Belk Foundation funds ECU’s teacher burnout research

Professors and co-primary investigators Drs. Mary Cate Komoski and Julie Stanley designed THRIVE (Teacher Health and Resilience in Vital Early-Career Years) as a mixed-methods study exploring how burnout unfolds in preservice and early-career teachers across North Carolina.

The work is a collaborative project between the College of Health and Human Performance (HHP), where Komoski works as an assistant professor of human development and family science (HDFS), and the College of Education (COE), where Stanley works as an assistant professor of elementary education.

Research aims to prepare future teachers, like these College of Education graduates, with the mental well-being needed to sustain their passion for teaching. (Photo by Kristen Martin)

The Belk Foundation investment will launch THRIVE and fund the first two years of the project. During this time, Komoski and Stanley will recruit participants, conduct surveys and focus groups, and identify potential funding partners for the remainder of the project.

“We’re deeply grateful to the Belk Foundation for their investment in this important work,” said Dr. Nicole Bromfield, HHP dean. “Their support allows us to examine the real and evolving challenges facing new teachers, and by extension, the children and communities they serve. In HHP, we’re committed to research that makes a difference in our communities. This grant supports a powerful interdisciplinary collaboration that strengthens our programs in HDFS and the COE, and also advances our shared goal of promoting well-being and resilience in educational settings.”

The Belk Foundation invests in public education by supporting programs that produce measurable results for students in North Carolina. The foundation’s key areas of focus are K-3 achievement and excellent teachers and leaders. The foundation is dedicated to identifying and advancing ways to expand the pool of well-prepared beginning teachers and extend the reach of highly effective teachers.

“The preparation of professional educators is at the heart of the College of Education’s mission. Thanks to this investment from the Belk Foundation, our faculty researchers will be better equipped to help us prepare students for long, successful careers in education — while also giving them the tools to avoid burnout,” said Dr. André Green, dean of the College of Education. “We are committed to training the best educators possible. For the region’s children to truly thrive, these educators must remain in the classroom, not only for long and productive careers, but with the mental well-being needed to sustain their passion for teaching.”

A 2022 Gallup poll found that 44% of K-12 teachers reported feeling burned out very often or always, compared to 30% of other workers. Through their study, Komoski and Stanley hope to gain insight into ways EPPs can better prepare teachers to navigate the field without experiencing that emotional toll. The findings from this research are expected to influence training solutions, setting up students for successful teaching careers.

“Exploring teacher burnout is critical because teachers deserve better. They’re underpaid, overworked and tasked with one of the most important jobs in our society,” Komoski said. “When burnout is widespread across the profession, we need to ask ourselves: Is that acceptable? Do the people who teach our kids deserve to feel exhausted and unsupported every day? Or should we be doing more to understand and address the problem so that we can take better care of the people who take care of our children?”

Komoski said that by identifying key risk and protective factors related to burnout, they aim to drive systemic improvement for undergraduate EPPs, ensuring they better equip future educators and support the retention of effective teachers.

Komoski and Stanley said their mission is to produce high-quality, evidence-based research that strengthens EPPs and supports teacher candidates in managing the emotional demands of the profession.

Susannah Berry, assistant dean in HHP and teaching assistant professor of birth through kindergarten teacher education, said she is excited to see the impact of the THRIVE research.

“Now more than ever, we need to find ways to keep experienced educators in the classroom and attract the next generation of professional educators,” Berry said. “I am excited to see how this research will aid in preventing educator burnout, promote classroom excellence and build professional educator resilience.”

Komoski and Stanley seek to recruit 400 future teachers to participate in THRIVE. Participants will be paid to provide data through surveys and focus groups over the course of three years, which will include their senior year of college, when they are student teachers, and the first two years of teaching in a classroom.

The first wave of eligible future teachers should be graduating in spring 2026 from a four-year teaching program in North Carolina (early childhood, elementary, special education, music, art, physical education, etc.) and planning to teach at the pre-K or elementary level in North Carolina after graduation. Study participants may earn a total of $300 and will complete surveys throughout the project. A subset of participants who participate in focus groups may be provided additional compensation. Universities with at least five students enrolled in the study will receive aggregate results specific to their school at the conclusion of the study.

“In this initial phase of the THRIVE study, our goal is to better understand which characteristics, experiences or contexts may make some teachers more or less susceptible to burnout,” Stanley said. “By listening closely to new and preservice teachers, we hope to identify patterns that can inform how educator preparation programs might more intentionally support candidates from the very beginning.”

Using a mixed-methods approach, Komoski and Stanley will analyze factors such as personality, self-care habits, resilience and self-efficacy in teachers to develop actionable interventions for EPPs. Their findings will inform targeted support strategies that enhance teacher well-being and improve retention.

University EPP coordinators interested in sharing THRIVE recruitment materials with their students can contact the research team by email.