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Racial and Ethnic Concordance and Early Childhood Workforce Well-Being

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Title: Racial and Ethnic Concordance and Early Childhood Workforce Well-Being
Language: English
Authors: Tiffany Burkhardt (ORCID 0000-0001-9141-0782), Lee Ann Huang, Cody Oltmans, Reiko Kakuyama-Villaber
Source: Early Childhood Education Journal. 2026 54(2):547-562.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: Administration for Children and Families (ACF) (DHHS)
Contract Number: 90YE0280
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Descriptors: Early Childhood Teachers, Well Being, Stress Variables, Depression (Psychology), Teacher Student Relationship, Race, Ethnicity, Diversity
DOI: 10.1007/s10643-024-01849-9
ISSN: 1082-3301
1573-1707
Abstract: Teachers in the early care and education (ECE) workforce have been experiencing elevated levels of depression and job stress, which can lead to lower quality teaching practices, less emotional support to children, and higher staff turnover. Research has shown that racial concordance (or matching) between teachers and their students is associated with positive effects on children's outcomes and lower stress in teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade. However, no research had examined how racial concordance is related to teacher well-being in ECE settings. To examine the predictors of ECE teacher stress and depression and the role of racial concordance, this study analyzed data collected in 2019 for the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) using survey-weighted regression models. Higher racial concordance between ECE teachers (n = 3,547) and their students was associated with lower teacher depression levels. Lower staff turnover and Hispanic or Asian teacher identity also predicted lower depression. Lower wages, working less than full time, Hispanic identity, and, for higher-income teachers, greater student racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom were all associated with lower job stress. This study contributes to further understanding ECE teacher well-being and important contextual factors, including racial concordance and classroom diversity.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1507413
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0191573886;5mx01feb.26;2026Feb17.02:11;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0191573886-1">Racial and Ethnic Concordance and Early Childhood Workforce Well-Being </title> <p>Teachers in the early care and education (ECE) workforce have been experiencing elevated levels of depression and job stress, which can lead to lower quality teaching practices, less emotional support to children, and higher staff turnover. Research has shown that racial concordance (or matching) between teachers and their students is associated with positive effects on children's outcomes and lower stress in teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade. However, no research had examined how racial concordance is related to teacher well-being in ECE settings. To examine the predictors of ECE teacher stress and depression and the role of racial concordance, this study analyzed data collected in 2019 for the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) using survey-weighted regression models. Higher racial concordance between ECE teachers (n = 3,547) and their students was associated with lower teacher depression levels. Lower staff turnover and Hispanic or Asian teacher identity also predicted lower depression. Lower wages, working less than full time, Hispanic identity, and, for higher-income teachers, greater student racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom were all associated with lower job stress. This study contributes to further understanding ECE teacher well-being and important contextual factors, including racial concordance and classroom diversity.</p> <p>Keywords: Early childhood workforce; Racial equity; Workforce well-being; Job stress; Depression; Education Specialist Studies In Education</p> <p>Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-2">Introduction</hd> <p>The early care and education (ECE) workforce has long held an essential role in our society. The COVID-19 pandemic forced ECE professionals to face additional challenges as they navigated drastic changes in their environment, routines, and instructional approaches, while the regular demands on them remained the same. Staff working in this important and challenging job have reported elevated levels of depression and job stress, even before the pandemic (Jennings et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref1">32</reflink>]; Lessard et al., [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref2">47</reflink>]).[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref3">1</reflink>] As highlighted in the code of ethical conduct by the National Association for the Education of Young Children ([<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref4">61</reflink>]), the well-being of ECE professionals matters in and of itself. Furthermore, ECE workforce well-being can have other effects on teachers as well as the children in their care.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-3">Impact of Job Stress & Depression</hd> <p>A broad base of evidence has shown that work-related stress and depression negatively affect ECE teachers' work performance, engagement, and self-efficacy (Fantuzzo et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref5">18</reflink>]; Jennings et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref6">32</reflink>]; Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref7">87</reflink>]). Classroom effects of teacher stress and depression include teachers spending less time teaching literacy and numeracy (Fantuzzo et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref8">18</reflink>]), less frequent use of effective behavioral management strategies (Li Grining et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref9">50</reflink>]), and poorer classroom organization (Neuenschwander et