This Data Note presents selected findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher survey related to teacher well-being, the availability of mental health and well-being supports, and teachers' intentions to leave their current teaching jobs. The findings are descriptive and intended to inform federal, state, and local education leaders and policymakers about the state of the teacher workforce.

Cover: Teacher Well-Being and Intentions to Leave
Read Online

Teacher Well-Being and Intentions to Leave

Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher Survey

by Sy Doan, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Rakesh Pandey, Ashley Woo

Download eBook for Free

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.3 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Research Questions

  1. How does teacher well-being compare to previous school years?
  2. How likely are teachers to stay in or leave their jobs during the 2022–2023 school year? What are teachers' top reasons for either staying or leaving?
  3. How do teachers describe their working conditions and access to mental health and well-being supports?

The well-being and mental health of kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) public school teachers has been a topic of national concern during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, teachers were twice as likely to report experiencing frequent job-related stress and difficulty coping with their job-related stress than the general population of working adults.

Restoring teacher well-being could improve job performance and job satisfaction and boost retention for teachers of all backgrounds. Recent media reports suggest that many districts and schools across the country are implementing new programs — or expanding existing offerings — intended to reduce teacher stress and burnout and promote well-being and retention.

This Data Note presents selected findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher survey related to teacher well-being, the availability of mental health and well-being supports, and teachers' intentions to leave their current teaching jobs. The findings in this Data Note are descriptive and intended to inform federal, state, and local education leaders and policymakers about the state of the teacher workforce.

Key Findings

  • Teachers reported better well-being in January 2023 than in 2021 and 2022, and rates of job-related stress have returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, teachers continue to report worse well-being than the general population of working adults.
  • Twenty-three percent of teachers said that they were likely to leave their job by the end of the 2022–2023 school year. Of these teachers, those who reported poor well-being were more likely than their counterparts to say that they intended to leave. Stress and disappointment of the job, salary, and number of working hours were the top reasons teachers intended to leave.
  • Among the 77 percent of teachers who were unlikely to leave their job by the end of the 2022–2023 school year, their ability to positively affect students and positive relationships with students and other teachers were the top reasons they intended to stay.
  • Twenty-five percent of teachers reported that their school or district directed them to limit discussions about political and social issues in class; 65 percent decided on their own to limit such discussions.
  • Twenty-six percent of teachers indicated that they feared for their physical safety at school; students misbehaving or having verbal altercations and fear of an active shooter were top reasons teachers feared for their safety.
  • Three-quarters of teachers reported access to at least one type of well-being or mental health support in 2023, but only slightly more than half of teachers indicated that these supports were adequate.

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was sponsored by the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers and conducted by RAND Education and Labor.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.