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Teresa M. McIntyre, a research professor in the department of psychology and the Texas Institute for Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics at the University of Houston, is about to commence a study of the impact of stress on middle school teachers and their students. The research, entitled "Using Longitudinal and Momentary Analysis to Study the Impact of Middle School Teachers' Stress on Teacher Effectiveness, Student Behavior and Achievement," is being funded by a $1.6 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.

The study, which will start at the beginning of the coming school year, will follow 200 seventh- and eighth-grade social studies, science and math teachers in 20 middle schools, as well as thousands of students, over a three-year period. The aim is to identify predictors and outcomes of job stress in teachers, and to link teacher stress to student behavior and achievement, in order to help find ways to mitigate teacher stress and improve teacher effectiveness.

"Teaching is a highly stressful occupation," McIntyre said in a statement. "Teacher stress affects various aspects of teacher health and may influence how effective teachers are in the classroom, with potential consequences for their students' behavior and learning. I started to research the literature on stress and teachers in the U.S. and found very little information. There was no comprehensive study of teachers' stress or even an audit of the percentage of teachers who are stressed. I saw a void here and a need to study."

The study will use several methods to assess stress and teacher effectiveness, including in-class observation, teacher stress diaries, and blood pressure and heart rate monitoring. "With this study we will be able to get a more dynamic picture of how teachers respond to stress in real time," McIntyre said.

The research is a collaborative effort with the University of Houston, the University of Houston-Clear Lake, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the Houston Independent School District.

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