Teacher Appraisals of Occupational Wellbeing Before and After COVID-19

Abstract This study examined teacher’s occupational health across four waves of a district-wide public school climate survey: 2019-2020 (Pre-COVID), 2021-2022 (COVID), 2022-2023 (COVID Recovery), and 2023-2024 (Post-COVID). Each wave included approximately 1800 - 1900 teachers and response rates ranged from 60 - 80%. Multi-level modeling examined teachers’ self-reports of stress vulnerability, instructional support, and job satisfaction at level one across each wave. Level two was modeled at the school level and included principal turnover and free/reduced-price lunch percentage for the 47 schools in each wave (31 elementary, 10 middle, and 6 high schools). There were statistically significant increases in teacher stress vulnerability, relative to the Pre-COVID wave, for both the COVID Recovery and Post COVID waves. Instructional Support and Job Satisfaction scores, however, remained relatively stable until the Post-COVID wave, when an increase in Instructional Support was found. Most of the variance for each outcome measure, across waves and using the total sample, was at level one, although substantial variability existed between schools at level two. Free and reduced-price lunch percentage and principal turnover were associated with lower Instructional Support and Job Satisfaction. Teacher’s stress vulnerability was associated with both Instructional Support and Job Satisfaction across school levels.