A Causal-Comparative Study of Burnout Among Rural Elementary, Middle, and High School Teachers

There is a prevalent shortage of school teachers in the United States. Teacher burnout is a chronic issue that plagues school districts. Burnout is one of the primary causes of teachers leaving the profession altogether. The purpose of this study was to determine differences of burnout among elementary, middle, and high school teachers in a rural area. A gap in literature was addressed by comparing the burnout levels of teachers in a rural school district across all grade levels. The chosen research design for this study was a causal-comparative design. The independent variable was teachers’ grade across three levels (elementary, middle, and high school) in a rural area. The dependent variables for the research questions were emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. The Maslach Burnout Inventory Educator Survey (MBI-ES) was used to measure the dependent variables of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment of educators and those who work in school settings. The survey was given to 126 participants who were selected from a convenience sample of rural educators in a Southeast Tennessee school district. One-way ANOVAs with Bonferroni corrections were used to determine differences of burnout among the three groups of educators. Results revealed no significant differences in burnout, measured as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment, present among rural elementary, middle, and high school teachers