Bucking Burnout

Just 20 minutes from the Twin Cities are two neighboring school districts: Mounds View and White Bear Lake. Rivals on the field, they are also thought partners, collaborators, and friends. The districts share much in common, including the natural beauty of their neighborhood lakes, strong community support for their school systems, and relatively high staff retention. Some spouses work across district lines; twin brothers lead rival high schools; and leaders, educators, and staff throughout both districts share a commitment to district-union collaboration to reach the best possible outcomes for students.

However, Stacey Vanderport, president of the Mounds View Education Association, and Tiffany Dittrich, president of the White Bear Lake Area Educators, knew that something had shifted for educators since the pandemic. “We had an increasing number of members saying, ‘We’re tapped out, burned out, and need support,’ ” said Stacey.¹ Tiffany similarly observed that while her educators’ “passion for the students and families they serve was commendable, it was taking a toll on the well-being of many.”²

When an opportunity to partner with Educators Thriving, an organization dedicated to improving educator well-being, came through an AFT grant, Tiffany jumped in. In the summer of 2022, 40 of her members engaged in a six-part Educators Thriving course to support personal development. By October, participants reported higher levels of positive emotion and significantly lower levels of emotional exhaustion compared to nonparticipants. After learning about the work in White Bear at a gathering of AFT leaders in January 2023, Stacey wanted to get started in Mounds View.

“Well-being” efforts are often superficial self-care strategies; Tiffany and Stacey knew that approach would not land well with their members. They were looking to provide educators immediate relief and an opportunity to explore, alongside their districts, systems-level changes to create the conditions necessary for all staff and students to thrive.

Educators Thriving offers personal development sessions with empirically based strategies to improve well-being. Topics range from prioritizing and time management to identifying core values and having difficult conversations. Staff can engage in the sessions with districtwide cohorts or school site colleagues. Educators Thriving also works alongside school and system leaders to improve workplace well-being using an educator-generated survey (available at go.aft.org/li5) developed with AFT members nationwide. The survey asks research-backed questions to measure six key factors associated with well-being: responsive leadership and supportive culture, acceptance, adaptability, personal well-being, growth, and depletion. The majority of survey items relate to school site leadership and culture; the rest address individual mindsets or dispositions that are strongly correlated with well-being and job satisfaction.³

Approaching the Districts

For both Tiffany and Stacey, this research-based approach was compelling. In White Bear, Tiffany explained, “the survey came to our attention at a fortuitous time when the leadership survey we were preparing to launch had major technical difficulties. Not only was the [Educators Thriving] survey ready, the research behind its development was compelling; the ability to customize through partnership with the [Educators Thriving] team was a perk.”

Stacey’s district had faced similar hurdles, creating a survey that “wasn’t well-received due in large part to staff coming out of the pandemic with higher levels of stress.” The internal survey led to “awareness by both the district and the union that we needed something sustainable, on a yearly basis, building by building.” Having a research-based measure lent credibility and trust to the process for the district and the union.

In White Bear, Educators Thriving met numerous times with union and district leaders to establish clear parameters for data sharing. Everyone wanted to ensure that the survey would not be used punitively—its purpose was to inform leadership development. Site-level responsive leadership and school culture results would be accessible only by the district leadership and the relevant school site principal as part of the administrative feedback and coaching process. Only broad district-level data around leadership and culture, and trends related to educator dispositions and well-being, would be shared with the union. According to Tiffany, it was important to her and her co-leader of this effort in the district, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Alison Gillespie, that “we were fully transparent around why this tool had grabbed our attention, how it had been developed, and how the data would be used to support our ongoing collaborative work around school culture and continuous improvement.”

Stacey similarly worked with Mounds View’s district leaders to ensure this process was well-received across all levels of the system. Through bargaining, they agreed to explore adult well-being; working with Educators Thriving and using the survey was a financial and verbal commitment from both sides. Stacey has since paired up with the head of Human Resources, Julie Coffey, to facilitate the rollout of the survey and the personal development. Julie shared, “We have a talented team of educators who give a tremendous amount of effort to helping their students be successful. That effort also contributes to staff feeling overwhelmed. It was clear to us that we should put some systems in place to measure and improve well-being districtwide.”⁴ The two worked alongside the principals association to determine how to message the survey to school site leaders and staff. They mutually determined that to realize meaningful improvements, they needed at least a three-year commitment to this work.

Launching the Survey

For the survey to be a success, educators and administrators in White Bear and Mounds View needed to understand its development, purpose, and use. Having Educators Thriving, a neutral organization, facilitate the process eased concerns about data manipulation and increased trust.

