Healthy educators need healthy schools: Supporting educator work-related well-being through multitiered systems of support.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified preexisting challenges for educators as manifested in high rates of workrelated stress and burnout, and educators leaving the profession in higher numbers than ever before. In this article, we highlight the urgency for work-related well-being supports for educators, with a particular focus on system changes. Individual self-care is necessary, yet insufficient. To this end, we recommend the use of a multitiered system of support framework to promote a supportive and balanced work environment for all educators, tailored to local needs. We provide a rationale for the use of a tiered model and give specific recommendations for implementation and sustainability of a continuum of supports for school-wide educator well-being. Impact and ImplicationsEducators are leaving the profession at alarming rates, resulting in critical and ongoing shortages, due in large part to high stress levels, high job demands, and underresourced schools. The present article presents a contextualized, school-wide, and multitiered approach to understanding and promoting educator work-related well-being. We provide examples of how to use a data-informed and team-based approach to identify and provide supports tailored to each school and educator.

School personnel well-being: Advancing measurement, best practices, and policy—Section 1: The role of context and competence in educator well-being.

“…The articles in the first section, Role of Context and Competence in Educator Well-Being, shared a collective focus on using a systemic view of educator well-being to shift responsibility from a within-person view of well-being. In particular, State et al (2023) articulated a comprehensive and holistic conceptual framework for understanding and supporting teacher well-being using MTSS. Most studies in the special issue considered contextual predictors of well-being including leader and relationships, personal and organizational resources, school and community characteristics, and autonomy support and perceived control.…”

“…A final set of theories that appeared in multiple studies were developed specifically to understand educator well-being. For example, the coping-competence-context (3C) theory of teacher stress (Herman et al, 2020) identifies three pathways (e.g., State et al, 2023). Finally, Jennings and Greenberg's (2009) prosocial classroom model underscores the importance of teacher social and emotional competencies in developing and sustaining positive teacher-student relations, effective classroom management, and SEL implementation for maximizing student outcomes.…”

“…As suggested by State et al (2023), effective systems for supporting teacher practices need to use efficient data systems and streams. This includes a need for both general screening measures of well-being and its correlates and more nuanced measures for specific stressors to guide supports.…”

“…One final consideration regarding the measurement of educator well-being and its correlates is social consequences. According to State et al (2023), careful consideration of privacy issues and stigma is needed before schools enact well-being screening and support. A recent article called attention to the lack of focus given to the social consequences of measurement in the education literature (Herman & Bonifay, 2023).…”

“…and/or educator competence factors that are related to their wellbeing. For example, State et al (2023) described a comprehensive model for improving educator well-being following the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. They articulated specific ways that schools can adopt and implement a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework that includes layered teacher-centered supports such as generating teacher buy-in, establishing a wellness team, defining wellness values, collecting and reviewing data streams, using the data to inform multitiered teacher school-wide, small group and individual tailored supports, and monitoring progress toward goals.…”