Necessary but Not Sufficient: School Administrator Support and Teacher Safety,Anxiety/Stress,Retention,and Victimization

Abstract

With growing concerns about school violence and teacher victimization in U.S. schools, it remains unclear if administrator support is enough to address teacher safety, anxiety and stress, and retention. Using a national sample of 5,550 pre-K–12th-grade teachers, we examined the effect of administrative support on retention intentions, the mediating effect of perceived safety and anxiety and stress, and how teacher victimization by students moderates associations between administrator support and teacher safety, anxiety and stress, and retention intentions. Path analysis revealed that administrator support related to retention intentions directly and indirectly through teacher safety and anxiety and stress. Teacher victimization by students moderated these relations such that higher rates of victimization weakened the relationship between administrator support and retention intentions.