Creating & Validating a Teacher Resilience Scale in the U.S. Context

<p>The teaching force faces significant challenges, including high attrition rates and an aging workforce, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior research highlights teacher resilience as a critical factor in addressing these challenges, emphasizing its multi-dimensional and contextual nature. While several international scales have been developed to measure teacher resilience, none exist tailored to the unique educational landscape of the United States. This study developed and validated a U.S.-specific Teacher Resilience Scale (USMTRS), confirming its strong reliability and multidimensional structure. Findings showed that teacher resilience is widespread and most strongly tied to job satisfaction, while only weakly related to burnout. Results suggest that resilience is especially robust among mid-career teachers in high-need schools, highlighting its potential as a lever for supporting educator well-being and workforce stability. Future research should replicate and refine the U.S. Teacher Resilience Scale (USMTRS) across broader, more representative samples, using longitudinal and mixed-methods designs to capture causal dynamics and lived experiences. Applied studies are also needed to examine how resilience influences retention, professional development, and student outcomes, ensuring the scale informs both policy and practice.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Education, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Educational Studies

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• McCreary, Joy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rebecca Hatkoff
• Thomas Luschei

• COVID-19
• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1056

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-2078