Self-Efficacy, Burnout, and Intent to Leave for Teachers of Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Due to ongoing and severe teacher shortages, preparing and sustaining a skilled special education teacher (SET) workforce is a top policy priority. Understanding predictors of SETs’ intent to leave is crucial for policy makers and school leaders alike, as they seek to develop interventions to support retention efforts. In this study, we examined attrition intentions among SETs serving students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs), using longitudinal survey data from a nationally representative sample of teachers in the 2019–2020 school year (fall-winter-spring). We measured teachers’ self-efficacy and burnout in fall, winter, and spring as well as teachers’ intent to leave in spring. We found all three dimensions of fall burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) had an indirect effect on spring intent to leave. All three dimensions of burnout in the spring predicted intent to leave, as did winter scores on depersonalization. Cross-time relationships between of dimensions of self-efficacy and burnout were revealed; however, at no timepoint was self-efficacy a significant predictor of intent to leave in spring, whether directly or indirectly. We discuss implications for both practitioners and researchers.