Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children's adjustment in high needs elementary schools

Abstract

The current paper presents two related sets of findings on the classroom context in high needs elementary schools. First, we investigated change over one school term in teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment) and classroom quality (emotional and instructional support, organization) and assessed the degree to which burnout and classroom quality co-varied over the term with each other and with aggregate externalizing behaviors (average child externalizing behaviors in the classroom). These analyses describe the classroom context in which the children are nested. Second, we examined change over one school term in children's social adjustment (relationship quality with teachers and friends) and academic adjustment (school engagement, literacy skills) and assessed how adjustment co-varied over time with child externalizing behaviors and was predicted by teacher burnout, classroom quality and aggregate externalizing behaviors. These models were tested with a sample of low-income, ethnically diverse children in kindergarten to grade 3 and their teachers. The children and teachers were assessed three times over one school term. Personal accomplishment co-varied positively with overall classroom quality. Reciprocally, classroom organization co-varied positively with overall teacher burnout. Aggregate externalizing behaviors co-varied positively with depersonalization and negatively with personal accomplishment and overall classroom quality, including emotional support and organization. In turn, teacher burnout interacted with aggregate externalizing behaviors to predict change in child social and academic adjustment. Alternatively, classroom quality interacted with aggregate and child externalizing behaviors to predict change in child social and academic adjustment.