Teacher Burnout and Supporting Teachers of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

This article will provide a brief reflection on Garwood’s summary of research on special education teacher burnout and fidelity of implementation in delivery of evidence-based behavioral interventions. Subsequently, we provide a conceptual and empirical summary of key issues for supporting teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) through the lens of BEST in CLASS (a Tier 2 intervention supporting teacher’s use of evidence-based practices with students with or at risk for EBD). This summary will (a) outline the theoretical structure that supports how BEST in CLASS may improve teacher–student relationships and reduce teacher burnout, (b) demonstrate the influence of BEST in CLASS on teacher burnout in a sample of elementary school teachers and discuss findings, (c) propose that researchers consider burnout within the context of dynamic classroom systems, and (d) link these suggestions to theoretical frameworks. We conclude with a discussion of Garwood’s call to action and implications for future research.