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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Summer 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Educational Specialist (EdS)

Department

Department of Graduate Psychology

Advisor(s)

Patricia Warner

Tammy Gilligan

Deborah Kipps-Vaughan

Abstract

Teacher stress is a concern for modern day school systems because of the relationship between teacher stress and negative outcomes such as absenteeism, poorer work performance, and increased likelihood of physical and mental illness (Joseph, 2000). Teaching is reported to be one of the top highest stressful professions (Kyriacou, 2001). Much of the research identifying sources of stress is out of date when compared to the changes in education over the past ten years. Middle school has been under researched in the previous literature because the concept of the middle school is more recent compared to elementary and high school. The purpose of this study is to identify the level of stress and sources of stress perceived by middle school teachers. Further, identifying trends will aid in targeting support and interventions to decrease the level of stress felt by teachers. Each potential stressor is rated by teachers on both the frequency the factor causes stress and the intensity of the stress felt. The data was compared based on gender, years of teaching experience, and subject area to identify trends and most vulnerable populations. While no significant differences were identified between gender and years of experiences, overall level of stress varied significantly dependent upon the subject area the teacher taught.

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