This article is in direct response to Garwood’s call to action about burnout and the special education teacher workforce. While Garwood’s call to action is critically needed, we contend that the call is incomplete as it lacks emphasis on factors linking sociocultural identity and burnout. Therefore, in this article, we discuss the significance of elevating sociocultural identity, specifically race and ethnicity, into research about special education teacher burnout. We argue that any research on special education teacher burnout that does not include race and ethnicity is overlooking the racialization of special education teachers’ working conditions, and ultimately is incapable of addressing one of the most pressing issues in the special education field—retaining teachers of color. Recommendations for researchers to address sociocultural identities (i.e., race and ethnicity) in their research, specifically about special education teachers of color teaching students with emotional and behavioral disorders, are addressed.
AchinsteinB.OgawaR. T.SextonD.FreitasC. (2010). Retaining teachers of color: A pressing problem and a potential strategy for “hard-to-staff” schools. Review of Educational Research, 80(1), 71–107. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654309355994
2.
AmosY. T. (2016). Wanted and used: Latina bilingual education teachers at public schools. Equity & Excellence in Education, 49, 41–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.1122557
3.
ArtilesA. J.TrentS. C. (1994). Overrepresentation of minority students in special education: A continuing debate. The Journal of Special Education, 27, 410–437. https://doi.org/10.1177/002246699402700404
4.
BettiniE.BrunstingN. C.ScottL. A.KalerL.Parker MooreD.O’BrienK. M.CummingM. C. (2022). Experiences of working conditions among special education teachers of color serving students with EBD. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30, 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266221077698
5.
BettiniE.CormierC. J.RagunathanM.StarkK. (2021). Navigating the double bind: A systematic literature review of the experiences of novice teachers of color in K-12 schools. Review of Educational Research, 92(4), 495–542. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211060873
6.
BettiniE.CummingM. M.BrunstingN.McKennaJ. W.SchneiderC.MullerB.PeytonD. (2020). Administrators’ roles: Providing special educators opportunities to learn and enact effective reading practices for students with EBD. Beyond Behavior, 29, 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074295620904024
7.
BettiniE.CummingM. M.O’BrienK. M.BrunstingN.RagunathanM.SuttonR.ChopraA. (2020). Predicting special educators’ intent to continue teaching students with emotional/behavioral disorders in self-contained classes. Exceptional Children, 86, 209–228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402919873556
8.
BettiniE.JonesN. D.BrownellM. T.ConroyM.LeiteW. (2018). Relationships between novices’ social resources and workload manageability. Journal of Special Education, 52(2), 113–126. https://doi.org10.1177/0022466918775432
9.
BettiniE.JonesN. D.BrownellM. T.ConroyM.ParkY.LeiteW.CrockettJ.BenedictA. E. (2017). Workload manageability among novice special and general educators: Relationships with emotional exhaustion and career intentions. Remedial and Special Education, 38, 246–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517708327
10.
BettiniE.NguyenT.GilmourA.ReddingC. (2022). Disparities in access to well-qualified, well-supported special educators across higher versus lower poverty schools over time. Exceptional Children, 88(3), 283–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029211024137
11.
BillingsleyB.BettiniE. (2019). Special education teacher attrition and retention: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 89(5), 697–744. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319862495
12.
BillingsleyB. S.BettiniE. A.WilliamsT. O. (2019). Teacher racial/ethnic diversity: Distribution of special and general educators of color across schools. Remedial and Special Education, 40(4), 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0741932517733047
13.
BillingsleyB.BettiniE.MathewsH. M.McLeskeyJ. (2020). Improving working conditions to support special educators’ effectiveness: A call for leadership. Teacher Education and Special Education, 43(1), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/088840641988035
14.
BillingsleyB. S.FallA. M.WilliamsT. O. (2006). Who is teaching students with emotional and behavioral disorders? A profile and comparison to other special educators. Behavioral Disorders, 31, 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290603100301
15.
BovedaM.AronsonB. A. (2019). Special education preservice teachers, intersectional diversity, and the privileging of emerging professional identities. Remedial and Special Education, 40(4), 248–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932519838621
16.
BristolT. J.MentorM. (2018). Policing and teaching: The positioning of Black male teachers as agents in the universal carceral apparatus. The Urban Review, 50(2), 218–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-018-0447-z
BrownA. L. (2018). Forgetting is racism. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 34(26), 32–32.
19.
BrunstingN. C.BettiniE.RockM.CommonE. A.RoyerD. J.LaneK. L.XieF.ChenA.ZengF. (2022). Working conditions and burnout of special educators of students with EBD: Longitudinal outcomes. Teacher Education and Special Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064221076159
20.
