Giving Compass' Take:
- Surveys from more than 100 educators indicate that emerging variants in the COVID-19 pandemic are placing additional stress on teachers as they prepare to support their students heading into the third year of the pandemic.
- How can local leaders consider educator mental health when drafting education policy regarding the pandemic guidelines? How can donors help schools better support their educators during this time?
- Learn more about mental health and COVID-19.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Teachers’ mental health is closely linked to how effective they feel in the classroom, a new study of New Orleans educators has found.
Student learning loss was the top stressor cited by the teachers, followed closely by challenges related to hybrid and remote instruction. Teachers also reported rates of emotional distress that were similar to or higher than those of health care workers.
The new report is the second survey of teacher mental health released since the start of the pandemic by the Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative, a joint endeavor of Tulane University, NOLA Public Schools, the New Orleans Health Department and a number of social service agencies. It is based on conversations with 171 educators held in June 2021, before it became clear COVID-19’s Delta variant — and now Omicron — would disrupt a third school year.
White educators reported higher rates of mental health issues than their Black colleagues.
“Educators, like other first responders, have been called upon to go above and beyond to do their jobs and support students during the pandemic,” the report states. “Findings from the survey indicate that the mental health toll associated with this additional work is substantial and should not be overlooked by policymakers and school leaders as they plan for greater support and improved retention of educators moving forward.”
Here are five top takeaways:
- Educator mental health is tied to teachers’ feelings of efficacy.
- More than a third of educators met the threshold for a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, with one in five exhibiting significant symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.
- The top stressors educators reported vary somewhat by race. Black teachers were more likely to report having a loved one whose health is at high risk, to have less flexibility in their schedules and more issues with child care.
- During distance learning, teachers were deprived of time together, such as shared lunches, coffees or happy hours.
- Calls to address learning losses with more instructional time may seem justified by lagging test results, but many educators disagree.
Read the full article about educator mental health by Beth Hawkins at The 74.