The Wall Street Journal reports on a new study finding that negative classroom environments—often the result of school budget cuts—can cause students, like teachers, to feel stressed out.
According to the article:
First graders whose teachers are exhausted or lack needed materials show more signs of stress, says a study of 10,700 first-grade parents and teachers published recently in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Students in more negative environments, such as classrooms where teachers feel disrespected by their co-workers, also have more behavioral and emotional problems, after controlling for other factors, according to the study, led by Melissa Milkie, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Perhaps this occurs because teachers that lack resources “become more harsh or frustrated,” the study says. Or because “dilapidated surroundings and insufficient materials symbolically devalue children in those spaces.”
I’m pretty sure this one could be filed under “studies that point out things we already know.” Or as one commenter noted: “This seems like an Onion headline. News alert: Children in homes with no food often feel hungry.”