al., [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref10">64</reflink>]). Teacher stress and depression have also been associated with poorer teacher emotion regulation and coping skills and less responsiveness to children in the classroom (Buettner et al., [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref11">6</reflink>]), as well as negative teacher-student relationships and the lack of a safe and positive classroom climate that allows teachers to provide social, emotional, and behavioral supports for children (Jennings et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref12">32</reflink>]; Li Grining et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref13">50</reflink>]; Whitaker et al., [<reflink idref="bib96" id="ref14">96</reflink>]). Teachers' work-related stress levels also negatively impact social and emotional growth and academic outcomes of their students (Kwon et al., [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref15">41</reflink>]; Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref16">87</reflink>]; Stein et al., [<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref17">89</reflink>]), including anxiety and withdrawal (Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref18">87</reflink>]), greater anger-aggression (Jeon et al., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref19">34</reflink>]) and reduced executive functioning (Neuenschwander et al., [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref20">64</reflink>]). Moreover, teacher burnout—which is caused by chronic stress (Maslach et al., [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref21">54</reflink>]) and increases the likelihood of intention to leave their jobs (Schaack et al., [<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref22">85</reflink>])—has been associated with elevated levels of anxiety-withdrawal in preschoolers (Jeon et al., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref23">34</reflink>]).</p> <p>High levels of stress and depression among ECE professionals further influence their job satisfaction, motivation, and commitment, as well as staff turnover (Carson et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref24">9</reflink>]; Grant et al., [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref25">23</reflink>]; Hale-Jinks et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref26">28</reflink>]; Kim et al., [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref27">39</reflink>]; Kwon et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref28">42</reflink>]; Markowitz et al., [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref29">52</reflink>]; McMullen et al., [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref30">57</reflink>]; Wells, [<reflink idref="bib95" id="ref31">95</reflink>]). Teacher turnover can disrupt children's attachment to teachers, causing inconsistent environments for children, which leads to a lower program quality and negative effects on child development (Hale-Jinks et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref32">28</reflink>]; Kwon et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref33">42</reflink>]). Teacher turnover can further create stress for remaining teachers caused by increasing workloads and interrupting supportive relationships they had with peers who left the setting (Hale-Jinks et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref34">28</reflink>]; Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref35">87</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-4">Sources of Stress & Depression</hd> <p>Evidence suggests various stressors affecting professional well-being of ECE teachers. A teacher's perception of their situation and ability to cope affect the stress levels they experience (Chang, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref36">12</reflink>]; Lazarus & Folkman, [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref37">45</reflink>]). One source of stress at an individual level is financial, such as job wages and household income (Jennings et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref38">32</reflink>]; Ng et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref39">65</reflink>]; Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref40">87</reflink>]). Although median wages vary by state, the ECE workforce is consistently compensated with low wages, with childcare workers being one of the lowest paid occupations in the United States. (McLean et al., [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref41">56</reflink>]). Teachers with lower wages or household incomes have reported greater psychological distress (Madill et al., [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref42">51</reflink>]) and more depressive symptoms (Roberts et al., [<reflink idref="bib82" id="ref43">82</reflink>]).</p> <p>The workplace environment can also contribute to teacher stress, such as lack of leadership and structural support (Ng et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref44">65</reflink>]; Stein et al., [<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref45">89</reflink>]), inadequate opportunities for professional development and advancement (Ng et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref46">65</reflink>]; Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref47">87</reflink>]), high workloads (Napoli and Hatton-Bowers, [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref48">60</reflink>]), students' challenging behaviors (Jeon et al., [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref49">33</reflink>]; Stein et al., [<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref50">89</reflink>]), and limited teacher input for organizational decision-making (Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref51">87</reflink>]). In one study, teachers' perceived working conditions, including relationships with their supervisor and coworkers, and pay and promotion opportunities, were associated with depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion (Jeon et al., [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref52">33</reflink>]). Turnover can be both a cause and an effect of a stressful work environment. The disruption resulting from teacher turnover creates more inconsistency for children and more stress for teachers (Cassidy et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref53">11</reflink>]; Hale-Jinks et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref54">28</reflink>]).