fully credentialed,
usually interns or teachers on emergency substitute credentials or waivers. The number of

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teachers in the field who are not fully credentialed has tripled in California from 2013 to 2020
(Carver-Thomas et al., 2022). High-poverty schools suffer the most from the shortage of
credentialed teachers (Garcia & Weiss, 2019).
The Impact of COVID-19
Teaching was a challenging career with high levels of burnout and attrition prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and became more stressful as concerns about safety, learning loss, and
remote instruction became a central focus for teachers who were already stretched thin. As a
more recent phenomena, the impacts of COVID-19 on teacher burnout and attrition are less
studied. Although we know reported numbers of teacher dissatisfaction are higher than ever,
what is less clear is how this will impact attrition in the long term, or how many of the teachers
reporting burnout will subsequently leave the profession.
Teacher Stress and Burnout
Results from a 2021 survey distributed through RAND’s American Teacher Panel and
authored by Steiner and Woo (2021) suggested teachers are experiencing additional stressors
during school years impacted by the pandemic. The two most cited stressors for teachers were
mode of instruction, specifically remote learning, and health concerns, with pandemic-related
teaching conditions, such as technical problems related to remote teaching, linked to an increase
in stress, depressive symptoms, and burnout. Further compounding the issue, one in three
teachers identified as being sole caretakers of children while teaching remotely. Because of these
stressors and others, 1 in 4 teachers surveyed reported a desire or intention to leave their job by
the end of the 2021 school year, a higher rate than any other group of employed adults nationally
(Steiner & Woo, 2021). Those who identified themselves as “likely leavers” to the teaching
profession indicated there was little that could be done to prevent their likely attrition. In

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California, in the last 6 months of 2020, there was a 26% increase in teacher retirements, and by
the end of the 2020 −2021 school year, that number had risen an additional 8% (Wolfe, 2021).
In another survey of over 1,000 former teachers, Diliberti et al. (2021) found almost half
of public-school teachers who voluntarily stopped teaching after March 2020 did so because of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress was the most common reason for leaving; it was almost twice as
common a reason as insufficient pay. As teachers leave the classroom in higher numbers than
ever before, administrators are forced to hire unlicensed educators to fill vacant positions
(Bryner, 2021). Research has shown teachers who are not licensed fully are less effective than
fully credentialed teachers.
Learning Loss
A 2021 research study from McKinsey & Company examining the impact of unfinished
learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic will have drastic consequences if steps are not taken to
remediate learning loss (Dorn et al., 2020). The authors’ analysis suggests today’s students may
earn up to $60,000 less over their lifetime due to pandemic-related learning loss, impacting the
U.S. economy anywhere from $128 −$188 billion every year once this cohort of students enters
the workforce. The same study found students, on average, are 4 months behind in reading and 5
months behind in math, which equates to over half the school year. Although all students
experienced some degree of unfinished learning, students of color and low-income students
suffered the most. Black students at majority Black schools finished the 2020 −2021 school year
6 months behind in both reading and math, and students at majority White schools were 4
months behind in math and 3 months behind in reading.

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Student Behavioral Issues
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on student behavior. Research
showed disruptions caused by the pandemic, such as school closures and transitioning to remote
learning, led to increased levels of stress and anxiety among students (Schwartz et al., 2021). The
social isolation and lack of structure associated with remote learning also have been linked to
negative behaviors such as aggression and noncompliance (Lopez, 2020).
A report from the National Center for Education Statistics (Irwin et al., 2022) found
nearly 90% of public schools reported the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students’
socioemotional development negatively during the 2021–2022 school year. The same report
found 84% of public schools agreed or strongly agreed students’ behavioral development was
impacted negatively. Survey respondents reported student misconduct, rowdiness outside the
classroom, acts of disrespect (e.g., verbal abuse toward teachers and staff), and use of electronic
devices during class time were likely most closely linked to the COVID-19 pandemic’s
aftereffects.
Additionally, data showed chronic absenteeism at least doubled since pre-pandemic
levels (H. Chang et al., 2022). Teacher absences also increased in the last school year, often
leaving classrooms covered by administrators and nonteaching personnel. Ninety-nine percent of
schools surveyed reported challenges in finding substitutes to cover classes.
Student Mental Health
A 2021 survey of over 15,000 parents across every state in the United States found 35%
of parents said they were very or extremely concerned about their child’s mental health, with a
similar percentage worried about their child’s social and emotional well-being (Gramlich, 2023).
Parents also reported increases in clinical mental health conditions among children, with a

29
notable increase in anxiety and depression. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2021)
supported this finding with a joint report from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association, declaring the decline in child and adolescent
mental health a national emergency, linking it to an increase in behavioral problems in schools.
Similarly, the shift to remote learning and the implementation of social distancing measures have
limited opportunities for in-person socialization, leading to feelings of loneliness and isolation
among many students, increasing feelings of social rejection (Sikali, 2020). Closures of schools
and other educational institutions also disrupted extracurricular activities and social events in
which students may have participated, further limiting socialization opportunities. Teachers are
likely to feel the impacts of these findings as mental health struggles impact students’ behavior,
social-emotional wellness in the classroom, and ability to focus.
Negative Media Portrayal of Teachers
Media coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic has often portrayed educators in a
negative light, focusing on challenges and difficulties rather than resilience and innovation and at
times portraying educators as lazy (Asbury & Kim, 2020). Additionally, another study found
media coverage during the pandemic often has portrayed teachers as being solely responsible for
the challenges of remote learning without recognizing the systemic and structural issues that also
play a role (Nerlino, 2021). This type of coverage can lead to increased stress and anxiety among
educators, who already have a difficult job. These findings suggest the media’s portrayal of
educators during the COVID-19 pandemic has often been negative, which can have a negative
impact on educators’ well-being.

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Declining Sense of Teacher Self-Efficacy
Teacher self-efficacy, or the belief in one’s ability to effectively teach and make a
difference in student learning, has been identified as a critical factor in teacher effectiveness
(Barni et al., 2019). Research showed teacher self-efficacy was related to several positive
outcomes, including increased student achievement, reduced teacher burnout, and improved
teacher retention (Bandura, 1997). The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges for
teachers, including the need to adapt to new technologies and teaching modalities. These
challenges may have implications for teacher self-efficacy, with some research suggesting the
transition to remote learning may lead to decreased teacher self-efficacy (Pressley & Ha, 2021).
2022−2023 School Year Teacher Shortages
Across the country, teacher shortages for the 2022 −2023 school year are more severe
than ever before. The Nevada State Education Association estimated nearly 3,000 teaching jobs
remain unfilled across the state as of August 2022 (Natanson, 2022). In Illinois, the Illinois
Association of Regional School Superintendents reported 88% of schools were having problems
with teacher shortages, with over 2,000 job openings either empty or filled with a “less than
qualified” hire. In Houston, the city’s largest five school districts report anywhere between 200
and 1,000 unfilled positions as of August 2022 (Natanson, 2022). Temporary solutions to the
current teacher shortage are further frustrating more veteran teachers who have their full
credentials and often advanced degrees in education. Makeshift solutions to the shortage around
the country vary from state to state. In Florida, a law that took effect on July 1, 2022, allows
military veterans with no teaching background or experience to fill vacancies without a
bachelor’s degree, and in Arizona, a similar law allows college students with unfinished degrees
to take teaching jobs (Phan, 2022). In response to the teacher shortage, Randi Weingarten,

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president of the American Federation of Teachers noted the shortage is due to a combination of
problems related to the political climate in the United States and aftereffects of COVID-19.
Weingarten also noted a confluence of factors related to pandemic-related exhaustion and stress,
low pay, and a sense that educators are not respected by parents and politicians.
Many short-term solutions, such as those listed previously, and others including
increasing class sizes, widening the pool of candidates who qualify as educators despite a lack of
credentials or relevant experience, and offering an increase in pay to substitutes who are filling in
long term for full-time teachers, is likely to harm students by diminishing the quality of
education they receive (Natanson, 2022).
Loss of Collaborative and Community Structures
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on schools and their communities,
leading to the loss of traditional school culture and community. The National School Climate
Center (Kosciw et al., 2020) found the shift to remote learning resulted in a loss of social
connections and a sense of belonging among students. The study surveyed a sample of over
2,000 students and found over half of respondents reported feeling lonely or isolated while
learning remotely. Additionally, many students reported feeling disconnected from their school
community and a lack of engagement in extracurricular activities. Furthermore, the shift to
online learning has led to a lack of access to traditional school culture such as school events,
sports, and other activities, which help students connect to their school community. These
findings suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on school culture and
community, highlighting the importance of finding ways to support students’ social and
emotional well-being during these challenging times (NSCC, 2020).

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Remote Work
Importantly, although remote learning provided distinct disadvantages to traditional
student learning, some teachers may have experienced unexpected effects from the distance
learning model many school districts used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence suggested
more people working from home may have an equalizing effect on households; instead of
women primarily conducting domestic duties, men working from home may pitch in more
(Felstead, 2022). Further, employees who work remotely reported high levels of job satisfaction
(Felstead, 2022), perhaps due to the ease and convenience of being in one’s own home.
However, research also suggested people have had more problems maintaining a healthy work-
life balance when they are always “plugged in” at home (Felstead, 2022) and using the
aforementioned technology that was mandatory to teach effectively during the pandemic. As this
knowledge regarding employees’ responses to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic is
still developing, the existing research is minimal.
Long-Term Federal and State Policy Solutions
Existing literature provides a multitude of policy suggestions for stemming teacher
attrition at the federal, state, and district level. Many of these policies are still relevant in the
post-COVID-19 climate but now are more pressing than ever. A review of the literature provides
three key categories of policy suggestions to mitigate attrition: compensation, teacher preparation
and support, and the impact of school leadership. Next, we discuss each of these in more detail.
Compensation
Compensation is consistently mentioned across the literature as one way to reduce
teacher attrition (Kolbe & Strunk, 2012). Most research has suggested providing compensation
packages that are competitive with those of other occupations requiring similar levels of

33
education (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). At the federal level, offering service
scholarships and loan forgiveness programs can help to reduce the debt burden from teacher
preparation programs. Recent research indicated teachers are often moonlighting, or working
second jobs in their off hours, to supplement their teaching income (Garcia & Weiss, 2019). The
likely influence of a large “teacher pay gap,” or how much less teachers earn than their
comparably educated peers in other professions, is weakening the attractiveness of education as a
profession and contributing to rising attrition (Garcia & Weiss, 2019).
Teacher Preparation and Support
Teacher preparation programs may be a way to tackle the teacher shortage problem in a
more proactive manner. Indeed, even pre-pandemic teacher preparation programs saw a
significant decline in enrollment (DeMonte et al., 2016), a condition only exacerbated by the
pandemic (Giffin et al., 2021). As such, policy work around teacher preparation has emerged as a
potential solution to the teacher shortage problem. Recent research suggested school districts
should form partnerships with teacher preparation programs to engage teacher candidates early
on and create opportunities for them to begin work in their future districts (Giffin et al., 2021).
Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond (2017) recommended several policies focused on high-
retention pathways into teaching specifically for high-needs communities, including creating
teacher residency programs where residents train for entire year under a master teacher while
earning both a credential and master’s degree from partnering universities, along with several
other perks. They also suggested “grow your own” teacher preparation models where programs
recruit local members of the communities as well as high-quality mentoring and induction
programs. Much recent research has focused on programs that create more cohesive and local
pathways toward teaching in community school districts.

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Mentoring Programs
Several mentoring and induction programs have been piloted in various schools, with
mixed success (Brill & McCartney, 2008; Kardos & Johnson, 2008; Lovo et al., 2006).
Mentorship programs are appealing to school districts because they are lower cost than raising
salaries (Brill & McCartney, 2008), yet research has shown they can improve retention as well as
be effective in helping teachers to reflect on and refine their teaching practices (Brill &
McCartney, 2008; Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Christiansen & Ramadevi,
2002). However, one study looked closely at characteristics of mentor-mentee matches and their
interactions to examine mentoring experiences across three states and found 78% of new
teachers are matched with mentors; however, many mentorships are poorly matched, and
mentees have very little interaction with mentors (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). Additionally, the
study found that between high-income and low-income schools as well as STEM teachers and
other content area teachers, with STEM teachers and low-income schools experiencing less
desirable matches and less interaction (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). This research suggested
although mentorship programs can be effective, if they are not carefully planned and executed,
with the appropriate amount of ongoing coaching and time allotted, they fail to live up to their
purported benefits. The quality of the mentoring relationship matters greatly (Day, 2017).
School Leadership
Principals and district-office staff are hugely impactful to teacher job satisfaction and
retention. Job-related stress was identified as the number one reason teachers left the profession
in 2021, with more than twice as many teachers naming stress as the reason for their attrition
overcompensation (Diliberti et al., 2021). School and district leadership can help mitigate the
impacts of stress in several ways.

