How to Avoid Teacher Burnout and Increase Teacher Retention (2025)

Across the country, teacher turnover rates are improving slowly, but teacher burnout remains a persistent challenge. Educator burnout can impact the overall success of school staff, teachers, students, and communities—not to mention teacher retention.

Fortunately, research has uncovered some factors that decrease burnout and support teacher retention initiatives. Key evidence suggests that schoolwide community-building and engagement initiatives can successfully decrease teacher overwhelm. In other words, schools that consistently support and engage teachers are more likely to retain them.

In this blog, we offer an overview of best practices for avoiding teacher burnout and increasing retention.

What is teacher burnout?

Teacher burnout is “a condition in which an educator has exhausted the personal and professional resources necessary to do the job,” according to the National Education Association. Broadly, educator burnout stems from performing high demand/low control work without enough support—leading to overwhelm and lack of confidence at work.

Some specific causes of teacher burnout include managing overwhelming workloads, addressing student behavior without adequate support, and educating a broad range of students without enough resources to meet their needs. In turn, research has shown that schools with systematic engagement and teacher retention practices see lower rates of teacher burnout and turnover.

A Gallup report shows that educators are 62% less likely to leave their school when they feel engaged, noting that it is important to avoid blaming individuals for burning out. Instead, the report suggests that leaders can make systematic changes to decrease teacher burnout. These include intentional interventions that support a schoolwide culture for teacher success.

What are the signs of teacher burnout?

Symptoms of teacher burnout can vary by person and extent. With the Leichtman Burnout Scale, educators and leaders have been given a framework to help them understand the signs, levels, and supports available to burned-out teachers.

Signs of teacher burnout include:

• Feeling “not good enough”
• Relying on negative coping strategies
• Neglecting responsibilities at school and home
• Lack of interest in professional development
• Lack of interest in hobbies
• Fatigue or other physical symptoms
• Declining student outcomes
• Lack of optimism
• Irritability
• Guilt
• Isolation

How schools can help reduce teacher burnout

Often, teacher exhaustion is caused by systemic stressors, so burnout interventions that place the onus on teachers are less effective than purposeful schoolwide changes. In short, reminders or presentations about self-care or “remembering your why” do not work as well as intentional policymaking.

Research shows that educator burnout is most effectively reduced when leaders build and maintain a culture of support that is bolstered by data-based practices. Fortunately, more schools have begun to offer system-wide supports, and teacher job satisfaction is beginning to rise.

Effective supports for teacher burnout

• Hold reasonable expectations for all teachers.
• Explicitly encourage staff to use time off as needed.
• Offer consistent support to address student behavior and safety issues.
• Ensure that development opportunities are high-quality and well-resourced.
• Encourage teachers to share their views on decisions that impact them.
• Provide positive, personalized, and specific feedback frequently.
• Streamline administrative processes like planning, reporting, and communicating.
• Normalize conversations around mental health that are modeled by school leaders.
• Enact consistent safety and behavior protocols for students.
• Establish ongoing processes for teacher retention, including work/life balance policies.
• Plan initiatives to address equity concerns that can impact teacher shortages.

How does teacher burnout impact students?

In recent years, studies have uncovered a connection between teacher burnout and a perceived lack of self-efficacy in the classroom. This can trickle down to students. For example, a teacher who lacks confidence in applying classroom management tactics may unintentionally create a more disruptive classroom environment for all learners.

Since teacher stress increases student stress, both instruction and academics are impacted negatively by burnout. Student relationship-building can also suffer. Meanwhile, the lack of consistency caused by turnover can create additional challenges with student behavior.

How can school leaders improve teacher retention?

Just as teacher burnout impacts students, it also impacts retention. For this reason, many district leaders have reached beyond burnout-prevention initiatives, knowing that retaining experienced teachers boosts student success and consistency across their organization.

Here are 5 effective strategies that can increase teacher retention and address educator burnout.

1. Enact comprehensive systems to improve teacher retention.
   When schools initiate and fund system-wide policies that promote a culture of appreciation, connection, and efficacy, they retain more educators.
2. Enhance teacher engagement though positive and personalized feedback. Acknowledging achievements consistently, creating reliable networks of support, ensuring that teachers have adequate time for planning, and encouraging work/life balance are all essential elements for a positive school environment.
3. Empower educator voice and choice. Teachers feel valued when they are asked for feedback, and their suggestions can lead to impactful solutions, especially around school climate, feedback, resources, engagement, and relationship-building.
4. Support teachers’ mental health With greater levels of anxiety and depression among educators, it’s critical for district leaders to model and normalize conversations around mental health. Burnout is known to decrease when schools support teacher mental health and enable educators to take time off as needed and allowed by district policies. When considering the widespread challenge of teacher burnout, it is also important to note that schools are facing counselor shortages, which may lead teachers to adopt a counselor role without proper training. This can lead to exhaustion, as teachers often lack resources or training on social-emotional learning.
5. Support community-building across your school. When teachers have a voice, feel heard, trust their leaders, and rely on colleague support, they are more likely to feel invested in their work. One way to promote growth in these areas is to initiate “instructional rounds.” Instructional rounding is an ongoing practice that involves teachers visiting a colleague’s classroom to learn from them. The most successful instructional rounds involve school leaders who ensure that teachers have coverage and support to observe other educators and share feedback. In seeing other teachers’ approaches—from subject-area instruction to classroom management practices—teachers grow comfortable building collegial relationships that support growth. Across the board, instructional rounds help teachers define and unpack challenges in their own practice.

5 best practices for teacher retention

In a recent poll, PowerSchool found that a supportive work environment, positive climate, and clear growth opportunities were among the top organizational activities that help retain teachers. Here are five best practices to consider.

1. Foster a positive work environment – Leaders can help to create a supportive school culture where teachers feel valued and respected. Schools thrive with open communication and explicit reminders to teachers about policies and systems that support their wellbeing.
2. Offer professional development opportunities – Teachers are lifelong learners who seek continuous growth. Schools can show that they invest in teachers through workshops, training, leadership programs, and personalized coaching.
3. Recognize and reward achievements – Celebrate teachers’ hard work and successes through awards, shoutouts, and regular appreciation. Some schools also opt to recognize and reward outstanding teachers based on performance or exhibiting essential schoolwide values.
4. Strengthen communication and collaboration – Instructional rounding is one process that systematically encourages collaboration among school staff. Coaching or mentoring is another valuable tool that enhances open dialogue with check-ins, feedback sessions, and collaborative planning sessions that help build trust and teamwork.
5. Leverage technology to reduce workload – When schools streamline administrative tasks, this puts a lighter load on teachers and enables them to focus more on educating students. Fewer administrative tasks and a greater sense of purpose can reduce teacher burnout. Tasks that can be simplified with software can include lesson planning, grading, assessing, communicating with families, report-writing, and collaboration.

Decrease burnout and improve teacher retention with PowerSchool

While teacher burnout leads to lower retention rates, there are research-backed ways to decrease burnout. These include streamlining administrative processes, offering more teacher support, and building relationships through mentorship.
That’s why we created the PowerSchool Talent Recruitment & Retention Cloud. This platform connects tools for real-time instructional coaching, goal setting, and personalized professional development to help teachers grow and succeed using data-driven strategies.

The Talent Recruitment & Retention Cloud helps schools retain effective educators and help them thrive. Learn how our comprehensive platform enhances teacher and student success.