We examine strategies, programs, and policies that educators have developed to
reduce work stressors and thus health risks. First, we review twenty-seven
empirical studies and review papers on organizational programs and policies in
K-12 education published from 1990 to 2015 and find some evidence that
mentoring, induction, and Peer Assistance and Review programs can increase
support, skill development, decision-making authority, and perhaps job security,
for teachers—and thus have the potential to reduce job stressors. Second, we
describe efforts to reduce workplace violence in Oregon, especially in special
education, including legislation, collective bargaining, research, and public
awareness. We conclude that to reduce workplace violence, adequate resources are
needed for staffing, training, equipment, injury/assault reporting, and
investigation. Third, we discuss collective bargaining initiatives that led to
mentoring and Peer Assistance and Review and state legislation on prevention of
bullying and harassment of school staff. Finally, we present a research agenda
on these issues.
McIntyreTMcIntyreSFrancisD.
Stress in educators: an occupational health perspective,
Switzerland: Springer
International Publishing,
2017.
2.
GreenbergMBrownJ.
Teacher stress and health effects on teachers, students, and
schools, College Park:
Pennsylvania State University,
2016.
3.
GerberichSGNachreinerNMRyanADet
al.Violence against educators: a population-based
study. J Occup Environ Med2011; 53:
294–302.
4.
TiesmanHHendricksSKondaSet
al.Physical assaults among education employees.
J Occup Environ Med2014; 56:
621–7.
5.
TiesmanHKondaSHendricksSet
al.Workplace violence among Pennsylvania education workers:
differences among occupations. J Safety Res2013; 44:
65–71.
6.
LeachmanMAlbaresNMastersonKet
al.Most states have cut school funding, and some continue cutting,
Washington: Center for Budget
and Policy Priorities, 2016.
7.
SchanzenbachD.
Does class size matter?,
Boulder: National Education
Policy Center, 2014.
8.
HoutrowALarsonKOlsonLet
al.Changing trends of childhood disability,
2001–2011. Pediatrics2014; 134:
530–538.
9.
GallagherKOdoziA.
Protocol for the assessment of common core teaching: the
impact of instructional inclusion on students with special
needs. Contemp Sch Psychol2015; 19:
77–88.
10.
KahlenbergR.
Tenure: how due process protects teachers and
students. Am Educ2015; 39:
4–11,43.
11.
DeanA.
Teachers on the offensive: a strategy for transforming the
educational reform debate. New Labor Forum2013; 22:
38–45.
12.
RavitchD.
Reign of error: the hoax of the privatization movement and the
danger to America’s public schools, New
York: Vintage Books,
2014.
13.
BakerB.
Exploring the consequences of charter school expansion in U.S.
cities, Washington:
Economic Policy Institute,
2016.
14.
BakerEBartonPDarling-HammondLet
al.Problems with the use of student test scores to evaluate
teachers, Washington:
Economic Policy Institute,
2010.
15.
WeissE.
Mismatches in race to the top limit educational
improvement, Washington:
Broader, Bolder Approach to Education,
2013.
16.
GoldenbergCWagnerK.
Bilingual education. Am Educ2015, pp. 28–32,44.
17.
Ravitch D. The demolition of
American education. The New York Review of Books, 5 June
2017.
18.
LandsbergisPZoecklerJKashemZet
al.Organizational policies and programs to reduce job stress and
risk of workplace violence among K-12 teachers. In:
McIntyreTMcIntyreSFrancisD
(eds). Stress in educators: an occupational health perspective,
Switzerland: Springer
International Publishing,
2017.
19.
LandsbergisPSinclairRDobsonMet
al.Occupational health psychology. In: AnnaD
(ed). The occupational environment: its evaluation, control, and
management, Fairfax:
American Industrial Hygiene Association,
2011, pp.
1086–1130.
20.
SchnallPDobsonMLandsbergisP.
Globalization, work and cardiovascular
disease. Int J Health Serv2016; 46:
656–692.
21.
TheorellTJoodKJarvholmLSet
al.A systematic review of studies in the contributions of the work
environment to ischaemic heart disease development.
Eur J Public Health2016; 26:
470–477.
22.
Gallup, Inc. State
of America’s schools: the path to winning again in education,
Washington:
Author, 2014.
