Predictors for stress in special education teachers: Policy lessons for teacher support and special needs education development during the COVID pandemic and beyond

ABSTRACT

There has been little research on the challenges facing special education teachers (SETs), since the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to identify SETs predictors for stress and barriers to teaching effectiveness. Using a mixed methods cross-sectional design we sampled six public sector special needs institutes. A total of 205 quantitative surveys and 21 qualitative interviews were collected, respectively. Logistic bivariate regression results revealed seven factors predicting higher stress in SETs and qualitative themes further shed light on barriers to teacher efficacy. We conclude with key recommendations for the Special Education Sector and support for SETs, with implications for other developing regions.

Abbreviations: SET: special edcation teachers; SSN: students with special needs

KEYWORDS:

• Special education teachers
• special education sector
• students with special needs
• teacher support
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2022.2077498

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the ORIC Forman Christian College University [8664].