BrunstingN. C.BettiniE.RockM.RoyerD. J.CommonE. A.LaneK. L.XieF.ChenA.ZengF. (2022). Burnout of special educators serving students with emotional-behavioral disorders: A longitudinal study. Remedial and Special Education, 43, 160–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325211030562
21.
BrunstingN. C.SreckovicM. A.LaneK. L. (2014). Special education teacher burnout: A synthesis of research from 1979-2013. Education and Treatment of Children, 37, 681–711. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2014.0032
ChoS.CrenshawK. M.McCallL. (2013). Toward a field of intersectionality studies: Theory, applications, and praxis. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 38(4), 785–810. https://doi.org/10.1086/669608
24.
ChiO. L. (2021). A classroom observer like me: The effects of race-congruence and gender-congruence between teachers and raters on observation scores. (EdWorkingPaper: 21–470). https://doi.org/10.26300/g8bz-zs40
25.
CollinsK. H.ColemanM. R.GranthamT. C. (2022). A bioecological perspective of emotional/behavioral challenges for gifted students of color: Support needed versus support received. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30(2), 86–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266221076466
26.
CollinsP. H. (2000). Gender, black feminism, and black political economy. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 568(1), 41–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271620056800105
27.
CormierC. J.McGrewJ.RubleL.FischerM. (2022). Socially distanced teaching: The mental health impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on special education teachers. Journal of Community Psychology, 50(3), 1768–1772. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22736
28.
CormierC. J.ScottL. A. (2021). Castaways on Gilligan’s Island: Minoritized special education teachers of color advocating for equity. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 53(3), 234–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059920974701
29.
CormierC. J.ScottL. A.PowellC.HallK. (2022). Locked in glass classrooms: Black male special education teachers socialized as everything but educators. Teacher Education and Special Education, 45(1), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211061038
30.
CrenshawK. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.
31.
CruzR. A.RodlJ. E. (2018). An integrative synthesis of literature on disproportionality in special education. The Journal of Special Education, 52(1), 50–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466918758707
32.
CummingM.O’BrienK. M.BrunstingN. C.BettiniE. (2021). Special educators’ working conditions, self-efficacy, and instructional and behavior management practice use with students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders in self-contained settings. Remedial and Special Education, 42, 220–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932520924121
33.
DeeT. S. (2004). Teachers, race, and student achievement in a randomized experiment. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 86(1), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465304323023750
34.
EgaliteA. J.KisidaB.WintersM. A. (2015). Representation in the classroom: The effect of own-race teachers on student achievement. Economics of Education Review, 45, 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.01.007
35.
FallA.BillingsleyB. S. (2011). Disparities in work conditions among early career special educators in high- and low-poverty districts. Remedial and Special Education, 32(1), 64–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932510361264
FarmerT. W.SerpellZ.ScottL.DeVliegerS. E.BrooksD. S. (2022). The developmental dynamics of emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color: Systemic oppression, correlated constraints, and the need for targeted universalism. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30(2), 71–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266211068892
38.
FerriB. A.ConnorD. J. (2005). In the shadow of Brown: Special education and overrepresentation of students of color. Remedial and Special Education, 26(2), 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325050260020401
GageN. A.KatsiyannisA.CarreroK. M.MillerR.PicoD. (2021). Exploring disproportionate discipline for Latinx students with and without disabilities: A national analysis. Behavioral Disorders, 47(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742920961356
41.
GagnonJ. C.GurelS.BarberB. R. (2017). State-level analysis of school punitive discipline practices in Florida. Behavioral Disorders, 42(2), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742916688652
42.
GarwoodJ. D. (2022). Special educator burnout and fidelity in implementing behavior support plans: A call to action. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Advance online publication. 10634266221099242.
43.
GarwoodJ. D.WertsM. G.VargheseC.GoseyL. (2018). Mixed-methods analysis of rural special educators’ role stressors, behavior management, and burnout. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 37, 30–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/8756870517745270
44.
GilmourA. F.SandilosL. E.PilnyW. V.SchwartzS.WehbyJ. H. (2022). Teaching students with emotional/behavioral disorders: Teachers’ burnout profiles and classroom management. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30, 16–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266211020258
45.