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Behavior Support
A 2021 study of nearly 700 teachers found a strong positive correlation between ability to
manage student behaviors and teacher well-being outcomes, linked to higher levels of teacher
retention (Herman et al., 2021). With a sharp increase in student behavioral issues, 70% of
teachers surveyed by the National Center for Education Statistics (Irwin et al., 2022) said more
training is required to support students’ social-emotional development and help curb behavioral
issues. Providing continuing professional development addressing classroom management
strategies could help increase feelings of job effectiveness for teachers, particularly because of
high post-pandemic behavioral issues among students.
Interpersonal Relationships
A study conducted in 2021 on teacher retention found one of the strongest predictors of
retention is if principals can maintain trust both individually with teachers and schoolwide (Price,
2021). Developing a culture of trust can improve commitment among teachers and avoid attrition
even when implemented for only a year. Principals should strive to develop quality relationships
that uphold trust and environments conducive to commitment. When leaders fail to establish an
environment of trust and commitment, challenges that arise during the school year become more
difficult to overcome.
Cultural Historical Activity Theory
Our research was grounded in the cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). CHAT
allowed us to analyze the factors impacting teacher burnout and potential attrition holistically,
providing a framework to investigate these factors while acknowledging they are embedded
within a cultural context.

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Background
CHAT is an evolving theoretical framework that has several features. It primarily
analyzes human activity on three levels: (a) activity based on their motives and which objects
toward which they are motivated, (b) actions based on their goals, and (c) operations based on
the conditions where they are carried out (Postholm & Vennebo, 2019). When discussing human
activity, CHAT does not refer to brief events but rather an evolving, complex structure of
collective human action (Roth & Lee, 2007). CHAT involves the ideas of goals and goal-directed
action as a part of human activity systems (Postholm & Vennebo, 2019). It rests on several
central tenets, including the ideas that the human activity is mediated by things like tools, signs,
and language, that the activity and the things that mediate it emerge through social interaction,
and that humans internalize concepts that then allow cultural reproduction (Foot, 2014; Postholm
& Vennebo, 2019). CHAT is an answer to theories that treat learning and cognition as isolated
from cultural context (Engestrom, 2014) and “addresses the troubling divides between individual
and collective, material and mental, biography and history, and praxis and theory” (Roth & Lee,
2007, p. 191).
CHAT originally sprang from work on social constructivism, sociocultural theory, and
activity theory conducted by Vygotsky and subsequently by his students, including A. N.
Leont’ev, all of whom were operating in the Soviet Union and influenced by Marxist philosophy
(Engestrom, 2014; Grimmett, 2014; Postholm, 2019; Roth & Lee, 2007). It rests on original
social constructivist theory, which posits learning occurs first on a social level and then is
internalized (Postholm, 2019) and aims to explain human behavior rather than simply describing
it (Grimmett, 2014). The first–generation model of the theory is a basic visualization of how
relationships function in human activity. Figure 2 shows Vygotsky’s (1978) first generation of

37
the theory, wherein a relationship is drawn between stimulus (S) and response (R) and an
auxiliary stimulus (X), which mediates the interaction.
The second–generation model of CHAT introduced the idea of division of labor, which
inherently acknowledges collective activity and overcomes the limitation of the first generation,
which was its focus on individuals alone as focus of analysis (Postholm & Vennebo, 2019; Roth
& Lee, 2007). It also introduced more triangles within the model to represent an activity system
(Engestrom, 2014; Postholm & Vennebo, 2019). Figure 3 represents the second generation of
CHAT (Postholm & Vennebo, 2019) and shows how the simple dynamics between stimulus,
auxiliary stimulus, and response was expanded to include a dynamic activity system where
several different stimuli (e.g., artifact, rules, community, division of labor) are included to
explain the outcome or activity.

Figure 2
Vygotsky ’s Triangle

38
Figure 3
Second –Generation CHAT Model

Engestrom (2014) had influence on the second generation of CHAT and developed the
third generation of CHAT. Figure 4 shows the third generation of CHAT, representing a network
of activity systems instead of just one (Engestrom, 2014; Postholm & Vennebo, 2019). There is
the classic analysis of different stimuli in the context of both activity systems and special
attention paid to their respective contributions to the same outcome. It includes multiple
interacting activity systems to overcome limitations of perspective and subjectivity inherent to
the second–generation mode (Engestrom, 2014). It rests on the idea that all activity systems are
part of a network of activity systems that comprises human society (Roth & Lee, 2007).

Figure 4
Third –Generation CHAT Model

39
Our study used the second–generation CHAT model, as we looked at each of our school
districts as our activity system; therefore, we conducted separate analyses of the interactions and
stimuli within each of our activity systems. The third–generation CHAT model did not suit our
purposes because we each analyzed one activity system.
Application to School Research
CHAT emerged as an effective way to study schools and varying sizes of systems within
schools (Foot, 2014), because the theory “forms the basis for development towards a future
collective object which is constructed according to historical and contemporary analysis of a
practice” (Postholm & Vennebo, 2019, p. 13). Therefore, it is well suited for use by educational
leaders as they develop their schools toward their future goals while allowing for the necessity of
both historical and contemporary analysis. Schools are storied beasts; neither their culturally
constructed past nor their present should be neglected in thorough analysis (Foot, 2014).
CHAT can operate both as a theoretical framework and a method to studying schools
(Postholm & Vennebo, 2019) as it does in this study. It not only framed our thinking but
provided a map to the factors and stimuli we should be investigating as we strived to more fully
understand why teachers are more burned out and attrition rates are higher than ever. The theory
is particularly helpful when analyzing chronically stressed institutions because it can expose
systemic contradictions that exacerbate the stress of the staff (Foot, 2014).
To use CHAT as a research approach as well as a theoretical framework, Engestrom
(2014) developed a research method titled developmental work research (DWR; Postholm,
2019). DWR as a methodology promotes positive change in practice using collaboration
(Postholm, 2019). In DWR, the researcher is referred to as the “formative interventionist
researcher,” and they work with practitioners to understand system practices, mirror those

40
practices, and suggest new ideas to provoke change (Postholm, 2019). Although we did not work
with the teachers we interviewed, we hope our interpretations of our data and consequent
suggestions provoke school leaders to make positive change.
Criticism
Some researchers have critiqued the activity theory as represented in the CHAT triangle
model as being too static and rigid; however, a contrasting viewpoint is that CHAT encourages
optimism as it views each action as potentially transformational instead of static by imbuing each
action with the power to change circumstances (Roth, 2004).
Another criticism of CHAT is that the contemporary version of the theory ignores
dialectical thinking (Langemeyer & Roth, 2006). Vygotsky’s original work on activity theory
had dialectical roots because it sought to understand the connections between physiological and
psychic phenomena, individual and societal dimensions, and it used holistic perspectives
(Langemeyer & Roth, 2006). Scholars argued the current understanding of CHAT undermines its
potential of human development because it is treated as an instrument to meet the shortcomings
of other theories instead of a way of thinking to challenge paradigms around traditional research
practices (Langemeyer & Roth, 2006).
Conceptual Map
For this study, we used the CHAT model both as our theoretical framework and as a
model for our conceptual map (see Figure 1). We used CHAT to examine the experiences and
perceptions of secondary teachers hired during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as they
relate to possible attrition and burnout. Use of this conceptual map allowed us to consider
different elements of a teachers’ professional life to understand their lived experiences. The map
defines the studied subject as secondary public-school teachers, the object as teachers’

41
experiences teaching during and after the pandemic, and the outcome as teacher burnout and
attrition. It includes tools as teacher supports such as mentors, instructional coaches, teacher
meetings, shared resources, and feedback. It defines community as the school community but
also the school district community, teacher unions, and the community at large, including parents
and students, as communities that could influence a teacher’s experience. It acknowledges
division of labor as a balance between teachers, administrators, department heads, and substitute
teachers. It also defines the rules, norms, and conventions as COVID-19 policies, curricular
expectations, behavior management expectations, instructional expectations, documentation
expectations, salary schedules, and extracurricular responsibilities. The double-ended arrows
pointing to each factor represent the complex and entwined nature of studying individuals’ lived
experiences, as interactions do not exist in a vacuum. They are influenced by any number of
factors. This map served as the starting point for designing our study to analyze teachers’
experiences holistically, as the CHAT model demands.
Conclusion
This literature review provided a foundation upon which to frame our findings. This
chapter detailed relevant research on the history of teacher burnout and attrition as well as the
causes, consequences, and contemporary landscape of these phenomena. It also discussed
emerging research on the impact of COVID-19 on the field of education as well as state and
federal policies and solutions enacted and proposed in reaction to teacher burnout and attrition.
Finally, it delved into CHAT, which we used as our theoretical framework and to inform our
conceptual map. Chapter 3 discusses the unique methodology we designed and used to conduct
our research. In Chapter 4, we present our data and analysis. Chapter 5 contains a discussion of
findings, implications for stakeholders, and recommendations for future research.

42
Chapter Three: Methodology
Close to 50% of teachers leave teaching within their first 5 years of teaching (Ingersoll,
2003), with an additional 13% of teachers moving or leaving their school site each year (Alliance
for Excellent Education, 2014). Teachers are subject to intense workplace stress every day, at
times leading to burnout and consequent attrition from the profession (Diliberti et al. 2021;
Farmer, 2020). Historical reasons for burnout and attrition range from poor workplace
conditions, poor leadership, poor school climate, lack of competitive salary, to lack of
professional development, among others (Boateng & Donkor, 2020; DeMonte et al., 2016;
Newberry & Allsop, 2017). With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, new stressors have
been added to those already existing and feelings of burnout intensified. Recent research found 1
in 4 teachers were considering leaving by the end of the 2020 −2021 school year compared to 1 in
6 pre-pandemic (Steiner & Woo, 2021).
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 and its aftermath on
teacher dissatisfaction and burnout to propose thoughtful recommendations for administrators to
improve teachers’ working conditions. Prior research showed teachers experience an attrition
rate of nearly 50% within the first 5 years of teaching (Ingersoll et al., 2018), with burnout and
stress being two of the leading causes (Farmer, 2020). This research sought to determine whether
increases in stress, burnout, and subsequent attrition may occur due to pandemic-related factors
impacting the teacher experience and how they may be mitigated.

43
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:
1. How do secondary teachers describe their experience teaching in San Diego and
Santa Maria during and after the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What do secondary teachers in San Diego and Santa Maria describe as factors
influencing their experiences?
3. What additional administrative support do secondary teachers in San Diego and Santa
Maria identify as helpful to improve work and life experience?
Selection of Population
We first surveyed secondary teachers in three San Diego-area public districts, San Diego
Unified School District, San Dieguito Unified School District, and High Tech High Charter
District, and the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD). Survey participants
were all full-time secondary teachers with no further qualifying factors. From a link on the
survey, respondents filled out an optional form with their name and contact information,
indicating they were interested in participating in an additional interview process. Interview
participants then were selected based on their consent to participate in a follow-up interview.
To conduct this study, we used sampling methods to suit each of our contexts. Twenty-
five secondary teachers from both the San Diego districts and SMJUHSD were surveyed;
subsequently, five secondary teachers from each survey group were interviewed. Small,
purposeful sample sizes allowed us to gather more in-depth information, specifically focusing on
secondary teachers’ experiences working during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. No
limitations were placed on gender, race, age, or ethnic background because we are interested in
understanding the experience of teachers as whole, except for Abby’s exclusion of English

44
teachers from her population because she is an English teacher at a school in the district and
wished to place more distance between participants and herself to protect the validity of the
study. Abby used purposeful sampling wherein cases for study are selected based on their ability
to yield rich information (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017), specifically convenience sampling
because she studied the school district where she is employed, as well as because it was the most
accessible, convenient, and representative sample (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Because data
collected spanned multiple public-school districts in the San Diego area, Gina’s quantitative data
collection used a snowball sampling approach, which relied on sending survey information and
links to teachers who forwarded the information to other secondary teachers at their school.
Design Summary
This study relied on two sets of data collection in stages. First, a quantitative, closed-
ended survey was sent to 25 secondary teachers in San Diego and SMJUHSD. The survey
focused on burnout indicators and allowed us to both collect data to understand general feelings
of burnout in our populations and to identify participants for interviews who volunteered their
contact information. Five teachers volunteered to participate in more in-depth, semistructured,
qualitative interviews. There were no specific parameters set for participation in in-depth
interviews; participants only had to be secondary teachers working full time in public schools.
Participation in the interview process was voluntary. Using both the survey instrument and the
qualitative interviews allowed us to gain a more complete picture of stressors related to the
teaching profession generally, and then more specifically related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Use of both data sets allowed for additional depth of information to better describe the
experiences of teachers.