In White Bear, Tiffany and Alison shared the survey with principals and the union’s executive committee to make necessary adjustments and include a few customized items, including questions about district-leader support. Next, they coauthored a statement about the survey launch and sent communications districtwide. Everyone in White Bear knew that improving educator well-being was a joint effort. While Tiffany met with building representatives to encourage participation, Alison worked with principals to carve out time in staff meetings for taking the survey. Fliers were posted in staff rooms and common spaces, and frequent reminders were sent with participation updates. Their hard work paid off: during their first year of administering the survey, they had nearly 80 percent participation across all buildings. It was harder to reach classified staff, but the high response rate of certified educators was encouraging.

When it was time to share White Bear’s results, Educators Thriving met with district leaders first to review themes that emerged districtwide. Following their data-sharing agreements, only Alison and the superintendent had access to all schools’ data; principals had access to their staff’s data. Tiffany and the union leadership team had access to broad trends and more detailed data related to educator mindsets and dispositions, which gave them ideas for how to better support members’ mental health.

Mounds View followed suit one year later, in the spring of 2024. Stacey and Julie carved out time for their respective teams to learn about the survey and make recommendations about additional questions, such as feedback about onboarding. Principals were briefed, with an understanding that they would see their own data first, then share results with their staff in the fall. Many staff felt that previous surveys had gathered dust since results were never shared with participants to inform action; therefore, closing the loop on communication was critical. Stacey and Julie leveraged building reps and staff meeting time to ensure a high response rate. As a result, Mounds View had nearly 80 percent of their certified staff complete the survey (it plans to work with other bargaining units in years to come).

Unpacking Results

With such high participation rates, leaders across Mounds View and White Bear were confident that their results were meaningful.

In Mounds View, which prides itself on collaboration and shared decision making, Stacey was surprised that this emerged as an area of need: “We have a structure that supports continuous instructional improvement, and seeing that there are gaps in this was telling and definitely a focus area to rebuild,” particularly since the pandemic. In contrast, seeing that multilingual and special education teachers’ workload was leading to higher depletion for these staff members was unsurprising, but Stacey was “grateful to have solid data confirming it.” Mentoring was another area that indicated the need for system-wide improvement, but Stacey was confident that having the data would “help us move forward in the bargaining process.”

Mounds View district and union leaders saw the data first, followed by school site administrators, then building leadership teams, and ultimately each school site’s staff. Having multiple opportunities to process the results and then the chance to bring in other staff helped leaders (principals in particular) trust the data and internalize the feedback. This process wasn’t entirely smooth—some staff reported that the administrators hid data, and the depth of data-based conversations varied across campuses—but this was just year one.

White Bear, which was in year two of survey implementation during the spring of 2024, was starting to build the system-wide knowledge base to understand, share, and act on the data. Tiffany shared that the data have helped “interrogate our assumptions and combat false narratives around how everyone is feeling” by eliminating “guesswork when it comes to identifying areas of support and assessing whether or not what we’ve tried is working.” Sometimes what is offered and how people receive it are different; gathering feedback has helped with considering alternatives and eliciting changes.

Although Tiffany often hears about workload stress, she was surprised to see that educators with the most experience reported higher levels of depletion than those with the least, especially since the district has relatively high retention compared to other districts. Focus groups confirmed that career educators were experiencing great overwhelm stemming from a variety of new initiatives in Minnesota, such as the READ Act,⁵ which requires extensive professional development for all elementary educators. Other district changes—such as the unification of two high schools, school site relocations, and a shift to standards-based grading—also contributed. Figuring out how to alleviate member depletion and honor necessary changes districtwide is an ongoing challenge, but the data helped identify possible first steps.

Interestingly, White Bear educators who reported the most collaboration time per week also reported higher well-being than their colleagues who reported less collaboration time. “It’s ironic that education, a profession so focused on students and interaction, allows very little time for practitioners to connect,” said Tiffany. Figuring out how to build in this time is one of the things she and her district leaders are exploring. Simply allocating more hours isn’t going to work if staff aren’t equipped to use their time well or if it requires forgoing other core responsibilities.

In both districts, the data have helped union, school, and district leaders prioritize. Tiffany believes the survey has “helped distill a really complex problem into more manageable components.” It helps “identify where people are,” said Stacey. “We always say we’re data-driven and use data for the good of the system, and now we finally have that data to use.”

Turning Data to Action

Survey results in both districts indicated there were three areas to address: districtwide shifts, school site leadership and culture, and member-directed work.

Districtwide Shifts

At the district level, certain trends emerged in Mounds View and White Bear related to communication, decision making, and student policies and procedures. However, change takes time, even given both districts’ long-term commitments to continuous improvement.

As Stacey said, “We knew we really needed to commit to at least three years of dedicated well-being work as a starting point for long-term systemic change.” It is “one of the many important ways we’ve partnered with our district, and yet another example of the way we align our union-district work to support adults and students in our system.”

