Causal-Comparative Study of the Difference in Teacher Perceptions of School Climate and Teacher Occupational Stress Among Elementary, Middle, and High School Teachers

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study is to determine if there is a difference in teachers’ perceptions of school climate and teacher occupational stress among elementary, middle, and high school teachers. There is a gap in the literature pertaining to teachers’ perceptions of school climate and occupational stress in different school settings. The sample included 79 teachers from a district in eastern North Carolina. The instrument used for teacher stress was the Teacher Stress Inventory-Short survey (TSI-S), and the instrument for school climate was the Delaware School Climate Scale–Teacher/Staff (DSCS-T/S) survey. Data was collected using Survey Monkey. A one-way MANOVA was used to test the null hypothesis, which was followed by a post-hoc test. Results from the MANOVA confirmed the null hypothesis could be rejected. There is a significant relationship among the elementary, middle, and high school teachers’ perceptions of school climate and teacher stress. Moreover, the post-hoc test revealed that the elementary and high school teachers’ perceptions of the school climate were statistically significant.