45
This research followed Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016) framework of a research study. The
research problem and purpose of the study are outlined in Chapter 1, and a review of existing
literature follows in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 addresses data collection and methodology, and
Chapters 4 and 5 provide data reporting, analysis, and interpretation.
Methodology
This study provides both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to
understand more deeply the experiences of teachers working during the COVID-19 pandemic
through a phenomenological approach. This approach allows us to more closely examine the
essence of teachers’ experiences to produce a systematic description of meaning (Lochmiller &
Lester, 2017). Phenomenological research is unconcerned with precise, quantifiable data, but
rather gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of everyday phenomena (Vagle, 2018). As
van Manen (2016) wrote, “A phenomenology of practice does not aim for technicalities and
instrumentalities—rather, it serves to foster and strengthen an embodied ontology, epistemology,
and axiology of thoughtful and tactful action” (p. 15). In the context of this study, it is useful to
approach studying teachers’ experience through this lens as we try to make sense of their
worldview and how they might be supported. We used this approach with our research questions
and conceptual map to craft our interview protocol and later interpret and analyze our data to
ensure our study elicited data about teachers’ authentic, subjective experiences (Vagle, 2018).
The first set of data collected were from a close-ended, quantitative survey called the
Maslach Burnout Inventory for Educators (MBI-ES). Data collected from this inventory were
used to measure burnout in participating teachers on three subscales: emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. There is no one score proving a person is burnt
out, but scores can be determined using an absolute value approach, meaning they are considered

46
burnt out based on where they fall on the 7-point scale. A score of 3.5 or higher on the emotional
exhaustion and depersonalization subscales, and/or a score of 3.5 or lower on the personal
accomplishment subscale, would indicate the participant feels these subscale feelings are true for
them 50% of the time, a relatively high amount of time to be experiencing these debilitating
feelings. The survey provided valuable data related to the extent of teacher burnout. Information
from the survey then was used to develop interview protocols to explore themes related to
burnout and more specifically to COVID-19 and related resulting stressors. Because the MBI-ES
survey instrument was developed before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and did not
address burnout factors related to COVID-19, in-depth interviews were conducted to provide
additional data, allowing us to understand the impact of the pandemic on burnout indicators.
Interview protocols were semistructured to allow for flexibility, and follow-up questions were
tailored to participant response (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). All research questions were
addressed in both the interview protocols and survey instrument.
Validity
We triangulated our findings through an analysis of survey data, interview responses, and
an extensive review of existing literature. Additionally, member checks were conducted to
ensure credibility of qualitative findings, with interview participants reviewing findings in
Chapter 4 before publication. Internal validity was established by writing memos to ourselves
during the data analysis and interpretation process to allow for increased reflection and
transparency (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). The psychometric properties of the MBI quantitative
survey instrument were studied and found to be both valid and reliable by outside peer-reviewed
studies, which is further detailed in the following section on validity and reliability.

47
Instrumentation and Protocols
Quantitative Instrument
Data to fulfill the quantitative component of this study were collected through a notable
survey instrument known as Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to aid us in discovering traits and
characteristics about teachers identifying as vulnerable to burnout (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Within this inventory, there are several different surveys to suit different populations. We used
the MBI for Educators (MBI-ES), which relies upon three categories, or “burnout scales” to
determine the extent the surveyed educator is vulnerable to feelings of burnout (see Appendix
B). The three categories include: (a) emotional exhaustion, defined as “feelings of being
emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work”; (b) depersonalization, defined as “an
unfeeling and impersonal response towards students”; and (c) personal accomplishment, defined
as “feelings of competence and successful achievement in one’s work with students” (Maslach et
al., 2016, p. 31). Interestingly, the MBI-ES was adapted from the MBI for Human Services,
which is the original instrument, but they are similar in theoretical nature as both education and
human services are classified as “helping professions.” Employees in these helping professions
are known for being vulnerable to burnout, and MBI was designed to assess this syndrome
(Kutscher et al., 2013).
The MBI-ES consists of 22 close-ended questions, each designed to address one of the
subscales. Each item is a statement, and the respondent indicates the frequency to which they
experience that feeling using a 7-point, fully anchored response format (Maslach et al., 2016). To
preserve the survey’s validity, the word “burnout” is not featured on or within the survey to
avoid answers that are weighted toward preconceptions respondents may hold about the term. It

48
is designed to take 10 −15 minutes to complete. The survey was administered in a Google Form
template, distributed via a link in an email.
Qualitative Instrument
To collect rich, qualitative data for our study, we conducted five in-depth interviews with
participants who volunteered their information by following a link included in the survey that
allowed them to input contact information. Interview questions were designed to answer the
three research questions in considerable depth, adding detail and diversity to quantitative data
collected about participants’ feelings of burnout while teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic
(see Appendix A; Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). We offered participants a choice of whether they
wanted to participate in face-to-face interviews or interviews conducted over the Zoom video-
conferencing software program, with the understanding that although face-to-face interviews are
ideal (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017), modern communication is often conducted online and could
be a more convenient and comfortable choice for our participants.
Data Collection
Data collection was accomplished in a series of steps, led by purposeful sampling of
participants. We first identified which target population would have the most in-depth
knowledge pertaining to our research questions. This allowed us to narrow our response pool to
high school teachers working in San Diego and SMJUHSD. After identifying a target population,
we followed district protocols for permission to conduct research in partnership with San Diego
schools and SMJUHSD. For Gina, this process consisted of emailing the survey to department
chairs within each district, who then distributed it to teachers at their school sites, using a
snowball sampling technique. For Abby, this process consisted of contacting her principal and
the SMJUHSD director of student services and providing them with a copy of the MBI-ES and

49
research information sheet. She met with them to explain her research and answer any questions.
They received approval from district leadership and allowed her to email the survey to all
teachers at her school site using convenience sampling. Some teachers then emailed the survey to
teachers at other school sites in the district, allowing her to access data from teachers at multiple
school sites. The survey was closed for responses after we each received 25 responses. The
survey allowed participants to volunteer their contact information if they were interested in
participating in a follow-up interview.
Interviews were then conducted over a period of 3 weeks. Interview protocols consisted
of 12 questions and lasted for approximately 45 minutes. Gina held interviews off campus during
non-school hours to ensure confidentiality of participants and data were stored securely after
collection. Because Abby interviewed teachers in her district, she held interviews during the
lunch hour and after school on campus in individual teachers’ classrooms, except for one teacher
who chose to do a Zoom interview. After interview data were collected and coded, member
checks were conducted to ensure credibility of our results and follow-up emails were sent to
participants as necessary for clarification of responses.
Data Analysis
This study used a phenomenological approach, incorporating both quantitative data from
the surveys and qualitative data from the interviews to provide a rich description of the
experiences of teachers. All survey items and interview protocols were linked to the research
questions, which also guided data analysis for this study.
To analyze data collected from the MBI-ES, we calculated the averages of the
participants’ self-reported scores on the emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal
accomplishment burnout subscales. Data from survey collection were used to identify burnout

50
trends among educators teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether they self-
identified as experiencing burnout. Interview participants were identified through a contact form
they voluntarily completed after accessing the link on the survey. Interview questions sought to
examine more closely the causes of burnout, as the survey data only identified whether burnout
was occurring, but not the causes. Interviews were semistructured. All interviews were recorded
and later transcribed. Each researcher analyzed data separately in an inductive manner as is
appropriate for the phenomenological approach we used because our goal was to generate theory
from collected data (Williams & Moser, 2019). Data analysis was accomplished by reviewing
transcriptions to determine broad codes, then more specifically going line by line to identify a
secondary set of codes, then categorizing codes, and then finally determining themes based on
the categorization of codes (Williams & Moser, 2019). Interview findings were then used to
populate the CHAT framework to identify how factors related to burnout and the COVID-19
pandemic intersected to impact secondary public-school teachers’ experience. We then wrote
separate reports discussing the findings from each data source within the separate districts.
Reliability and Validity
Throughout the study, we used a variety of methods to ensure we were adhering to the
highest levels of ethical practice when conducting research. To increase our reliability and
validity when conducting our quantitative research, we relied on a well-known burnout survey
instrument, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), specifically the MBI for Educators (MBI-
ES). The MBI has multiple different versions tailored for different professions and has been in
use since 1981. Since then, many studies have examined the MBI-ES and have found acceptable
internal reliability estimates (Maslach et al., 2016). The MBI uses subscales to measure three
core aspects of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment.

51
The subscales’ reliability has been studied by measuring the internal consistency estimates using
Cronbach’s coefficient alpha; multiple studies found appropriate reliability for all three
subscales, with consistent findings of a slightly lower reliability when measuring
depersonalization (Chang, 2013; Iwanicki & Schwab, 1981; Kokkinos, 2006). Separate studies
have investigated the internal validity of the MBI-ES, exploring the relationship between burnout
scales and different aspects of teachers’ work experiences. They found strong correlations
between teachers’ working conditions and the aforementioned subscales, notably in examples
such as student behavior associated with increased emotional exhaustion (M. Chang, 2013) and
decreased personal accomplishment (Lambert et al., 2009). Other studies explored longer term
outcomes, inspecting the correlation between burnout scale scores and predicted burnout
outcomes, such as Hoglund et al.’s (2015) findings illustrating a correlation between feelings of
burnout and less improvement in the teacher-student relationship and lower literacy skills. This
body of work has contributed important findings surrounding burnout in education and provides
evidence to the solid reliability and validity of the MBI-ES.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Much attention was paid to ensuring the credibility and trustworthiness of our design and
methods. We triangulated our data by examining survey results, interview data, and a large-scale
literature review to substantiate emerging findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Prior to data
collection and analysis, we developed the interview protocol based on our conceptual map and
with an eye toward eliminating potential bias in our questions, because we are vulnerable to that
pitfall with our mutual backgrounds as classroom educators. Subsequently, to enhance
credibility, we used member checks by sending follow-up emails to our interview participants to
solicit their feedback on our emerging findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). We conducted

52
member checks both to eliminate any misunderstanding or misinterpretation and to identify
potential bias in our interpretation (Maxwell, 2013). Following qualitative best practice, we
engaged in writing memos to ourselves during the data analysis and interpretation process to
allow for increased reflection and transparency (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). We also ensured we
reached a point of saturation in findings when conducting interviews, only concluding the
literature review and interview collection process when the same information was repeated in
multiple texts and interview sessions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Furthermore, we understand it
is critical to acknowledge our positionality within each step of our research process and therefore
took time to engage in reflexivity at the onset of our study (Agee, 2009; Maxwell, 2013;
Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). More detailed discussion of our positionality follows.
Positionality of Researchers
Positionality of Abigail Clark
As a White, female classroom teacher, I hold beliefs about educators and the educational
system that are necessary to recognize to acknowledge how my role as a researcher affects or
may have been affected by this study. My experience as a classroom teacher means it would be
easy to relate others’ experiences as classroom teachers to my own, but this would be a mistake
and would reduce the trustworthiness of our research. I can only represent my own experience
and have to acknowledge others’ positionalities and singular experiences fall in a vast range. As
someone who has experienced aspects of educator burnout and stayed in the profession, it might
make me prone to undervaluing someone else’s depth of intensity with feelings of burnout.
When conducting this research, it was imperative I honor others’ feelings and choices while
navigating the challenges of burnout. Finally, I am a classroom teacher in the district in which I

53
conducted research, and therefore needed to be conscious of excluding any preconceptions or
biases about school environments from my analysis.
Positionality of Gina Cherashore
I have worked in education in several different contexts since 2011. I have taught at the
middle school, high school, and now higher education levels. My past experiences in education
have shaped my research interests in teacher satisfaction and attrition, as does my positionality as
a White, female, educator and mother who has worked to balance both family and a teaching
career. As someone who temporarily left the profession to care for two young children, I
understand what it is like to feel as though continuing to teach is at odds with economic and
family needs. Because of my experiences, I took additional care to ensure continued self-
reflection of my own biases and have sought the oversight of other experienced educators and
researchers to ensure interview protocols and analysis and interpretation of data were credible.
Our study was designed to highlight our interview participants’ narratives, and it was our goal to
tell their stories as authentically as possible. To this end, we allowed participants to review our
data prior to finalizing our research to ensure the credibility and authenticity of findings.
Summary
This study used a qualitative design, incorporating both a close-ended survey and in-
depth qualitative interviews to elicit the richest data possible to address our research questions. It
used a phenomenological approach through the lens of the CHAT to explore the experiences of
secondary teachers who self-identified as vulnerable to burnout in San Diego and Santa Maria
school districts as well as investigating what supports could alleviate experiences of burnout and
increase job satisfaction. Chapter 4 presents findings from these school districts, and Chapter 5
discusses the findings and presents recommendations.

