Date
5-16-2024
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Susan Stanley
Keywords
burnout, attrition, behavioral placement schools, anxiety, stress
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Taylor, Katherine, "Addressing the Effects of Special Education Staff Burnout in Behavioral Placement Schools: A Case Study" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5516.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5516
Abstract
The purpose of this single instrumental case study was to understand the decreased self-efficacy that leads to burnout for special education staff in a Transitional Unit school in the suburbs of the Rust Belt. The theory guiding this study was Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as it relates to the relationship between special education staff in behavioral placement schools and burnout experienced throughout their tenure due to work demands and interactions from professional and personal relationships. The single instrumental case study was chosen to analyze the lives of staff members at Ohio Vale School and their experiences with burnout. The central research question that guided this study was Why do special education staff experience decreased self-efficacy that leads to burnout? Data were collected through individual interviews conducted at the start and end of the data collection process. The second data collection point was a pre-letter that participants wrote to themselves at the start of the data collection process outlining their expectations for the school year. A post-letter was written by participants at the end of the data collection process reflecting on the expectations they had set for themselves and how they will continue with the remainder of the school year. The final data collection point was weekly check-ins in the form of structured prompts presented to participants at the end of each week. Results of this study shared that a support structure focusing on administrative presence and staffing and compensation as well as a community effort focusing on influences with the staff and influences on students were crucial in shaping the decreased self-efficacy leading to burnout in special education staff in behavioral placement schools.