GreenJ. G.McLaughlinK. A.AlegriaM.BettiniE.GruberM.HoagwoodK.Le TaiL.SampsonN.ZaslavskyA. M.XuanZ.KesslerR. C. (2020). Associations of sociodemographic factors and psychiatric disorders with type of school-based mental health services received by youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 67(3), 392–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.02.016
GrindalT.SchifterL. A.SchwartzG.HehirT. (2019). Racial differences in special education identification and placement: Evidence across three states. Harvard Educational Review, 89(4), 525–553. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-89.4.525
48.
GroomsA. A.MahatmyaD.JohnsonE. T. (2021). The retention of educators of color amidst institutionalized racism. Educational Policy, 35(2), 180–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904820986765
49.
HakanenJ. J.BakkerA. B.SchaufeliW. B. (2006). Burnout and work engagement among teachers. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 495–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2005.11.001
50.
IrvineJ. J. (1988). An analysis of the problem of disappearing Black educator. Elementary School Journal, 88(5), 503–514. https://doi.org/10.1086/461553
51.
JadranF. (2022, September). Hiring and retaining K-12 teachers: Washington state schools battle shortage. K5 NBC News. https://www.king5.com/
52.
JenningsP. A.GreenbergM. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79, 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
53.
JohnsonS. M.KraftM. A.PapayJ. P. (2012). How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement. Teachers College Record, 114(10), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811211401004
54.
KimG. M.CoocN. (2020). Teaching for social justice: A research synthesis on Asian American and Pacific Islander teachers in US schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 94(8), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103104
55.
KohliR. (2018). Behind school doors: The impact of hostile racial climates on urban teachers of color. Urban Education, 53(3), 307–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916636653
56.
KulkarniS. S. (2017). Disproportionate representation of Asian students in special education: A systematic review of the literature. Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 17(2), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.5555/2158-396X.17.2.19
57.
KulkarniS. S. (2021). Special education teachers of color and their beliefs about dis/ability and race: Counter-stories of smartness and goodness. Curriculum inquiry, 51(5), 496–521.https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2021.1938973
58.
KulkarniS. S.BlandS.GaetaJ. M. (2022). From support to action: A critical affinity group of special education teachers of color. Teacher Education and Special Education, 45(1), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211061189
59.
LiouD. D.RojasL. (2016). Teaching for empowerment and excellence: The transformative potential of teacher expectations in an urban Latina/o classroom. The Urban Review, 48(3), 380–402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-016-0359-8
60.
LutzM. (2017). The hidden cost of Brown v. Board: African American educators’ resistance to desegregating schools. Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.4148/1936-0487.1085
61.
MadiganD. J.CurranT. (2021). Does burnout affect academic achievement? A meta-analysis of over 100,000 students. Educational Psychology Review, 33(2), 387–405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09533-1
62.
MahatmyaD.LohmanB. J.BrownE. L.Conway-TurnerJ. (2016). The role of race and teachers’ cultural awareness in predicting low-income, Black and Hispanic students’ perceptions of educational attainment. Social Psychology of Education, 19(2), 427–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-016-9334-1
63.
MaslachC. (2017). Burnout: A multidimensional perspective. In SchaufeliW. B.MaslachC.MarekT. (Eds.), Professional burnout (pp. 19–32). Taylor & Francis.
64.
Mason-WilliamsL.BettiniE.MathewsH. M.BovedaM.RodgersW. (2022). Disparities in teachers’ access to schools’ collective social assets based on role, race, and poverty. Remedial and Special Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325211068170
65.
MilnerH. R.FittzL.BestB.CunninghamH. B. (2022). What if special education could be seen as a site for social justice?Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30, 159–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266221087990
66.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Schools and staffing survey. Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/
67.
OakesW. P.LaneK. L.RoyerD. J.MenziesH. M.BuckmanM. M.BrunstingN. C.CantwellE. D.SchatschneiderC. (2021). Elementary teachers’ self-efficacy during initial implementation of comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered models of prevention. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 23, 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300720916718
68.
O’BrienK. M.BrunstingN. C.BettiniE.CummingM. M.RagunathanM.SuttonR. (2019). Special educators’ working conditions in self-contained settings for students with emotional or behavioral disorders: A descriptive analysis. Exceptional Children, 86, 40–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402919868946
69.
PhilipT. M. (2013). Experience as college student activists: A strength and liability for prospective teachers of color in urban schools. Urban Education, 48(1), 44–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912461509
70.
PizarroM.KohliR. (2020). “I stopped sleeping”: Teachers of color and the impact of racial battle fatigue. Urban Education, 55(7), 967–991. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918805788
71.
PlachowskiT. J. (2019). Reflections of preservice teachers of color: Implications for the teacher demographic diversity gap. Education Sciences, 9, 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020144
72.