54
Chapter Four: Findings
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 and its aftermath on
teacher dissatisfaction and burnout to propose thoughtful recommendations for administrators to
improve teachers’ working conditions. Research Questions 1 and 2 explored the lived
experiences of teachers in San Diego and Santa Maria Joint Union High School Districts
(SMJUHSD) and to identify factors impacting their experiences. Research Question 3 sought to
determine the most helpful solutions to solve adverse conditions in contemporary teaching,
specifically solutions administrators can provide and implement. This study used Maslach’s
Burnout Inventory for Educators (MBI-ES) to generate descriptive data on participants’
experiences as well as a semistructured interview protocol to elicit richer, more nuanced
responses. The interview instrument was created, and data were analyzed using the cultural
historical activity theory (CHAT) to examine teachers’ experiences holistically.
Participants
All study participants were certificated secondary teachers working full time at a high
school in SMJUHSD. The MBI-ES survey was sent to all certificated teachers at one public high
school in Santa Maria, and some teachers forwarded the survey to other teachers at SMJUHSD
high schools, as evidenced by interview participants. From this pool, there were 25 anonymous
survey respondents. From a link in the survey, four teachers signed up to be interviewed. An
additional teacher agreed to be interviewed upon request. Interview participants included two
math teachers, one science teacher, one fine arts teacher, and a history teacher. They came from
two different high schools in the district and had a range of experience, from a new teacher to a
28-year veteran teacher. Table 1 provides information on the background of interview
participants, identified by pseudonyms, to provide context for participants’ experiences.

55
Table 1
Interview Participants
Participant Years of experience Content area
John 28 History
Nick 5 Math
Logan 6 Science
Gabe 5 Fine arts
Jamie* 1 Math

Note. *Participant has worked since 2005 on SMJUHSD school campuses in various certified
roles but is working her 1st year as a certificated staff member. Because she worked on campus
during the pandemic, albeit in a different role, her insights are valuable to this study.

Findings
Findings are presented and organized by research question. Each research question is
introduced with a short summary of relevant literature followed by a discussion of each theme
that emerged from the collected data to respond to the question. A summary of themes concludes
each research question discussion. The research questions used to guide this study were:
1. How do secondary teachers describe their experience teaching in Santa Maria during
and after the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What do secondary teachers in Santa Maria describe as factors influencing their
experiences?
3. What additional administrative support do secondary teachers in Santa Maria identify
as helpful to improve work and life experience?
Results for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked the following: How do secondary teachers describe their
experience teaching in Santa Maria during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? This question

56
attempted to elicit a broad overview of teachers’ experiences navigating the pandemic and its
aftermath in their classrooms. The literature has revealed the persistent problem of teacher
burnout and attrition in U.S. public schools and the consequent lack or maldistribution of
qualified teachers (Darling-Hammond, 1984; Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003). This quandary
has only worsened because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with recent data indicating 1 in 4
teachers reported leaving or wanting to leave their job earlier than anticipated, by the end of the
2021 school year, which was the highest rate of any group of employed adults in the nation
(Steiner & Woo, 2021). This research question aimed to see if teachers in my area felt these
numbers reflected their lived experience and how the pandemic influenced their experiences. The
administration of the MBI-ES was used to help paint a picture of teachers’ general experiences to
help answer this question, with the interview instrument designed to generate more detailed
responses to explain why they felt this way to provide thoughtful recommendations for
administrators to support their teaching staff better.
Strong Sense of Emotional Exhaustion
The MBI-ES measured three subscales representing different aspects of burnout: (a)
increased feelings of emotional exhaustion, (b) increasing feelings of depersonalization, and (c)
decreased feelings of personal achievement (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). SMJUHSD teachers
identified most strongly with the emotional exhaustion aspect of burnout, as 36% of them
reported feelings of emotional exhaustion at least half the time. The emotional exhaustion scale
“assesses feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work” (Maslach et
al., 2016, p. 31). This percentage is relative to 8% of teachers experiencing feelings of
depersonalization and 20% experiencing a lack of personal achievement (see Figure 5).

57
Figure 5
MBI-ES Results

This finding revealed SMJUHSD teachers care about their students and see them as
human, as hardly any teachers experienced feelings of depersonalization related to their students,
but the toll of caring about their students was high, resulting in emotional exhaustion and some
feelings of incompetence or lack of personal achievement. This theme was echoed in subsequent
interviews, with Gabe commenting:
[The students are] hungry for adult guidance. They’re hungry for us. They want us
so badly, that it’s exhausting. And it’s like, oh my god, can I just get a minute? Can
you just stop? So I feel that burnout for sure. I do not feel the burnout of my kids are the
devil and I can’t stand them.
Burnout is defined as “becoming exhausted by making excessive demands on energy, strength,
or resources” (Freudenberger, 1974, p. 159), and this teacher’s identification of being
“exhausted” by the demand for “adult guidance” and attention aligned with the professional

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concept of burnout and its relationship with helping professions (e.g., education), which revolve
around meeting other peoples’ needs (Kutscher et al., 2013). Educators participating in this study
described feelings of burnout via emotional exhaustion as part of their teaching experience in the
past few years. Item 8 on the MBI-ES is, “I feel burned out from my work,” and although 36% of
respondents met the study’s criteria for emotional exhaustion, 20% of respondents responded
feeling burned out from their work every day (see Figure 6). Fifty-six percent of teachers
participating in this survey experienced feelings of professional burnout at least once a week.

Figure 6
MBI-ES Item 8: “I Feel Burned Out From My Work ”

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Negative Impacts on Students
The survey confirmed many teachers self-report feelings of burnout, as the literature
illustrated, but the interviews revealed a more complex picture of how teachers saw their
experience teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic (Diliberti et al., 2021). Teachers reported
a range of experiences while teaching during this time, from positive to negative. Teachers who
reported positive experiences enjoyed the autonomy, convenience, and comfort of working
remotely, with John and Logan stating, “I loved it. I was like, this is cool. I was in my PJs,
teaching, ya know, I liked it a lot” and “It was nice working remotely. Yeah, it was really easy.”
However, despite the ease of working remotely, Logan characterized the experience overall as
lackluster, stating, “There weren’t very many highs, but there were like no lows either.” Other
participants described their experience as overwhelmingly negative and frustrating. Gabe
explained, “I had successes, but it was definitely negative. Because the core of my classes is
students working together, they use each other as scaffolds. And when they’re by themselves,
they don’t have that opportunity.” Although their experiences teaching vastly differed, all
participants agreed remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic was detrimental to students
in many areas, citing multiple areas where students struggled, such as lack of interaction, poor
grades, mental health struggles, and lack of accountability among others. This finding echoes
national trends in student health and learning, with research reporting drastic negative impacts on
students’ social-emotional health during the 2021–2022 school year (NCES, 2022). Even though
some teachers may have felt personally positive about the experience of virtual teaching, the
irrefutable evidence of the damage it did to many students, and the consequent challenges to
teaching, is difficult to reconcile with the perks of remote work.

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Challenging Transition Back to In-Person Learning
More challenging for teachers than teaching remotely was the transition back to the
classroom amid the pandemic and its aftermath. The negative impact of remote learning on
students became more pronounced as they struggled to transition back to in-person learning, and
teachers’ stress levels were exacerbated as they attempted to meet their students’ increased needs
and ease back into the classroom. Teachers described student behavior, poor mental health, and
stunted social-emotional development as primary reasons the transition was so difficult (NCES,
2022; Paten et al., 2020). As Logan put it, “Then it’s like, going back to in person with kids who
are really immature. That was very difficult. That harsh transition.” Nick noted student behavior
had gotten “more difficult” and John noted students were “less motivated” and that “last year . . .
everything was an argument.” Gabe noted the poor mental health of students, stating, “It was a
little hard to get them to do work because I just wanted to chat because they were so starved for .
. . interaction” and “I have so many students that are upset. I have so many students that need
help.” Jamie also observed students felt less comfortable and more self-conscious, evidenced by
the desire to keep wearing masks to hide their faces after it was no longer mandated. There also
was an uptick in chronic absenteeism (Attendance Works, 2021), which was seen on the
SMJUHSD campuses. Logan explained, “I feel like the biggest thing I am still seeing, and I
think this is a huge change post COVID, is absences and tardies.”
On top of navigating students’ increased social-emotional needs and differences in
attitudes and behavior, teachers also described facing significant challenges regarding students’
learning loss. The literature indicated students were, on average, 4 months behind in reading and
5 months behind in math, which equates to over half the school year (Dorn et al., 2020).
SMJUHSD teachers saw this in their classrooms, especially the math and science teachers, a

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trend corroborating the literature noting the disproportionate teacher shortage when examined
through content areas, with a large number of shortages in science and math fields (Carver-
Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019). I was unable to discern whether the English teachers also
noted the difference because they were excluded from my study; however, Jamie noticed, “Those
huge gaps in their knowledge and education and mind you, everyone did what they could to walk
[the students] through the pandemic, but there’s only so much that you can do.” Nick, when
discussing learning loss, explained:
And so, for example, what I have right now are a bunch of students that kind of cheated
their way through Algebra I and/or Geometry and/or Geometry II, and now they’re in
Algebra II and I’m expecting them to understand it, when they don’t even really
understand Algebra I.
Logan also observed “the lack of math skills after that year was really noticeable” when
discussing the difficulty students are facing in his science classes.
In all cases, teachers noted a postpandemic difference in student behavior and learning.
Their observations emphasized just how much needed to be done to meet students’ needs during
and after the pandemic, which can come at the cost of teachers’ academic priorities and
traditional classroom management strategies. Trying to balance professional responsibilities with
students’ escalated needs led to an increased sense of burnout; John explained:
If you walk around and talk to people on here, at least, they’re all deflated in some way.
Nobody is 100% like this is a good thing [the way the school is operating] that we’re
doing here. Because it’s not.
John’s description of the school staff as “deflated” emphasized the burnout and exhaustion
teachers have faced and continue to discuss. Some teachers felt better equipped to navigate this

62
evolution than others, and the fine arts teacher I interviewed felt more comfortable with the
changed student behavior than other teachers did. This could be because elective teachers have
faced less pressure than core content teachers to help students access certain academic
benchmarks throughout the year due to building, district, and state academic standards, thus
feeling more relaxed about taking time to address those social-emotional needs.
Discussion for Research Question 1
The survey results showed many teachers in SMJUHSD felt the stress and emotional
exhaustion teachers around the country reported feeling post-pandemic (Diliberti et al., 2021).
Despite minor successes and relative personal comfort due to the freedom of remote work,
teachers acknowledged virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic was disastrous for
students personally and academically, and they were forced to reckon with the consequences of
this phenomenon as schools transitioned back to in-person learning in the last couple years
(NCES, 2022). Teachers noted significant changes in student behavior since the return to the
classroom (Lopez, 2020) and discussed these changes as related to their feelings of burnout.
Perhaps counterintuitively, teachers described facing greater challenges now than they did mid-
pandemic, and they continued to grapple with these challenges every day, which may be due, in
part, to pandemic-related learning losses just now emerging in the classroom. The themes
emerging from this data confirmed teachers have experienced burnout, especially emotional
exhaustion; students have been significantly negatively impacted by the pandemic; and the
transition back to in-person learning has raised challenges for teachers and students alike,
exacerbating teachers’ feelings of burnout.