23.
American Federation of Teachers and
Badass Teachers Association. Quality of worklife
survey, Washington:
Author, 2015.
LaMontagneAKeegelTLouieAet
al.A systematic review of the job stress intervention evaluation
literature: 1990–2005. Int J Occup Env Heal2007; 13:
268–280.
26.
IngersollRStrongM.
The impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning
teachers: a critical review of the research. Rev
Educ Res2011; 81:
201–233.
27.
WatermanSHeY.
Effects of mentoring programs on new teacher retention: a
literature review. Mentor Tutor: Partnersh
Learn2011; 19:
139–156.
28.
LongJ.
Assisting beginning teachers and school communities to grow
through extended and collaborative mentoring experiences.
Mentor Tutor: Partnersh Learn2009; 17:
317–327.
29.
DziczkowskiJ.
Mentoring and leadership development.
Educ Forum2013; 77:
351–360.
30.
Darling-HammondL.
When teachers support & evaluate their
peers. Educ Leadersh2013; 71:
24–29.
31.
MarshallR.
The case for collaborative school reform: the Toledo
experience, Washington:
Economic Policy Institute,
2008.
32.
PapayJJohnsonS.
Is PAR a good investment? Understanding the costs and
benefits of teacher Peer Assistance and Review programs.
Educ Policy2012; 26:
696–729.
33.
KrugerLJStruzzieroJWattsRet
al.The relationship between organizational support and satisfaction
with teacher assistance teams. Rem Spec
Educ1995; 16:
203–211.
34.
LeePTKrauseNGoetchiusCParticipatory action research with hotel room cleaners: from
collaborative study to the bargaining table. In:
MinklerMWallersteinN
(eds). Community based participatory research for health,
New York:
Jossey-Bass, 2002, pp.
390–404.
35.
Schnall P, Rosskam E, Dobson M,
et al. (eds) Unhealthy work: causes, consequences and
cures. Amityville: Baywood Publishing,
2009.
36.
TiesmanHMHendricksSKondaSet
al.Physical assaults among education workers: findings from a
statewide study. J Occup Environ Med2014; 56:
621–627.
HargreavesAFullanM.
The power of professional capital. J
Staff Dev2013; 34:
36–39.
53.
HargreavesAFullanM.
Professional capital: transforming teaching in every
school, New York:
Teachers College Press,
2012.
54.
SimmonsRJMagieraK.
Evaluation of co-teaching in three high schools within one
school district: how do you know when you are truly
co-teaching?Teach Except Child Plus2007; 3: 1.
55.
O’BrennanLBradshawC.
Importance of school climate,
Washington: National
Education Association, 2013.
56.
ThapaACohenJGuffeySet
al.A review of school climate research. Rev
Educ Res2013; 83:
357–385.
57.
SinghKBillingsleyB.
Professional support and its effects on teachers’
commitment. The J Educ Res1998; 91:
229–239.
58.
GregoryACornellDFanX.
Teacher safety and authoritative school climate in high
schools. Am J Educ2012; 118:
401–425.
59.
GraysonJAlvarezH.
School climate factors relating to teacher burnout: a
mediator model. Teach Teach Educ2008; 24:
1349–1363.
60.
MillerDBrownellMSmithS.
Factors that predict teachers staying in, leaving, or
transferring from the special education classroom.
Except Child1999; 65:
201–218.
61.
BradshawCPKothCWThorntonLAet
al.Altering school climate through school-wide positive behavioral
interventions and supports: findings from a group-randomized effectiveness
trial. Prev Sci2009; 10:
100–115.
62.
Winslow S. Teachers take on
student discipline. Labor Notes, 8 June 2016, pp.
8–9.
63.
JohnsonJV.
Collective control: strategies for survival in the
workplace. Int J Health Serv1989; 19:
469–480.
64.
AngerWKElliotDLBodnerTet
al.Effectiveness of total worker health
interventions. J Occup Health Psychol2015; 20:
226–247.
65.
BrykASebringPAllensworthEet
al.Organizing schools for improvement: lessons from Chicago,
Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2010.
66.
JohnsonSKraftMPapayJ.
How context matters in high-need schools: the effects of
teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their
students’ achievement. Teach Coll Rec2012; 114:
1–39.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