</p> <p>Community-level factors can contribute to teacher stress, including poverty and population density. For example, community poverty level may influence ECE teachers' stress and depression levels, as social issues related to community poverty are brought with children into the classrooms, resulting in teachers facing various issues beyond academics (Richards, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref55">81</reflink>]). Teachers working in high-poverty communities have reported higher stress levels than those in higher-income schools (Neuenschwander et al., [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref56">64</reflink>]; Richards, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref57">81</reflink>]). Population density may also influence ECE teacher well-being. Working in an urban setting has been found to predict greater levels of teacher stress and depression (Johnson et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref58">35</reflink>]; Ouellette et al., [<reflink idref="bib71" id="ref59">71</reflink>]).</p> <p>In the United States, the population of children attending early childhood programs has become more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse, as has the ECE workforce (Reid & Kagan, [<reflink idref="bib78" id="ref60">78</reflink>]; Sandstrom et al., [<reflink idref="bib84" id="ref61">84</reflink>]). The racial and ethnic identities of K-12 teachers and students have been connected to teachers' professional satisfaction (Fitchett et al., [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref62">19</reflink>]). A literature review of 70 studies identified higher turnover for teachers of color at the K-12 level, particularly Black and Latino/a teachers, than for White teachers (Achinstein et al., [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref63">1</reflink>]). However, teachers of color working in communities of color had higher retention rates than their White colleagues (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref64">10</reflink>]). A similar association between turnover and teacher race and ethnicity in ECE was hypothesized by Gutwein ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref65">27</reflink>]), although neither Gutwein ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref66">27</reflink>]) nor a recent meta-analysis on teacher turnover (Nguyen et al., [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref67">66</reflink>]) found a connection.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-5">Racial and Ethnic Concordance</hd> <p>Racial and ethnic concordance (matching) between teachers and children in their classrooms has been associated with positive child outcomes (Rasheed et al., [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref68">76</reflink>]; Redding, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref69">77</reflink>]). Some research suggests racial and ethnic concordance may also be associated with teacher well-being: for K-12 teachers, racial and ethnic concordance with their students has been associated with greater job satisfaction (Renzulli et al., [<reflink idref="bib80" id="ref70">80</reflink>]) and greater teacher self-efficacy (Geerlings et al., [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref71">21</reflink>]), while racial discordance—or mismatch—was associated with increased risk for teacher stress (McCarthy et al., [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref72">55</reflink>]). However, the association between racial and ethnic concordance and teacher well-being has not been studied in ECE settings. In addition to the experiences of teacher stress shared among ECE and school-age teachers (e.g., lack of support and opportunities for professional development; job wages; classroom management), ECE teachers often experience stress as a result of working directly with very young children, before they enter a formal school setting (Wiltshire, [<reflink idref="bib97" id="ref73">97</reflink>]). ECE teachers play significant roles in supporting young children's development of fundamental skills, including executive functioning and social and emotional development, which continues to develop over time (Wiltshire, [<reflink idref="bib97" id="ref74">97</reflink>]) and help navigate their further learning. ECE teachers also encounter young children with behavioral challenges and mental health needs regularly at their work (Stein et al., [<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref75">89</reflink>]). Teachers' ability to respond to the children's needs and provide effective communication has lasting impacts on individual children as well as on "the collective functioning of our communities" (Stein et al., [<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref76">89</reflink>], p. 342).</p> <p>Building on studies that highlight the importance of the work of ECE teachers for young children, as well as the caring and trusting relationships and interactions between teachers, children, and families, racial and ethnic concordance between teachers and students may be a factor associated with positive teacher-student relationships, which in turn can contribute to cultivating a positive ECE classroom environment and promote teacher well-being.</p> <p>In addition to racial and ethnic concordance between teachers and students, racial and ethnic diversity among the children in a classroom is another consideration for understanding the contextual factors related to teacher well-being. Research has found positive child outcomes associated with classroom diversity. Reid ([<reflink idref="bib79" id="ref77">79</reflink>]) found that children's language learning was greater in racially and ethnically diverse pre-kindergarten classrooms. Interestingly, a study of 36 elementary schools found that teacher–child racial and ethnic mismatch was associated with lower social skills, math scores, reading scores, and lower child engagement, yet classroom diversity moderated this effect; the negative effects of racial and ethnic mismatch was only found in low-diversity classrooms (Rasheed et al., [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref78">76</reflink>]). Research is needed to understand the effect of classroom diversity on ECE teacher well-being.