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Results for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked the following: What do secondary teachers in Santa Maria
describe as factors influencing their experiences? This question was a natural progression from
Research Question 1, as it sought to understand the factors driving teachers’ self-reported
experiences teaching during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It also sought to understand why
and how teachers felt the way they did about their teaching experiences, and the interviews
provided the most relevant data to answer this question. There is extensive research on why
teachers start feeling burnt out and why they leave or consider leaving their school or the
profession. Many elements of a school that comprise the culture are strong factors for whether
teachers stay or go, including the availability of tangible and intangible instructional resources,
the condition of physical facilities, the availability of technology, the quality of professional
development, parental involvement, testing requirements, curriculum expectations, work
relationships, discipline and behavior issues, and more (Farmer, 2020; Loeb et al., 2005;
Newberry & Allsop, 2017). In addition to these elements, contemporary teachers faced
heightened challenges, such as the threat of school violence, pandemic mandates and safety
measures, and higher numbers of students dealing with significant trauma and mental health
issues (Farmer, 2020). The research has stated one of the strongest factors in teacher attrition has
been lack of professional support, with 43% of teachers citing poor administrative support as a
top reason for leaving (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2014; Ingersoll, 2003; Loeb et al.,
2015; Newberry & Allsop, 2017), along with low salary (Ingersoll, 2003; Johnson & Kardos,
2008). Research Question 2 sought to ascertain whether SMJUHSD teachers identified some of
the same reasons as contributing to feelings of burnout or discontent.

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Feelings of Isolation and Lack of Community
As participants discussed factors impacting their experience at work, almost every
teacher alluded to a lack of community on their school campus. John noted, “I shut my door . . . I
don’t think they’re [other adults on campus are] all that supportive . . . I don’t feel a part of
something bigger.” The words “alone” and “isolated” were repeated in 4 of the 5 interviews,
with Gabe elaborating:
We have a wonderful community of well-educated, well-adjusted, intelligent, awesome,
professional people. Why do we all feel like we’re alone? That’s wrong. In my
opinion, I think that would help with burnout, tremendously, just feeling like we
have support, feeling like somebody is out there. Just like our students, we want our
students to feel like that teacher cares. It’d be nice if it felt like one of us cared about us.
John, Logan, and Jamie spoke at great length about feeling isolated on campus, with Jamie
wondering if the pandemic had caused too many people to become accustomed to working alone:
Then, in terms of talking to other colleagues, I want to say again, it’s partly maybe
because of the pandemic that people got used to just working alone by themselves that
there’s like [an attitude of] “Oh, I can’t help you.”
Logan described a stronger sense of community prior to the pandemic, with potlucks and
summer gatherings, but explained those had waned since the onset of COVID-19, despite
teachers and students returning to campus full time. He also responded:
I, in some ways, have a hard time talking about community because I don’t really feel
like there’s a lot of community. Most teachers I think, as far as I know, stay in their
classroom during lunch, and then you’re teaching. So, the community is kind of just
whatever happens within your classroom. Like I said, the only time I really get out of my

65
classroom is if I need to microwave something or if I need to go to the office, which I do
way less frequently now.
What Logan is describing is a condition characterized as an “egg-crate” school, one in which
teachers stay in their respective classrooms, do not collaborate, and are expected to be experts
and professionals on their own (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). This isolation is a major way teachers
feel unsupported professionally and can result in both physical and emotional isolation, both of
which are detrimental to teachers’ long-term health and commitment to the classroom
(Kelchtermans, 2017; Newberry & Allsop, 2017). This egg-crate condition was echoed
throughout teachers’ interviews as a factor impacting their feelings of burnout.
Additionally, teachers found this lack of community mirrored in many of their
classrooms. Logan went on to explain, “I, in some ways, have a hard time talking about
community because I don’t really feel like there’s a lot of community . . . the community is kind
of just whatever happens within your classroom.” This feeling of being on an island, except for
the students one sees every day, is particularly problematic when one feels they are not
connecting with students and are instead experiencing a high volume of student behavior
problems. Many teachers spoke about enjoying teaching and working with people as an impetus
for joining the profession, with Logan stating, “I wanted to work with people,” and Gabe noting,
“I was often told, like, you should be a teacher . . . you like helping people.” Nick added, “I just
love working with kids and I love teaching,” and Jamie said, “I found that I really did like that
instructionally supporting students but also, like, emotional support.” However, even with this
proclivity, they also described their increased difficulty in building these connections with
students post-pandemic as well as students’ inability to build community among themselves.
Nick described, “Generally a lot quieter classes, where I feel like they should be more talkative.”

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Gabe noted students were significantly more withdrawn and had a “lack of ability to build
bonds.” John acknowledged losing his ability to connect with students the longer he taught,
identifying large class sizes as a major reason it is difficult to build these relationships. Logan
pointed to a lack of enrollment in more advanced science classes post-pandemic and confessed,
“That’s really frustrating. Yeah, sucks. I’m like, that’s like, was my favorite class I loved
interacting with those kids. I could really develop more relationships.” For people who value
human connection, this lack of connection in the classroom had an adverse effect on their
experience at work; after explaining a waning ability to connect with students, John noted, “I just
talked to my financial guy yesterday about really retiring . . . I wanted to do it in June, and he’s
like, nope, nope.” Lack of connection with both staff and students significantly affected feelings
of burnout and desire to leave the profession for some teachers.
Escalated Student Behavior
As mentioned previously, student behavior also has had a marked impact on teachers’
experiences. Interestingly, teachers mentioned a range of behaviors affecting them, but most
teachers attributed increased feelings of burnout to negative student behaviors. Student behavior
has long been linked with teacher well-being (Hastings & Bham, 2003), but the social isolation
and lack of structure associated with virtual learning have been linked to increased negative
behaviors such as aggression and noncompliance (Lopez, 2020). John discussed defiance, noting,
“Last year [the year transitioning back from virtual learning], when everything was an
argument.” Logan echoed this sentiment when discussing his feelings of burnout, stating, “I go
home and I’m like, the kids today were so bad.” Gabe shared a particularly illuminating anecdote
of his time teaching in a Title I middle school prior to working for SMJUHSD, describing a

67
population of high-need students and extremely difficult student behavior. It was so stressful that
he developed insomnia. He explained:
I’d never had insomnia in my life. I had to Google it. I didn’t know what was wrong with
me. I didn’t know that I had insomnia. I didn’t. Like I knew what insomnia was. But I
didn’t know that what I had was insomnia, if that makes sense. I ended up having to go to
therapy.
After 2 years, he left the school and found a job at another school, and he felt so relieved. He
shared, “I almost started crying when I got the job because I was so upset from working at the
middle school.” This experience predated the pandemic but is a valuable example of how student
behavior influences teachers’ experiences and career decisions.
Another example of student behavior negatively impacting teachers’ experiences was
students’ cellphone and technology use. Teachers noted cellphone use had been a problem before
the pandemic, but it seemed to get worse afterward, and they felt it was increasingly difficult to
compete for students’ attention. Gabe opined, “I feel like after the pandemic, it’s just been like,
you might as well have a cell phone surgically, like put onto their faces.” Jamie also observed:
Previous to the pandemic, I think the there was a different kind of motivation for school.
I’m not saying that everyone was always going to always be motivated, but we have the
ability to, probably not just the pandemic, probably goes along with technology, but we
had the ability to get student attention [as opposed to after the pandemic].
As Jamie noted, the cellphone reliance was probably due to many different reasons, but the fact
remains that it worsened due to the aftereffects of the pandemic (NCES, 2022) and was
interfering with teachers’ ability to manage their classrooms and do their job effectively,
contributing to a sense of burnout.

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Finally, teachers discussed the trauma students carry, how it affects their behavior, and
how it affects teachers’ experience. Research showed there was a decline in student mental
health, which was declared a national emergency by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association
(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2021). Gabe expressed:
As far as my personal burnout goes, Yes [I am burned out], because I have so many
students that are in trauma, I have so many students that are upset, I have so many
students that need help. And that’s draining.
Jamie also brought up the traumatic experiences students carry with them, explaining it is
necessary as teachers to acknowledge adults have not had quite the same experience as teenagers
living through a pandemic. Accessing the depth of emotional support needed to reach
traumatized students, on top of other job responsibilities, can lead to compassion fatigue, yet
another expression of professional burnout associated with helping professions (Hupe &
Stevenson, 2019; Kutscher et al., 2013). The idea that it is draining and exhausting to provide
this emotional support for students is echoed in MBI-ES Item 2: “I feel used up at the end of the
workday.” Forty-eight percent of respondents indicated they felt used up at the end of the
workday a few times a week, and 20% indicated they felt this way every day (see Figure 7).
Teachers have given an extraordinary amount of emotional energy to meet their students’
increased and diverse needs, but it has burned them out.

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Figure 7
MBI-ES Item 2: “I Feel Used Up at the End of the Workday ”

Informal Relationships
When asked about a time when they felt supported by the school community, teachers
overwhelmingly pointed to informal professional relationships as a source of inspiration and
positivity at work. One of the strongest predictors of teacher retention is when principals
maintain trust both individually with teachers and schoolwide (Price, 2021). Teachers in
SMJUHSD identified the most trusting relationships as those with individual teachers instead of
the administration or the broader school community. Teachers did not identify formal
collaborative relationships, such as professional learning communities (PLCs), as particularly
important or helpful, with Jamie referencing the inherent feel of “busy work” of the PLC design
on her campus:

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I do meet with a PLC and, unfortunately, we look at the data but we don’t have very
much more discussion other than to say, “Oh, my kids did fine” or “My kids didn’t” . . .
like, I would just type something in there real quick just to check off the box.
Administrative support also was not identified as a source of emotional or professional support
on school campuses by most teachers.
Instead, teachers named specific colleagues they felt had influenced their time at work
positively. John described a long-time colleague as “relentless as far as sending me new ideas
and new ways of looking at things because he knows where I’m at, and he knows that I’m
struggling a little bit and he’s just trying to help.” Nick, Jamie, and Gabe acknowledged the help
veteran teachers in their departments had given them, although Jamie described having to reach
outside her school to other schools in the district to find mentorship. Logan emphasized the
“large impact” some of his coworkers had had on his experience. Gabe provided an example of
the professional support his department chair had given him and described a time when his
department chair drove half an hour to help him move classrooms, saying, “He was so kind and
so thoughtful and so generous with his time to help me do everything. . . . He drove all the way
down here to help me move rooms when I didn’t ask him to.” These relationships are entirely
organic and are the primary source of both professional and emotional support teachers identified
when asked about campus support.
Discussion for Research Question 2
Many secondary teachers in SMJUHSD experienced feelings of burnout as reported
through the MBI-ES and subsequent interviews. Teachers identified several factors impacting
their experience at school. They identified feelings of isolation and lack of community as
contributing to their burnout (Kelchtermans, 2017; Newberry & Allsop, 2017) as well as a

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variety of student behavior, much of which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic
(Lopez, 2020). They reported a lack of administrative support but described their colleagues as
providing a source of emotional and professional support for them, helping to negate feelings of
burnout. Considering the earlier discussion on the lack of community on teachers’ school
campuses, teachers discussed these informal mentorship relationships as singular and more
happenstance than an intentional, inclusive community, and, therefore, the two ideas are not
mutually exclusive. Teachers drew strength and positivity from these individual relationships and
yet felt isolated within the broader context of their school community. Interestingly, teachers did
not identify compensation as a primary factor of their burnout, even though the research has
suggested salary is one of the most important factors in turnover and attrition (Ingersoll, 2003;
Johnson & Kardos, 2008). John illustrated the lack of importance he places on salary in relation
to other parts of his teaching experience:
You know, what’s funny is the pay is better than it’s ever been. I mean, if we
negotiate a raise there in the next year, I’ll be making some good money but I don’t
care about that. You know, I’m trying to figure out what’s better, Is it money or
quality of life? I’m starting to think quality of life is more important than money,
although, at a certain point, the two are hand in hand.
The other teachers did not place a significance on salary in their interviews, except for Logan
who mentioned it would be nice to be paid more, leading me to believe this is a lesser factor in
their experience compared to influences such as isolation, student behavior, and relationships
with colleagues.