In White Bear, Alison has also taken the opportunity for feedback seriously. In 2024, she asked school principals to take the survey to identify ways she and her team could improve. She and Tiffany have worked together to consistently send the message that, as she put it, “of course we continue to attack systemic elements that contribute to depletion, and there are things educators can do individually, and immediately, to combat depletion.”⁶ Systemic changes are complex, often slow, and rarely within the locus of control of only one person. Thankfully, there were factors that district leaders could unite around and focus on, particularly improvements in communication and visibility.

School Site Support

Of the six factors that predict educator well-being (and thus are measured by the survey), responsive leadership and supportive culture is the most significant. Educators Thriving found, during the 2022 pilot study to develop the survey, that over 50 percent of the variance in individual well-being was predicted by perceptions of school site leadership.⁷ Similar research has found that principals have an outsized impact on staff culture, morale, and retention.⁸ For that reason, Mounds View and White Bear built in principal development opportunities to complement the well-being survey process. So often, leaders are trained on instruction, compliance, and budgets but not on how to lead for well-being.

In 2023, during its first year with the survey, White Bear offered school leaders at the secondary level an opportunity to work with Educators Thriving and district coaches to enhance their responsive leadership. Since then, Tiffany has seen “site-level administrators lean into the data and work with their teacher-leader teams to problem-solve around supports.” Additional school-level support includes monthly principal or leadership team check-ins about staff well-being, principal cohort gatherings to share common strategies and reflect on both personal and professional well-being, and professional development seminars for school site staff based on site-specific data. Elementary principals have since been invited to participate, and many jumped at the opportunity.

At one school, educators reported overwhelmingly positive perceptions of their school leader but also unusually high levels of depletion and difficulty with their personal well-being. In response, Educators Thriving led a 90-minute session for staff on prioritization. Staff reflected on important but not urgent actions that would enhance their well-being, conducted individual time audits, and learned a research-based strategy related to goal completion. During the session, many realized that they shared similar objectives; a walking club and book club formed organically among staff.

At another site with a more turbulent staff culture, data suggested a need to improve communication amid conflict. Educators Thriving delivered a professional development session in which staff reflected on their personal conflict style and role-played new communication techniques using realistic school-based scenarios.

Two years in, Tiffany was hearing positive feedback from members and administrators: “We are seeing the data inform site-level conversations around culture and the kind of support educators need from their leaders. Further, members have grown less reticent and more excited when they see that an Educators Thriving seminar is part of the plan for professional learning.” Year-to-year survey results confirmed that, slowly but surely, shifts are happening. Members reported slightly higher levels of responsive leadership and supportive culture from 2023 to 2024 and lower levels of depletion.

Mounds View only recently started offering this level of school-site support. With 15 schools across the district, they opted to deepen the work in five schools per year over the next three years, ensuring that everyone will have a chance to participate in site-based professional learning.

Direct-to-Educator Supports

While system and school site change can take time, there are ways to support individual member well-being and offer immediate relief from stress and depletion. Tiffany has found an innovative way to support her members quickly. This school year, the union offered a wellness app designed by and for educators called VioletCares. Who participates is entirely anonymous, but so far 65 educators in White Bear are using it regularly.

Mounds View is offering the complete Educators Thriving program to members who opt in. Participants join one of two cohorts and meet for two-hour sessions on Zoom every few weeks with other educators across the district. Stacey and Julie worked hard on the program launch to ensure members felt that their time spent on personal well-being was valuable and recognized. Those who complete the program and required assignments can earn three credits (the equivalent of 45 hours of learning), which can help move them up the salary scale.

Working together, Stacey and Julie created a scope and sequence to meet the needs of educators, largely based on the survey results. Participants start by learning about the five common pitfalls of the educator experience: overwhelm, personal neglect, fixed mindset, unexpected challenges, and isolation. Then they learn about goal and priority setting, conflict and communication, apology, habits, time management, and boundaries. The core focus is individual, research-based strategies that can help educators understand and focus on their own well-being.

The first cohort launched in August and the second in November 2024, with more than 100 educators participating. The online interactive sessions begin with a check-in and use a mood meter to help participants consider “How am I doing after a full day?” By identifying our emotions and putting words to feelings, we lower our level of stress and dysregulation.⁹ Participants have begun using the mood meter with fellow educators and students alike.

Next, participants reflect on the previous session and the extent to which they’ve used the strategies learned. They share in small groups, which remain consistent throughout the course. This gives people a chance to get comfortable and increases commitment to one another as well as a safe space to connect.

After personal reflection and small-group discussion, sessions turn to applying a new strategy. The goal is that people walk away with something they can use immediately. One participant shared, “I liked how we had concrete steps to support us with the topic; very practical and helpful tools that are applicable to personal and workplace life.” (For an in-depth example of a session, see “Setting Boundaries.”)

