Teachers have faced escalating levels of verbal and physical aggression since schools reopened following the pandemic. A negative school climate adversely affects teacher retention and heightens staff stress and anxiety. But when teachers feel supported by their principals, especially regarding student discipline, they experience less stress and feel safer on the job.
A nationally representative survey of 5,500 P-12 teachers shows a positive correlation between a teacher’s intention to transfer or quit the profession and their perception of administrator support. Higher levels of support boost teacher retention because teachers feel safer at work. The study results were published in July in the Educational Researcher, a journal published by the American Educational Research Association.
Principal support can be “massively effective in promoting teacher well-being,” said Andrew Perry, the lead author of the study and a senior lecturer at Ohio State University. “Principals who simply communicate with their teachers and show them that they’re there, that they have their backs, can have [a] positive impact on school climate.”
Supportive principals are clearly linked to higher teacher retention—except in one scenario: teachers who are highly victimized by students, parents, or even colleagues. The results yielded an odd effect: Teachers who were highly victimized were less anxious and stressed than teachers who reported lower levels of victimization. Perry and his co-authors theorized it’s because these teachers are certain they’re quitting.
“They may be thinking, ‘I’m getting out of here, and therefore, it doesn’t bother me as much. … And that’s a huge problem because it masks the actual goings-on that when victimization occurs, teachers aren’t going to put up with it. They’re going to leave,” Perry added.
Principal support is necessary but not sufficient
Teachers face higher levels of verbal aggression—such as slurs, insults, and gestures—than physical aggression, like getting bitten, scratched, or having objects thrown at them. But even nonphysical aggression, Perry said, can compound over time and create an unsafe and traumatic work environment for them.
Teacher attrition is lower than at its peak right after the pandemic, but 18% of teachers polled in 2026 said they were likely to leave their jobs in the 2025-26 school year, and 55% of teachers reported that they experienced frequent job-related stress. Being highly victimized is an added stressor that can push teachers over the edge.
Victimization can have a numbing effect
Among the highly victimized group of teachers, high levels of principal support don’t change teachers’ perceptions about safety, Perry added. The violence numbs the effect of principal support, so increasing administrative support alone may not be enough to stem teacher attrition.
Schools need to prevent this violence as much as possible, instead of just dealing with the consequences. “This is a call to action for practitioners, policymakers, and future researchers to really get a handle on this victimization, to try to prevent it,” said Perry. “Principal support can do its good job to make teachers feel safe … and avoid an attrition crisis among teachers.”
Discipline policies can influence teacher victimization
How a school addresses student discipline is directly linked to the levels of violence faced by teachers. Restorative discipline policies, which focus on preventing violence, are more effective in reducing teacher victimization than zero-tolerance, exclusionary policies, research indicates.
“There’s plenty of literature to back that up, showing that if you expel kids as your primary approach, when the children return to the school, they’re very bitter, very angry, and it tends to snowball into further problems down the line,” said Perry.
In a 2024 study, Perry evaluated whether different kinds of policies—school hardening, zero-tolerance, restorative practices, and crisis intervention—were perceived to be effective by teachers.
Exclusionary discipline and school hardening policies (such as the installation of metal detectors and security cameras) were associated with higher odds of teachers experiencing violence. By contrast, prevention strategies that foster better student-teacher relationships, focus on counseling, and incentivize positive behavior improved school climate and reduced the likelihood of violence against educators.
Big policy shift or little changes?
Several states have passed school hardening or exclusionary policies to curb student misbehavior and protect educators. That trend could make it more difficult to mitigate violence against teachers. While principals don’t have control over larger state or district policies that affect climate, they can help improve the climate in their own schools.
“It’s not particularly costly or intensive to encourage positive interactions between students and teachers or teachers and their colleagues,” said Perry. He recommends that principals, too, communicate regularly with teachers and show them support and respect.
While external factors like a staffing shortage can puncture morale, when principals show teachers they have their backs or acknowledge the challenges of teaching, it can be a powerful tool against victimization.