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Results for Research Question 3
Research Question 3 asked the following: What additional administrative support do
secondary teachers in Santa Maria identify as helpful to improve work and life experience?
Following the natural sequence of ideas, Research Question 1 asked what kind of experiences
teachers had, Research Question 2 investigated factors driving these experiences, and Research
Question 3 asked what administrators can do to improve teachers’ experiences. As teacher
burnout and attrition are not new problems and continue to affect the education of the nation’s
public school students, several state-, federal-, and local-level solutions, as well as research, have
been conducted to address working conditions in schools. Such solutions include compensation
packages, ranging from performance-based bonuses to loan forgiveness programs to scholarships
and more, to both attract and retain new teachers (DiNapoli, 2022; Kolbe & Strunke, 2012).
Policy suggestions revolve around ways to strengthen teacher and administration preparation
programs and the impact of school leadership (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017).
Finally, several mentoring and induction programs have been piloted in various schools, with
mixed success (Brill & McCartney, 2008; Kardos & Johnson, 2008; Lovo et al., 2006). There are
different schools of thought and research to back each idea, but the literature revealed, as with
most things, context should never be ignored (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). Different solutions and
approaches work with different schools, which may be why sweeping federal policies always
seem to face such mixed degrees of success. The goal of this research question was to determine
which approaches would be most beneficial for teachers in SMJUHSD and are realistic and
feasible for administrators to implement.

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Administrative Support
SMJUHSD teachers had a variety of feelings about the level of administrative support
offered on their school campuses, but most wished for a bit more support from administrators.
This is unsurprising, as the literature has stated teachers often cite lack of professional support as
a primary reason for dissatisfaction, with as many as 43% of teachers naming poor
administrative support as one of their top reasons for leaving (Alliance for Excellent Education,
2014; Ingersoll, 2003; Loeb et al., 2015; Newberry & Allsop, 2017). Furthermore, trusting
relationships between staff and administration benefit the entire school campus because these
relationships have been shown to increase teacher retention (Price, 2021). Although some
teachers were satisfied with a more “hands off” approach, many felt frustrated by the perceived
lack of interest in what they were doing in their classrooms, as John’s statement illustrated:
I don’t think that our leadership knows what I do. Or how I do it. And I don’t think they
care as long as I’m not sending kids up to the office, referring them and doing that, then
they assume everything’s great.
Logan echoed a need for further administrative support, especially in terms of behavior
management, saying, “I feel like they want to make it hard to get kids in trouble because they
wouldn’t be able to handle the amount of kids [that would get sent to the office].” He also felt the
science department received a great deal of pushback when they attempted to uphold academic
rigor and accountability during the pandemic, stating:
I don’t know the amount of rigor that other departments were attempting to do when we
were online, but I know our science department tried to have a very rigorous curriculum
still. And we got a lot of pushback from the . . . everybody.

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He also was frustrated with what he perceived as a lack of trust during COVID-19 when remote
work policies were constantly changing, describing:
Then we were online and I felt the frustration initially was they were just like not trusting
us to do our jobs the way that we see fit, like, they need us to be and then and then we are
allowed to be at home.
Jamie felt her administration sometimes poorly communicated expectations to teachers and was
out of touch with students’ needs, noting:
I know that here, all the administrators, it’s been a minute [since they last taught in the
classroom] and the administrator that has taught most recently only taught at [this school]
for a little bit so he wasn’t even really that familiar with this population.
Nick and Gabe both indicated they felt satisfied with their current level of administrative
support, with Gabe commenting, “If I need something admin is like, there, they’ll listen . . . and,
yeah, that’s kind of how I like it. I don’t like being micromanaged,” but also noting, during
virtual learning:
I didn’t have support. Because there’s nobody else who does what I do. On the flip side,
that means that I’ve got freedom, and nobody can call me out, really. Because how are
they supposed to tell me how this class is supposed to work? . . . I didn’t get any help.
These contradictory claims seem to suggest that although Gabe felt satisfied with the help he
received when he went to the administration about an issue, he did not feel anyone knew or was
invested in what he does instructionally, similar to John’s experience. Nick and Gabe both
described extremely poor experiences with administration at previous schools and an explicit
lack of support there, so they felt their current administration was a vast improvement. Despite
differing needs, teachers’ observations support the idea that increased communication between

75
administration and staff would improve relationships significantly. Jamie, John, Nick, and Logan
all noted different needs, ranging from instructional support, behavior management support,
attendance support, and curriculum support, but the striking similarity between all their noted
needs was that the administration could solve the issues easily. The fact that teachers were not
asking for revolutionary demands, rather for support to access services that already existed at
their schools, points to a breakdown in communication rather than a lack of resources.
Clearer and More Realistic Expectations
The need for more communication was a theme that emerged in teacher interviews, and
they described a need for clearer expectations, especially throughout the pandemic and its
aftermath as schools struggled to keep up with evolving policies and demands from various
stakeholders. Teachers pointed to both a lack of clear expectations and unrealistic expectations as
some of the largest sources of stress for them during and after the pandemic. Gabe described:
So, what was stressful was not knowing what the expectations were of administration.
What are we supposed to do as teachers? What is our professional responsibility to our
students? Are we still making them do work? Are we just allowing them to do makeup
work, what kind of content there was, nobody knew anything, including admin, and I
don’t blame them. But there was a ton of stress on my end, because I was a 1st–year
teacher.
The ambiguity in expectations during the virtual learning year plagued teachers and made a
challenging year more stressful. The ambiguity spilled into the following years regarding
policies related to the pandemic (e.g., masking, attendance, grading), leading to resentment and
increased anxiety from teachers who were trying to enforce policies when faced with a campus
that was not necessarily united in their expectations (Diliberti et al., 2021). For example, Logan

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remembered, “Then we had to like enforce masking that was inconsistent with who was
enforcing it and who wasn’t.” Jamie noted broader inconsistencies on her campus, attributing her
feelings of burnout to inconsistent expectations from both her administration and district office,
not limited to COVID policies, stating, “So I think that there’s the curriculum changing and then
the different, basically, mandates that come down from the state and from the district office that
lead to burnout, for sure.” Although administrators’ hands are tied when it comes to district
office leadership, they need to strive to be consistent and communicative with their expectations
on their campuses.
On top of uncertainty about what the expectations were around instruction and policy
enforcement during COVID-19 and afterward, teachers also felt frustrated with what they
described as unrealistic expectations placed upon them, driven by the high-stakes testing culture
of public schools (Farmer, 2020; Kelchtermans, 2017). The only teacher I interviewed who did
not identify with feelings of burnout said:
I don’t think so, just because I’m so new and the word burnout is not, I’m nowhere near
that. What would probably burn me out over time, would be kids that just aren’t held
accountable and kids getting thrown into my class that are totally unprepared for it and
yet I’m expected to somehow lift this kid up by their bootstraps and make them succeed.
This is significant because it is the sole factor Nick mentioned that could drive feelings of
burnout. This theme was echoed by Jamie’s comment:
Teachers are expected to perform miracles. Students are coming to you with a lack of
information and knowledge and then all of a sudden, you’re expected to get them
accelerated to grade level. And there’s that pressure for test scores.

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Logan, too, exclaimed, “How is it my job to like, help teach all my curriculum, do all the stuff
I’ve got to do and now I have to like teach a kid how to read like, what?” as evidence of the
pressure put on him to reach unattainable academic goals. The teachers who felt this pressure
most keenly were science and math teachers, representative of research indicating teacher
shortages happen at a disproportionate rate in science and math as well as in special education
and English language development (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019).
Stronger Mentorship
One area in which it would be beneficial to direct more energy and resources to better
support teachers and improve retention is the mentorship systems available on campuses (Brill &
McCartney, 2008). In addition to noting the benefits of mentor relationships, as discussed under
the Research Question 2 themes, several teachers referenced these systems when answering how
their experiences could be improved. Although SMJUHSD does have a new teacher induction
program, the process is standardized and includes little one-on-one mentorship from an
intentionally matched mentor. The research noted mentorships are ineffective when the mentor
and mentee are ill matched and spend little time together (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). Teachers
who discussed improving these systems talked about the new teacher experience and started with
the onboarding process. Jamie said:
The onboarding process for teachers is so lacking . . . number one biggest thing I thought
was just the onboarding of new teachers and like getting them the materials they need and
things like that, like I would have loved having access over the summer to my books.
She identified the onboarding process as a weak point of the system because she had gone
through onboarding processes as a classified staff member in the school system and noted the
classified system was much more detailed and supportive. She went on to explain, “Another

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thing is that . . . especially for the newer teachers, is that . . . [when] you’ve started you’re like,
Okay, I kind of don’t know what’s happening but there’s not really a support in place.” Gabe
echoed this sentiment:
I would say that a major problem that we have on campus is that when new teachers
come in, they don’t get any support of any kind. . . . So, like the mentor-teacher, new-
teacher thing needs work. And I think it should be like a volunteer thing, almost like a
buddy thing. Like your department chair should assign you a buddy.
Both teachers, relatively new to their schools, identified new teacher mentorship as a system ripe
for reform and one that could have a significant impact on the teacher experience.
Teachers also discussed their lack of preparedness in beginning to teach school and
inadequacy of their education preparation courses. Nick remembered:
I didn’t know exactly what to do. I felt nervous enough just to put myself up in front of a
bunch of people every day, trying to give a presentation every single day. Every hour. So,
I guess my idea of teaching was a little bit naive and romanticized as I was walking into
it, and then I realized instantly how much different how much more difficult it really is.
Gabe also remembered feeling ill prepared and a bit shocked when he realized how unprepared
he was after he had taken his preparation classes:
The classes that I had taken, that were engaging and interesting and worked, were due to
a lot of things that I did not know, like the teachers were masters, [but] I didn’t see it. I
didn’t see the magic, I didn’t see what they were doing to make their class run so well.
It just ran well. And so, it seemed effortless and easy and simple.
Jamie also felt her classes had not totally prepared her for the classroom, explaining, “I’m in
classes with professors that haven’t taught in forever, x amount of years, and so they’re giving

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me what they used to do, but the landscape has changed so much.” This lack of preparedness
could be remedied by school-specific, intentionally matched mentorships where teachers could
access support and advice about their specific context. Strong mentorship relationships would
benefit not only newer teachers but also veteran teachers who would take the role of mentor, as
research showed mentorship relationships support reflection and refinement of teaching practices
for all levels of experience (Christiansen & Ramadevi, 2002).
Discussion for Research Question 3
This research tackled the question of what administrators can do to improve teachers’
experiences in SMJUHSD to reduce teacher burnout and improve retention. Data revealed
teachers would benefit from increased support and communication from administration to tackle
solvable problems as well as to build trust and improve relationships (Price, 2021). Second,
teachers’ feelings of burnout could be mitigated by instituting clearer and more realistic
expectations for teachers, especially for science and math teachers who are under a huge amount
of pressure to meet certain standardized test measures (Farmer, 2020). Third, mentorship systems
at schools within the district could be reformed to meet the needs of teachers better, especially
new teachers, because they are at high risk of burnout and attrition, with between 40%–50% of
teachers leaving the profession in their first 5 years (Ingersoll, 2003). Site administrators have
the power to address these changes to improve support of teachers’ experiences.
Summary
Key findings from this research focused on three areas: (a) teachers’ experiences teaching
during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, (b) factors influencing teachers’ experiences, and (c)
changes administrators could implement to support teachers better. The survey and interview
data collected to answer Research Question 1 revealed many teachers in SMJUHSD have

80
experienced high levels of burnout, particularly in the form of emotional exhaustion.
Furthermore, although teachers acknowledged some positives of teaching during the pandemic,
like the autonomy of working remotely, they recognized virtual learning during the pandemic
was overwhelmingly negative for students. The research found the transition back to the
classroom in the aftermath of COVID-19 was even more challenging for teachers than teaching
during the pandemic, because students returned with a range of needs to address. Students’
behavior was poor upon returning, they experienced significant learning loss during the virtual
learning year, and they missed critical social-emotional development during that time. These
challenges, added to an already full plate, exacerbated teacher burnout.
Research Question 2 found the COVID-19 pandemic heightened teachers’ feelings of
isolation and lack of community on their school campuses. They felt they were not in
collaborative and supportive environments. Student behavior also was a driving factor in
teachers’ experiences, with aggravated student behavior represented in everything from acts of
defiance and disrespect to increased cellphone use to withdrawn and antisocial behavior causing
great stress for teachers and making their jobs more difficult. Finally, the research found one
positive factor helping teachers at school included the informal relationships they had formed
with individual colleagues. These relationships helped keep teachers afloat during the past few
years as they faced unprecedented challenges.
Research Question 3 revealed three different themes that emerged from the interviews
that might help administrators to better support teachers. First, some teachers felt administrators
did not care what was happening in their classroom as long as they were not creating problems
for the administration. Teachers identified numerous areas in which they wanted more support,
such as behavior management, instruction, and curriculum. Administrators have the resources to

