Supporting Professionals-at-Risk

Supporting Professionals-at-Risk: Evaluating Interventions

To Reduce Burnout and Improve Retention of Special Educators

by Elizabeth Cooley and Paul Yovanoff

from: Exceptional Children, 62, 336-355.

The title of the article appears to be relatively clear. It informs the reader that the general thrust of the research is that of "evaluating" programs designed to reduce burnout and turnover in a group of special education teachers who are at-risk for turnover.

The abstract provides a clear, although very brief, summary of the overall research. It aids understanding by listing the kinds of programs it is evaluating (stress management and peer collaboration interventions) as well as its independent measures (burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment). The abstract even ties the study's listed dependent measures into existing research related to turnover by mentioning that these measures have been found to be correlated with turnover.

The purpose of the study is clearly stated in two sentences which are then tied into a third sentence about the overall design. Thereby, the authors provide both conceptual and technical information about the essential research problem. Often studies state their problem only in conceptual terms; by tying it into technical terms, the reader is given a really concrete understanding of what the authors are attempting to do in their research.

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in the field. Hypotheses No formal hypotheses were formulated. However, it was noted in the review of literature that the interventions evaluated in the research (stress management and peer collaboration) had been touted as effective in reducing turnover and turnover-related problems. The inference here is that, if these programs are effective, it might be expected that it would lower burnout measures, and increase levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. However, the authors should have directly stated these expectations in the form of hypotheses rather than letting the reader just "figure it out." Definitions of Terms There is no section where terms are defined. However, the methods section clearly informs as to both the conceptual and operational definitions of key terms such as job satisfaction, burnout, and so forth. Probably, the literature review section would have been made even clearer if the conceptual definitions had been placed in it rather than in the methods section. Method of Attack The methods section was excellent. In included detailed information regarding the general research design, subject selection procedures, dependent measures, and the evaluated intervention programs. On

Category: Psychology - S