ReddingC. (2019). A teacher like me: A review of the effect of student–teacher racial/ethnic matching on teacher perceptions of students and student academic and behavioral outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 89(4), 499–535. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0034654319853545
73.
RileyT. N.SerpellZ. N. (2022). Developmental considerations in a problematic ecology: Achieving equity and socially just learning environments for African American adolescents with emotional and behavioral challenges. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 30(2), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266221077904
74.
SchonfeldI. S.BianchiR. (2016). Burnout and depression: Two entities or one?Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72, 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22229
75.
ScottL. A. (2018). Recruiting and retaining Black students for special education teacher preparation inclusion programs. Inclusion, 6(2), 143–157. https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-6.2.143
76.
ScottL. A. (2019). Experience of Black male special education teachers: Are alternative licensure programs the desired route for recruitment and preparation?Education and Urban Society, 51(3), 332–350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124517719971
77.
ScottL. A. (2020). Reasons early career Black special education teachers quit their positions. American Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, 5, 79. https://doi.org/10.28933/ajerr-2020-11-2305
78.
ScottL. A. (2021). Reason early career Black special education teachers quit. American Journal of Educational Research and Reviews. 5(79), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.28933/ajerr-2020-11-2305
79.
ScottL. A.AlexanderQ. (2019). Strategies for recruiting and retaining Black male special education teachers. Remedial and Special Education, 40, 236–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517732636
80.
ScottL. A.BellN.DaytonM.BowmanR. W.EvansI.GrilloM.. . .LaydenS. J. (2022). Special education teachers of color retention decisions: Findings from a national study. Exceptional Children. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029221109850
81.
ScottL. A.BrownA.WallaceW.CormierC. J.PowellC. (2021). If we’re not doing it, then who? A qualitative study of black special educators’ persistence. Exceptionality, 29, 182–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2020.1850453
82.
ScottL. A.PowellC.OyefugaE.CormierC. J.PadhyeI. (2021). Complementary review of the literature on attrition and retention patterns of special education teachers of color: What we know and how we move forward. Multiple Voices, 21(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.5555/2158-396X-21.1.3
83.
ScottL. A.ThomaC. A.GokitaT.BrunoL.RuizA. B.BrendliK.. . . VitulloV. (2021). I’m trying to make myself happy: Black students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and families on promoting self-determination during transition. Inclusion, 9(3), 170–188. https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-9.3.170
84.
Siddle WalkerV. (2000). Valued segregated schools for African American children in the South, 1935-1969: A review of common themes and characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 253–285. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070003253
85.
Siddle WalkerV. (2001). African American teaching in the South: 1940-1960. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 751–779. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038004751
SimonN. S.JohnsonS. M. (2015). Teacher turnover in high-poverty schools: What we know and can do. Teachers College Record, 117, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811511700305
88.
SkibaR. J.Poloni-StaudingerL.SimmonsA. B.Feggins AzzizL. R.ChungC. G. (2005). Unproven links: Can poverty explain ethnic disproportionality in special education?The Journal of Special Education, 39, 130–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224669050390030101
89.
SmithW. A.AllenW. R.DanleyL. L. (2007). “Assume the position . . . you fit the description”: Psychosocial experiences and racial battle fatigue among African American male college students. American Behavioral Scientist, 51, 551–578. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764207307742
90.
SolórzanoD. G. (1998). Critical race theory, race and gender microaggressions, and the experience of Chicana and Chicano scholars. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236926
91.
SolórzanoD. G.YossoT. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103
92.
StageF. K.WellsR. S. (2014). Critical quantitative inquiry in context. New Directions for Institutional Research, 158, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.20041
93.
SullivanA. L. (2017). Wading through quicksand: Making sense of minority disproportionality in identification of emotional disturbance. Behavioral Disorders, 43(1), 244–252. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742917732360
94.
ThompsonO. (2022). School desegregation and Black teacher employment. Review of Economics and Statistics, 104, 962–980. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00984
95.
Wasburn-MosesL. (2010). Rethinking mentoring: Comparing policy and practice in special and general education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18(32), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v18n32.2010
96.
WongV. W.RubleL. A.YuY.McGrewJ. H. (2017). Too stressed to teach? Teaching quality, student engagement, and IEP outcomes. Exceptional Children, 83, 412–427. https://10.1177/0014402917690729
97.
WoodsonA. N.PabonA. (2016). “I’m none of the above”: Exploring themes of heteropatriarchy in the life histories of Black male educators. Equity and Excellence in Education, 49(1), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2015.112146