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address these issues and should communicate more openly with teachers to address these needs
and improve relationships. Second, teachers felt the administration could support them if they
communicated expectations with more clarity and pragmatism instead of lofty and inconsistent
expectations. Third, the school communities could benefit from revised mentorship systems to
support their teachers better, especially new teachers, and improve retention.
Chapter 5 discusses these findings and makes recommendations about how to improve
teachers’ experiences at work. It also discusses implications for practice related to these findings
as well directions for future research.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
This study focused on exploring secondary educators’ experiences teaching throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic and after, specifically determining the teachers’ burnout levels, factors
influencing their experiences, and what kinds of administrative support could improve their
experiences at work. Prior research showed teachers experience an attrition rate of nearly 50%
within the first 5 years of teaching (Ingersoll et al., 2018), with burnout and stress two of the
leading causes (Farmer, 2020). Given the contemporary discourse surrounding the national
teacher shortage and unprecedented burnout and attrition of educators post-pandemic (NAE,
2022; Steiner & Woo, 2021), this study was timely and necessary. The goal of this research was
to provide recommendations for building-level leadership to alleviate burnout and attrition by
improving working conditions for teachers. The following questions guided this research:
1. How do secondary teachers describe their experience teaching in Santa Maria during
and after the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What do secondary teachers in Santa Maria describe as factors influencing their
experiences?
3. What additional administrative support do secondary teachers in Santa Maria identify
as helpful to improve work and life experience?
This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences
of secondary teachers working in Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD).
This descriptive phenomenological approach allowed me, as the researcher, to ask what teachers’
lived experiences were as well as to explore the general structures underlying the phenomenon of
burnout (Moustakas, 1994; Vagle, 2018). To access these data, I administered the Maslach
Burnout Inventory for Educators (MBI-ES) to 25 teachers in SMUHSD to determine general

83
feelings of burnout among the population. Then, I interviewed teachers from two different
schools in the district to gain richer, more nuanced descriptions of teachers’ experiences. I
designed the interview instrument based on my conceptual map, the cultural historical activity
theory (CHAT), asking questions about many aspects of teachers’ experience, including tools,
community, division of labor, and the rules, norms, and conventions at their schools. I conducted
qualitative analysis to understand and draw themes and patterns about teachers’ lived
experiences from the survey and interview data. I viewed the analysis through the CHAT lens,
allowing me to embed the findings within a larger holistic context to consider teachers’ lived
experiences rather than focus on the teacher as the unit of analysis (Postholm & Vennebo, 2019).
Findings
The following discussion outlines findings that emerged from the survey and interview
data. They reflect trends and patterns in teachers’ experiences working throughout and after the
COVID-19 pandemic as well as what they thought influenced their experiences and how
administrators could better support them. There are three findings for each of the three research
questions. They are organized to build upon each other to create a more comprehensive
understanding of what it was like to be a teacher in SMJUHSD during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked: How do secondary teachers describe their experience
teaching in Santa Maria during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? Survey and interview data
revealed three findings related to this research question. The first finding was that teachers in
SMJUHSD identified most strongly with experiencing emotional exhaustion, 1 of the 3 subscales
of the MBI-ES (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), identifying less association with the lack of personal
achievement or depersonalization subscales. Emotional exhaustion consists of “feelings of being

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emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work” (Maslach et al., 2016, p. 31). Interview
data further confirmed this finding, as teachers described heightened feelings of emotional
exhaustion as they navigated the pandemic and its aftermath. This finding is significant because
it reveals teachers in SMUHSD were not exempt from the nationwide trend of teacher burnout
and establishes a foundation upon which to balance recommendations to improve their
experience. This finding also aligns with the literature on teachers’ rising reports of burnout
since COVID-19 (Diliberti et al., 2021) as well as literature on emotional exhaustion experienced
by members of “helping professions” (Kutscher et al., 2013).
The second finding spoke more directly to the experience of teaching in a pandemic,
revealing that although virtual learning was a mixed experience for teachers, they felt it was an
overwhelmingly negative experience for students. Teachers noted the experience was frustrating,
and they did not have many successes, but many of them spoke to the ease and comfort of
remote work and the flexibility it allowed them, an interesting facet of the experience that has
not surfaced in much of the recent literature. However, teachers reflected most on how difficult
the experience was for students and how it has seemed to have significant negative effects on
students’ growth and well-being. This finding is consistent with emerging literature on the
pandemic’s impact on the nation’s students, which has discovered students’ learning and social-
emotional health have been stunted (NCES, 2022). These ideas are important to viewing the
school building as an ecosystem, as my conceptual map illustrates, with a multitude of factors
affecting teachers’ experiences and consequently understanding how students’ well-being affects
their teachers’ experiences.
Finally, the third finding was teachers’ emphasis on the challenging transition back to the
classroom after the year and a half of virtual learning during the height of the pandemic. The

85
negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on students have become especially apparent in the
wake of the pandemic, and the effects have rippled through the school sites. My research found
teachers found the transition back to the classroom more difficult than teaching through the
pandemic, because they have had to face the aftermath on themselves, their students, and their
school campuses. SMJUHSD teachers described poor student behavior, student mental health
struggles, and significant learning loss as some of the primary obstacles they faced upon
returning to the classroom, obstacles contributing to their feelings of burnout. Teachers across
the nation seem to have encountered these same difficulties as they attempted to regain a footing
in the classroom while facing heightened student needs, both social-emotional (NCES, 2022) and
academic (Dorn et al., 2020).
Findings from Research Question 1 paint a picture of teachers struggling with feelings of
burnout, mostly presenting as emotional exhaustion, as they navigated the transition back to in-
person teaching while attempting to meet the intense needs of students. Importantly, after my
data were collected and analyzed and during the member check process, one teacher I
interviewed shared they planned to seek employment outside the education field for next school
year due to the concerns discussed previously. Even though this example is anecdotal, the
literature, though recent and emerging, has shown these same trends have happened at a national
level, especially in regard to teacher burnout and student struggles. The loss of caring teachers is
unsustainable and must be addressed.
Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked: What do secondary teachers in Santa Maria describe as
factors influencing their experiences? The first research question established SMJUHSD teachers
have experienced feelings of burnout, and this question sought to investigate those experiences

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further to find out more about why they have felt this way. Three findings emerged from this
investigation. The first finding was that teachers have experienced feelings of isolation and a
lack of community on their school campuses. They described staying in their classrooms and not
feeling any sense of greater community or belonging on campus, resulting in an “egg-crate”
atmosphere (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). They also discussed a greater challenge connecting with
their students in the classroom and students having trouble connecting with each other. Teachers
offered several reasons to explain the lack of community, from COVID-19-driven isolation to
administrative neglect. This lack of connection between different stakeholders on campus has
exacerbated a sense of emotional exhaustion, potentially affecting both teachers’ long-term
health and their commitment to the classroom (Kelchtermans, 2017; Newberry & Allsop, 2017).
Another factor significantly impacting teachers’ experiences is poor student behavior. A
resounding takeaway from the interviews was that teachers saw a range of counterproductive
behaviors in the classroom that had worsened since the onset of the pandemic. Recent research
correlated virtual learning with increased negative behavior (Lopez, 2020), and, indeed,
SMJUHSD teachers described dealing with defiance, disengagement, lack of accountability, and
increased cellphone use. On top of these behaviors, teachers saw students with increased trauma
who had significant needs that were not being met, and, as a result, teachers have burned out
trying to meet these needs (Hupe & Stevenson, 2019) and mitigate the resulting behavior that
occurs. The literature showed student behavior has been linked to teacher well-being (Hastings &
Bham, 2003), and the SMJUHSD teachers indicated student behavior impacts their everyday
lives and well-being.
Contrary to the first two findings identifying factors that have seemed to worsen burnout,
the third finding highlights a factor on campus that supports teachers’ well-being. Teachers

87
pointed to the informal relationships and mentorships in which they engage at work as being
helpful and positive to their experience. They felt the friendships and mentorships they formed
with fellow teachers in their departments were especially helpful in inspiring them and
motivating them, as opposed to more formal structures on campus such as professional learning
communities (PLCs) or administrative support. The literature found positive and trusting
relationships with principals, and schoolwide, were a huge factor in teacher retention (Price,
2021). Data collected in this study support the idea that there are individual relationships that
support retention on SMJUHSD campuses but not necessarily administrative relationships. This
is an especially relevant finding because it provides a unique opportunity to capitalize on these
relationships on campus to promote teacher well-being and exposes opportunities for growth in
terms of administrative support.
These findings in response to Research Question 2 contribute greatly to understanding
more about these teachers’ experiences as they navigate new challenges to their teaching careers.
Teachers feel isolated, frustrated, and overwhelmed when faced with the huge needs of today’s
students. These factors together have created a pressing sense of emotional exhaustion, an aspect
of professional burnout. On the other hand, organic relationships with colleagues seem to have
provided a reprieve from feelings of burnout many of these teachers reported. The value of these
findings lies in how school leaders can use this information to improve teachers’ experiences and
reduce potential attrition.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 asked: What additional administrative support do secondary
teachers in Santa Maria identify as helpful to improve work and life experience? This is the
culminating question of my research and relies on the information collected in surveys and

88
interviews as well as findings related to the previous research question. Three findings emerged
from the relevant data, the first of which found many SMJUHSD teachers felt they would benfit
from additional administrative support. Of the teachers who posited their administration should
do more in the way of supporting their staff, behavior management support and instructional
support were the primary areas mentioned. A few teachers echoed feeling their administration
was unaware or out of touch with what they do in the classroom. An implicit and explicit
element of this finding was that the administrative teams of SMJUHSD could devote time and
energy to improving communication between staff and leadership to address some of these
concerns. This is important not just because it would improve teachers’ experiences but also
because the literature has found lack of administrative support is one of the top reasons for
teacher attrition (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2014; Boateng & Donkor, 2020; Ingersoll,
2003; Loeb et al., 2015; Newberry & Allsop, 2017). Hence, improving communication and
administrative support for teachers should be a primary concern for leadership.
Next, data revealed teachers would appreciate clearer and, in some cases, more realistic
expectations from leadership. In the interviews, teachers communicated a source of stress for
them was unclear expectations during and after the pandemic, especially regarding ever-
changing COVID-19 policies. Even though the pandemic was an uncertain time for everyone,
teachers felt they needed clearer expectations about how to conduct instruction and behavior
management during and after virtual learning. They also felt the constant changes, sometimes
given with very little notice, were detrimental to their experience, similar to recent findings on
how the pandemic adversely affected teachers globally (Galazka & Jarosz, 2021). Finally, some
teachers, math teachers specifically, voiced frustration about the unrealistic expectations placed
upon them, driven by high-stakes testing, considering student learning loss due to the pandemic.

89
They felt there should be more consideration for the new and unique learning needs fostered by
the pandemic. The literature has shown teachers have long been plagued by the culture
surrounding high-stakes testing (Farmer, 2020; Kelchtermans, 2017), and my research showed
pressure from ambitious benchmark goals driven by this culture, combined with significant
learning loss, created unsustainable environments for teachers.
The last finding to emerge from the data was that the district needs stronger mentorship
programs at the school sites, especially for newer teachers. Not only would stronger mentorship
programs capitalize on those relationships between colleagues that teachers noted were so
helpful, but they also would help to support their new teachers, a population that is traditionally
vulnerable to burnout and attrition (Ingersoll, 2003). Several teachers spoke at length about the
need for intentional mentors who could help them navigate the pitfalls of both beginning a
teaching career and teaching in their specific school context. More experienced teachers who
would serve as mentors also could benefit from a fresh perspective to reinvigorate their teaching.
The literature stated mentorships can be extremely beneficial when the match between mentor
and mentee is well chosen (Kardos & Johnson, 2008). Mentorship systems are a common
solution to which school districts could turn to support struggling or new teachers, but these
mentorship systems often are not implemented well and therefore are ineffective (Kardos &
Johnson, 2008). The time should be taken to create space carefully and intentionally for these
partnerships. The data collected indicated teachers felt they would benefit from more formal
mentorship systems, and administration could organize systems at their individual schools to
meet those needs.
Many factors are at play when examining a teacher’s experience, and inevitably there are
many things administrators cannot control. Some things, like the learning loss students and

90
teachers have to overcome, require compassion, adaptability, and innovation on the part of both
teachers and students. However, these findings, in response to Research Question 3, are
important because they represent actionable strategies school leaders can use in the future to
alleviate some of the stress teachers face in their daily lives.
Limitations
One methodological limitation with this research was the limited sample size of survey
respondents and interview participants. Given both the small sample size and the
phenomenological nature of this study, the generalizability of the findings is therefore limited.
The voluntary response sampling and self-reported nature of survey and interview data also
threatened the external validity of this research, as participants reported on experiences within a
district in which I am also an employee. Every effort was made to offset this potential validity
threat, from excluding teachers in my own department from the sample to ensuring
confidentiality to triangulating data. Although the survey instrument was disseminated to
teachers at one high school in the district using voluntary response sampling, some teachers sent
the survey to teachers at other schools in the district, resulting in a bit of unforeseen snowball
sampling. This expansion of the survey emphasizes the flaw in anonymous surveys—they can be
sent to anyone. It is highly unlikely anyone outside the target population of SMJUHSD teachers
took the survey, as the introductory email outlined who the target audience was, but it is worth
noting that the survey was sent to other teachers in the district, as I discovered when a teacher
from another school volunteered to participate in the interview process through a link included
only in the survey.

