How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them

Brittany Severino

doi:10.29333/ajqr/14893

Brittany Severino ¹ ^*

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AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp. 153-166

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893

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Abstract

The population of certified special education teachers working and remaining in secondary emotional support classrooms continues to dwindle across the nation. This causes more and more students with Emotional Disturbance to work with a frequent turnover of educators or emergency-certified educators with possibly no prior experience. High school students who receive emotional support services are a vulnerable population that requires a supportive and well-trained special education teacher to help them make academic, emotional, and behavioral progress in the school setting and in achieving their post-secondary goals. This qualitative study explored five veteran schoolteachers’ experiences to identify the factors that have helped them remain in their careers and which ones discourage them from staying. The individual and focus group interviews identified several job-related factors that are consistent with previous literature (diverse student needs), evolution in some (administrator and colleague support), and different or newly identified factors (willingness to take risks, advocating for secondary student’s needs, educator’s personality) that require additional exploration.

Keywords: Emotional disturbance, emotional support, special education teachers, veteran teachers, retention

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Citation

Severino, B. (2024). How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 8(3), 153-166. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893

Severino, B. (2024). How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 8(3), pp. 153-166. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893

Severino B. How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2024;8(3), 153-166. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893

Severino, Brittany. "How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them". American Journal of Qualitative Research 2024 8 no. 3 (2024): 153-166. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893

Severino, Brittany "How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them". American Journal of Qualitative Research, vol. 8, no. 3, 2024, pp. 153-166. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893

Severino B. How Can Schools Retain Secondary Emotional Support Teachers? Ask Them. AM J QUALITATIVE RES. 2024;8(3):153-66. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/14893