The Teacher Left Behind: An Analysis of Modern Day Education and its Effect on Teacher Well-Being
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Nicolette Rickert
Location
Russell Union Ballroom
Type of Research
On-going
Session Format
Poster Presentation
College
College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
Department
Department of Psychology
Abstract
In recent years, the field of education has seen a decline in students interested in teaching and an increasing number of teachers leaving the career itself. Modern education policies (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act, Every Student Succeeds Act) have shaped the psychological well-being of teachers by configuring the conditions in which they work. School environments are characterized by intense workload, frequent performance evaluations, pressures from standardized testing, and heightened emotional responsibilities. Psychological research links such environments to predictors of occupational distress along with chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and burnout (Agyapong et al., 2022; Jeon et al., 2022). A systematic literature review was conducted with an interdisciplinary approach that covers education policies, occupational psychology, and teacher workforce studies, specifically empirical research on general and special education teachers. Findings from these articles indicate that accountability mandates operate as chronic job demands, while slowly deteriorating key productive resources such as professional conversation, recovery time, and cognitive margin (Marzolino & McKim, 2024). This can contribute to compassion fatigue, secondary stress and conflict (Agyapong et al., 2022; Jeon et al., 2022; Summers, 2025). Teacher well-being appears not as a peripheral concern but as a central factor in the sustainability of modern education reform. Future directions in research and practice will be discussed.
Program Description
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Start Date
4-23-2026 10:00 AM
End Date
4-23-2026 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Griffin, Haven C., "The Teacher Left Behind: An Analysis of Modern Day Education and its Effect on Teacher Well-Being" (2026). GS4 Student Scholars Symposium. 43.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/research_symposium/2026/2026/43
The Teacher Left Behind: An Analysis of Modern Day Education and its Effect on Teacher Well-Being
Russell Union Ballroom
In recent years, the field of education has seen a decline in students interested in teaching and an increasing number of teachers leaving the career itself. Modern education policies (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act, Every Student Succeeds Act) have shaped the psychological well-being of teachers by configuring the conditions in which they work. School environments are characterized by intense workload, frequent performance evaluations, pressures from standardized testing, and heightened emotional responsibilities. Psychological research links such environments to predictors of occupational distress along with chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and burnout (Agyapong et al., 2022; Jeon et al., 2022). A systematic literature review was conducted with an interdisciplinary approach that covers education policies, occupational psychology, and teacher workforce studies, specifically empirical research on general and special education teachers. Findings from these articles indicate that accountability mandates operate as chronic job demands, while slowly deteriorating key productive resources such as professional conversation, recovery time, and cognitive margin (Marzolino & McKim, 2024). This can contribute to compassion fatigue, secondary stress and conflict (Agyapong et al., 2022; Jeon et al., 2022; Summers, 2025). Teacher well-being appears not as a peripheral concern but as a central factor in the sustainability of modern education reform. Future directions in research and practice will be discussed.