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Implications for Practice
As I discussed previously, the primary intended audience for this study was school
administrators, which included traditional school leaders such as principals and assistant
principals but also unconventional leaders such as instructional coaches and deans. This research
was meant to serve as a liaison between teachers and leaders to communicate authentic teacher
experiences and how they might be improved.
The findings indicated teachers in this district have not felt as supported as they could,
which has contributed negatively to their experience. As data related to Research Question 1
indicated, SMJUHSD teachers have experienced heightened levels of emotional exhaustion.
Findings related to Research Question 2 detailed how perceived isolation, poor student behavior,
and escalated student needs contributed to this exhaustion. Findings related to Research Question
3 emphasized teachers need more administrative support, implying it would be helpful for school
leaders to spend time establishing stronger lines of communication with teachers to pinpoint
areas of need for stronger support. Research showed strong professional communication and
collaboration are key elements of a successful school (Samaras et al., 2008). Establishing
stronger communication between staff and administration would include building a larger
presence around campus, such as visiting classrooms often, not only for formal assessment
purposes, but also to encourage teachers and informally build relationships. Administrators
should elicit teacher opinions before rolling out new initiatives and maintain transparency with
the teaching staff when it comes to how and why decisions are made. Administration should
remain open and flexible when it comes to new ideas from staff and trust in the expertise of their
teachers (Samaras et al., 2008), and teachers should participate in the process (Day, 2017).

92
A related implication is the need for clearer expectations to alleviate teacher stress. My
research showed teachers had a hard time navigating their usual duties while trying to guess what
expectations were for instruction, behavior management, guardian communication, policy
enforcement, and more during the pandemic and afterward. It would be beneficial to strengthen
the lines of communication between teachers and leadership to clarify expectations as soon as
they are decided. A common vision and shared goals are another key element of a successful
school (Samaras et al., 2008). Not only could school leaders benefit from learning more about
how to support their teachers, but teachers also would benefit from receiving timely, clear
communication on how to tackle quickly evolving circumstances.
An additional recommendation for improving teacher morale and lessening burnout is to
create more intentionality around building community and giving teachers support, whether that
be coaching, strategies, or simply administrative backing when it comes to behavior management
in classrooms. Schools are essentially a social enterprise, and successful schools have robust
communities (Day, 2017). Building a stronger community is an essential part of rebounding from
COVID-19 as schools try to heal and grow. It would benefit the school community to put time
and energy into building and rebuilding networks and relationships on school campuses, even
with teachers who have been there for years. As my research illustrated, even veteran teachers
experienced isolation and disconnect. Administrators should spend time talking with teachers
and building opportunities for teachers to talk to each other, even if it is not about work. As a
note of caution, professionals strongly disliked being mandated to attend things during unpaid
time, so these community building events should take place during paid work time. An
opportunity for this community building exists in the SMJUHSD schedule already—the time
built into every Monday for professional learning communities (PLCs) to meet. Research

93
showed collaboration over time contributes to the growth of students and the school as well as
raised expectations and increased trust and well-being of stakeholders (Day, 2017). This
scheduled time for PLC meetings could be used as an opportunity for cross-campus and cross-
content collaboration to develop community across school and individual classrooms (Samaras et
al., 2008). Using the PLC time to truly collaborate instead of attend to administrative tasks will
require buy-in from teachers as well as formed rules and rituals to accompany these PLC
meetings (Day, 2017). This time needs an overhaul to be truly productive and beneficial for
teachers, as my research indicated.
The last implication acknowledges the importance of mentorship and describes teachers’
professed need for these lines of support. New teachers identified mentorship as something that
could have helped them and an opportunity for growth within the schools. Veteran teachers
shared relationships with colleagues were a source of positivity for them amid terrible burnout.
There is an opportunity to bolster teacher satisfaction through establishing stronger mentorship
relationships at their schools in an authentic manner (Day, 2017). To avoid ineffective
mentorship systems, school leaders should plan these systems carefully to suit their specific
context and needs and should create meaningful mentor and mentee matches while also
including an opportunity for feedback from teachers to adjust the system as needed (Kardos &
Johnson, 2008). Although this is a large undertaking, these mentorships also may have the added
side effect of increasing feelings of community on campus and improving perceptions of support.
Addressing these needs could go a long way toward improving teacher experiences on
SMJUHSD campuses. More satisfied teachers would lead to higher retention and less money
spent on training and recruitment each year (Newberry & Allsop, 2017) as well as a higher
quality learning experience for students (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003). Some implications

94
require higher investments than others, such as mentorship systems, and it may behoove
leadership to start by implementing low-investment, high-yield strategies, such as improving
lines of communication, to begin creating more sustainable teaching environments.
Future Research
As teacher burnout and attrition is a long studied but constantly evolving issue,
depending on the national context at any given time, there is ample opportunity for future
research on contemporary teacher experiences. Teacher shortages plague our nation with
significant consequences for current and future generations of citizens. Next are two areas
suitable for future research.
Although my research provides an interesting snapshot into the lived experiences of a
small population of teachers at a given time, it would be valuable to conduct this research in a
longitudinal manner to ascertain whether the pandemic’s effects are long lasting or will wear off
with time. As research is still emerging on how the pandemic has affected different populations,
the next direction would be to see if these changes are permanent or semipermanent in nature.
Another recommendation for future research would be to expand the scope of this study,
both in terms of a larger sample size to increase generalizability and in terms of context and
location. Determining whether teachers from other areas and types of schools are having similar
experiences would be important information to use when advocating on behalf of teachers.
Conclusions
This research explored the lived experiences of secondary teachers as they navigated
teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and afterward. The study found many teachers had
experienced feelings of burnout, manifesting in high levels of emotional exhaustion. They felt
isolated and were reckoning with significant challenges in the classroom as they attempted to

95
meet students’ needs. Findings indicated it would be worthwhile for administrators to offer
increased support to their staff during this time, because the demands placed upon teachers are
growing and intense. Quality professional support and leadership is vital to teacher retention
(Alliance for Excellent Education, 2014; Ingersoll, 2003; Loeb et al., 2015; Newberry & Allsop,
2017). Administrators should invest their time into building trust and communication between
leadership and teachers as well as implementing mentorship systems to support both new and
veteran teachers. To improve the quality of our education systems, leaders should start by
creating sustainable work environments for teachers who are integral to our society.

96
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Thank you for agreeing to sit down and chat with me about your experience over the past
couple years. The intent of this research is to gain a better understanding of your recent
experience in the classroom and, more specifically, how your experience has changed during the
pandemic.
Before beginning, I want to make sure you are comfortable with the time required for this
interview, which should take about an hour. Does that work for you? I also want to assure you
your responses will be kept confidential. I will not share your name with anyone outside of my
research team. Although some of your responses will be shared as direct quotes, I will use a
pseudonym to protect your confidentiality and will also do my best to de-identify any of the
information you share with me, unless you specify you would like to be attributed. I am also
happy to share with you a final copy of this paper if you are interested.
My goal today is to gain a better understanding of your experience as a new teacher and
all the different ways both your status as a preliminary credential holder and as a teacher during
the pandemic have impacted you over the past couple years. I also want to hear a bit about what
might help to improve your experience. I am not here to evaluate your teaching or make
judgments based on what you share. I really appreciate your time and honesty so this research
can be a meaningful contribution to the teaching community as we continue into the third school
year impacted by COVD-19.
If it is alright with you, it would be helpful for me to capture more fully what you are
saying by using a recorder. That way, rather than jotting notes down during our conversation I
will be able to better engage with and respond to what you are sharing. The recording will be
used for my notes only and will not be shared with anyone. Are you okay with that?

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Do you have any questions or concerns before we begin, or can I provide any
clarifications?
Introductory Questions
I would like to start by asking you some general questions about what brought you to the
teaching profession:
1. First, tell me about your background in education.
• How did you become interested in the field of education?
• How long have you been teaching?
• Do you have a background in any other field prior to becoming a teacher?
2. What subject(s) do you teach? Do you have any additional roles at your school site?
Main Questions (Part 1)
I want to hear more specifics about your experience working as a full-time teacher during
the COVID-19 pandemic:
3. Can you describe your experience teaching over the past 2.5 years of the pandemic?
• Would you describe your experience as generally more positive or negative?
Why?
• Has your experience teaching full time been what you expected? If yes, in
what ways? If not, what has been different or unexpected?
4. Who or what has had the greatest impact on your teaching experience? In what ways?
5. Can you tell me a little about your current school culture? By culture, I mean the way
in which school community members (admin, teachers, students) relate to one another
and support, or do not support, each other.
6. How do you perceive the pandemic has impacted your students

115
• How do you perceive it has impacted student behavior?
• How do you perceive it has impacted student academics?
7. In what other ways has the pandemic impacted your experience?
• How has it impacted your interactions with school leadership?
• How has it impacted your interactions with parents/guardians?
• How has it impacted your interactions with other teachers?
8. Could you give me an example of a time your school community supported you
during this time, if any?
• Which teachers can access this support?
• Who is mainly providing the support?
Now I would like to switch gears and give you the opportunity to describe some of your
survey responses. Although I do not know how you responded because responses were
anonymous, I have a copy of the survey here for your reference. I will give you a minute to look
it over again.
9. Are there any responses you would like to elaborate on?
Main Questions (Part 2)
I want to ask you to consider for a moment your future in the teaching profession.
10. There has been a lot in the news lately about teachers who are leaving the profession
midyear or describe wanting to leave sooner than anticipated. In fact, a recent study
identified 90% of teachers are unhappy and nearly 60% are considering leaving
sooner than anticipated (NEA, 2022). These numbers represent a 40% increase since
just last year. Does this surprise you? Why or why not?
• Do you feel as though these numbers are reflective of your experience?

116
• Why do you think teachers are feeling this way?
11. Do you see yourself continuing to teach until retirement? Why or why not? Has your
response changed since the pandemic?
12. What sort of supports do you think teachers need right now to reduce attrition? By
attrition, I mean teachers who are leaving the profession before the age of retirement.
13. In a perfect world, what support systems would you offer to teachers like you that are
navigating teaching during a pandemic?
Closing Question
14. Is there anything else you think is important or relevant for me to know regarding
your experience we did not address today? Is there anything you would like
nonteachers or the wider community to know about your experience?
Closing Statement
Thank you for spending this time talking with me. I know how busy you are and that any
free time is a sacrifice. It has been helpful to hear your experience and I appreciate how candid
you have been. After reviewing our interview, if I have any follow-up questions would it be OK
to email you? If you are interested, I would also be happy to share with you a copy of my final
paper. Again, thank you for your time.

117
Appendix B: MBI-ES Survey Instrument

118

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Clark, Abigail Buell (author)

Core Title Teaching in the time of COVID-19: secondary educators’ experiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 04/18/2023

Defense Date 03/23/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag attrition,Burnout,COVID-19,education,job satisfaction,OAI-PMH Harvest,retention,secondary teachers

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Cash, David (committee chair), Franklin, Gregory (committee member), (Ott, Maria)

Creator Email abigailblohr@gmail.com,clarkab@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113038245

Unique identifier UC113038245

Identifier etd-ClarkAbiga-11656.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-ClarkAbiga-11656

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Clark, Abigail Buell

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Type texts

Source 20230419-usctheses-batch-1025 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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