Date of Award
Fall 2025
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Matthew J. Irvin
Abstract
Teacher retention remains a leading area of focus in the United States. Recent research efforts have examined the effects of specific work-related experiences on teacher retention. In comparison to teaching in a general education classroom, special education teachers often face increased levels of job demands that can influence the ways in which existing resources may or may not balance out such challenges. The study is grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model, a theoretical framework that has been used widely in both occupational and, more recently, educational research focusing on the specific demands and resources situated within teacher working conditions. This study examines the perceptions of working conditions for two groups of teachers: those teaching in a general education classroom and those teaching in a special education classroom (self-contained and resource type). The sample included a statewide sample 19,792 classroom teachers (general and special education) collected in the spring of 2025.
Analyses examined the differences in perceptions of working conditions amongst both groups of teachers using invariance testing. Additionally, this study investigated the relationships of working conditions on proximal outcomes, job satisfaction and intention to stay using structural equation modeling.
Latent variable modeling revealed that general and special education teachers interpret working conditions, demands and resources constructs, similarly. However, special education teachers perceived more resource availability and less frequent demands in comparison to general education teachers. For special education teachers, perceptions of their demands and resources were strong predictors of job satisfaction and likelihood of remaining in their role. Lastly, contextual demographics, geographic locale, and years of experience, do influence perceptions of working conditions, and thus shape how satisfied a special education teacher is with the job and intention to stay.
The findings of this study have important insights into how general and special education teachers perceive their working conditions as well as how specific demands and resources may play a role in predicting special education teachers’ job satisfaction.
Rights
© 2025, Alyssa Michelle Raygoza
Recommended Citation
Raygoza, A. M.(2025). How Do Working Conditions Effect Teacher Job Satisfaction and Intention to Stay: Retaining Special Education Teachers. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/8602