Examining the intersectionality among teacher race/ethnicity, school context, and risk for occupational stress

Abstract

Combining secondary data from the National Center for Education Statistics National Teacher Principal Survey (NTPS) and Common Core of Data (CCD), this exploratory study examined the distribution of teacher race/ethnicity across the race/ethnicity of the schools in which they work and the extent that teacher and school race/ethnicity was associated with occupational stress. Findings indicate that teachers are more likely to work in schools with higher concentrations of students who match their own race/ethnicity. Both teacher and school race/ethnicity were unique predictors of a teacher being classified as at-risk for stress. Additional analyses suggested that teachers’ reported race/ethnicity significantly moderated the school effect association with stress risk. These findings have policy implications for how school workplace surveys are used as well as staffing and professional development considerations.

Elementary teacher occupational health outcomes across schools with varying resources and demographics

“…Importantly for the current study, information about teachers' appraisals of their classroom demands and resources is available in the NTPS, and prior studies were able to replicate the CARD Appraisal Index protocol with similarly themed items assessing demands and resources (Fitchett et al, 2019). This study using the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and NTPS has also found that (a) all teachers report higher levels of stress in under‐resourced, majority‐minority schools, but (b) White teachers report even higher demand levels than Black or Hispanic teachers working in majority−minority schools (Fitchett et al, 2020; McCarthy et al, 2021). These previous findings linking demography to teacher stress require the examination of other literatures, such as those that have considered the inequitable contexts in which teachers work, which is reviewed next.…”

“…Given such resource inequities, it is not surprising that Black, Hispanic, and White teachers all reported higher levels of stress when teaching in under‐resourced, majority‐minority schools than teachers working in majority White schools (Fitchett et al, 2020). Revealingly, however, White teachers report even higher demand levels than Black or Hispanic teachers when working in majority−minority schools (Bottiani et al, 2019; McCarthy et al, 2021).…”

“…This study built on previous research using the nationally representative National Center for Education Statistics' 2015−2016 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) which found that all teachers report higher levels of stress in under‐resourced, majority−minority schools, but report such demands differently according to their self‐identified race/ethnicity (Fitchett et al, 2020). Such findings, while revealing, are incomplete given that many White teachers enter the profession undereducated about systemic racism (Crowley & Smith, 2020) and demography and resources in the United States remain conflated.…”

Teacher appraisals of demand–resource imbalances in racially concentrated schools: An extension of transactional theory with Black, Hispanic, and White U.S. teachers.

“…Hypothesis 2: Teachers working in schools with higher concentrations of students of color will report higher levels of occupational stress indicators (Appraisal Index, Job Satisfaction, and Workplace Fatigue) than teachers working in the majority White schools when controlling for school poverty (NSLP). This hypothesis is based on research indicating teachers working in schools with higher percentages of non-White students report higher levels of demands (Fitchett et al, 2020) and disproportionately leave teaching (Béteille & Loeb, 2009).…”

“…This study adds to the literature examining the question of “for whom” and “under what circumstances” are teachers vulnerable to stress by examining the extent to which teachers’ appraisals vary systematically as a function of demography—specifically, the racial/ethnic identity of teachers and the students they teach. This question is particularly important, given that U.S. teachers tend to work in schools where the majority of students share the same racial/ethnic background as their own (Fitchett, Dillard, McCarthy, Lambert, & Mosley, 2020).…”