Each session is grounded in research, helping build trust and confidence even among those who are skeptical of devoting time to well-being. This has been a compelling component of the work: “I love discussing concepts that resonate and seeing them tied to data; that speaks volumes!” shared one Mounds View educator.

The Educators Thriving team frequently reviews participant feedback and monitors impact through pre- and post-program evaluations. Typically, Educators Thriving sees statistically significant reductions in emotional exhaustion (a key indicator of burnout) and anxiety and improvements in well-being indicators such as positive emotion.¹⁰ In the 2023–24 school year, 92 percent of participants nationwide reported that “the program made my job feel more sustainable” and 94 percent agreed that it “helped to improve my well-being.” Session by session, feedback has been similarly positive among Mounds View participants; 95 percent agreed the program improved their well-being and 85 percent agreed it has made their job feel more sustainable.

Key Learnings (So Far)

For White Bear and Mounds View, the road to increased educator well-being did not start with the survey or partnership with Educators Thriving, but with years of intentional collaboration. Labor-management partnerships in these neighboring districts created the foundation for well-being work to fully take root. Tiffany said about White Bear, “We share a mutual belief that our students and staff benefit immensely from our shared commitment to problem-solving. We also know that when our educators are well, their students thrive.” And Julie from Mounds View shared, “The job of an educator is more demanding than ever, and educators everywhere deserve support for their well-being. When districts and unions come together to provide this support, it shows staff that we’re all in this together.”

In both cases, starting with districtwide measurement and in-depth support at just a few sites built trust over time, and the focus on well-being didn’t get lost amid other system-wide initiatives. Well-being work can be quite personal, and not everyone feels they have the professional bandwidth to jump in. Allowing educators to opt in to a cohort and offering support like the VioletCares app helped these educator-facing well-being opportunities grow organically. And, the annual well-being survey indicates whether they are on the right track.

It took work to get everyone on board and to figure out an approach that would serve the needs of multiple stakeholders. Building capacity and sustaining focus among district leaders and school administrators, educators, and staff takes time and effort. Educators Thriving intends to be a catalyst so that ultimately each district can sustain measurement and supports internally.

For anyone wondering if they are ready to embark on this kind of work, Tiffany shares this advice:

Don’t allow the complexities of this problem keep you from getting started. What works at this time may or may not work for all, and/or it may or may not work in all situations. Communicate closely throughout the process and be intentional about your goals and the path toward getting there. Educators Thriving offers educators a channel for communicating their needs, which creates opportunities to work together on the problem. That channel amplifies the voice of educators and helps educators and school leaders identify concrete issues to address and a process by which they can monitor progress.

By elevating educator voice and well-being, Tiffany and Stacey are strengthening their school and district communities one step—and one survey—at a time.

Harriet B. Fox, a former special education teacher and administrator, leads research and evaluation at Educators Thriving. Laura Andersen, who began her career as a Spanish immersion kindergarten teacher, leads partnerships at Educators Thriving. Ashton Fandel is a project manager for Educators Thriving. Katie LaPointe, a former third-grade teacher, leads partner implementation support for Educators Thriving.

Endnotes

1. S. Vanderport, interview by H. Fox et al., September 26, 2024.

2. T. Dittrich, email message to H. Fox et al., September 12, 2024.

3. Beyond Burnout: A Roadmap to Improve Educator Well-Being (Washington, DC: AFT and Educators Thriving, July 2023), aft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2023/Beyond_Burnout_A_Roadmap_to_Improve_Educator_Wellbeing.pdf.

4. J. Coffey, email message to H. Fox et al., October 7, 2024.

5. Minnesota Department of Education, “READ Act,” education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/READ.

6. A. Gillespie, presentation to the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, October 8, 2024.

7. H. Fox et al., Beyond Burnout: Measuring Educator Well-Being Research Report 2023 (Washington, DC: Educators Thriving and AFT, 2023), educatorsthriving.org/_files/ugd/c9e74e_87f88ba07b1a446cae1a8a40eb500f31.pdf.

8. J. Lambersky, “Understanding the Human Side of School Leadership: Principals’ Impact on Teachers’ Morale, Self-Efficacy, Stress, and Commitment,” Leadership and Policy in Schools 15, no. 4 (2016): 379–405; and D. Shell, C. Hurt, and H. White, “Principal Characteristics’ Effect on Teacher Retention: A Systematic Review,” Educational Research and Reviews 18, no. 6 (June 2023): 104–13.

9. J. Torre and M. Lieberman, “Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling as Implicit Emotion Regulation,” Emotion Review 10, no. 2 (2018): 116–24.

10. Beyond Burnout: A Roadmap.

[Photos courtesy of ISD 624 and Mounds View Education Association]