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-6">The Present Study</hd> <p>While some studies have explored how racial concordance and classroom diversity can impact staff well-being, evidence in the ECE settings is especially limited and unclear. The present study was the first to examine racial and ethnic concordance and classroom composition as predictors of staff depression and work-related stress in the ECE workforce.</p> <p>The current study was informed by the conceptual framework of <emph>shared cultural understanding</emph> (Redding, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref79">77</reflink>]), which provides a theory to explain how racial and ethnic concordance between teachers and students might strengthen their relationships. In ECE settings, research has found that children can benefit if children and teachers share similar racial or ethnic identities, as teachers can use cultural knowledge to aid in communication with children (Pigott & Cowen, [<reflink idref="bib75" id="ref80">75</reflink>]), leading to more appropriate teaching strategies and stronger relationships with children (Gay & Howard, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref81">20</reflink>]; Irvine, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref82">31</reflink>]; Milner, [<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref83">59</reflink>]). Teachers may be better equipped to develop trusting relationships and serve as advocates, mentors, and cultural brokers to children from their same racial or ethnic group (Achinstein et al., [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref84">1</reflink>]; Villegas & Irvine, [<reflink idref="bib92" id="ref85">92</reflink>]). Racially and ethnically concordant teachers may also have more awareness of the cultural referents that can facilitate culturally responsive teaching practices (Irvine, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref86">31</reflink>]; Ladson-Billings, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref87">43</reflink>]). Furthermore, children may feel more connected with racially and ethnically concordant teachers and become more engaged in learning in the classroom, leading to greater effort and more positive behavior (Grissom et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref88">25</reflink>]), which may contribute to more positive teacher well-being. While there is little research on the teacher outcomes associated with racial concordance with children, positive interactions and relationships between racially concordant teachers and children may lead to a more positive and inclusive classroom climate, contributing to teacher well-being. This framework guides the current study in developing an understanding of teacher well-being and the role of culture, race, and ethnicity in early childhood classrooms. The objectives of this study were twofold: to examine predictors of ECE teacher stress and depression at individual, center, and community levels; and to explore whether these predictors have differential effects depending on teacher race and ethnicity, teacher-classroom racial and ethnic concordance, or diversity in the early childhood classroom.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-7">Methods</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0191573886-8">Data Source</hd> <p>This study uses data from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE). The NSECE is a set of four nationally representative surveys funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (National Survey of Early Care & Education Project Team, [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref89">63</reflink>]). The 2019 NSECE contains four public use datasets focusing on households, center-based providers, home-based providers, and the ECE workforce. Together these data sources provide a comprehensive snapshot of both the availability and utilization of ECE in the U.S.</p> <p>The NSECE uses a multistage probability sampling design representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia (National Survey of Early Care & Education Project Team, [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref90">63</reflink>]).[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref91">2</reflink>] The NSECE includes an oversample of census tracts in high-density low-income areas. The sample of ECE centers used as the basis for the center-based provider survey and workforce survey was developed by selecting ECE centers located in high population areas in these census tracts. Sampling weights are included in each NSECE survey allowing users to generate representative estimates that account for the NSECE's sampling methodology.</p> <p>The ECE workforce survey serves as the primary dataset for this analysis. The workforce survey was administered to 4,709 teachers, instructors, aides and assistants working with children five years old and younger, not yet in kindergarten. ECE workforce respondents—referred to as "teachers" for simplicity—completed interviews about their work setting, roles and responsibilities, compensation, perceived leadership and morale; personal attitudes towards ECE, stress, and depression; and respondent demographics. The center-based provider survey was also used for the rate of staff turnover at each workforce survey respondent's ECE center. The workforce survey dataset and the center-based provider dataset were linked using the unique center-based identifier included in both files, "CB9_METH_CASEID," to create the final analytic dataset. The workforce survey contained records from 4,314 ECE centers, all of which were also included in the center-based provider dataset. Prior to conducting analysis, the research team assessed the NSECE 2019 workforce survey for potential bias using the Racial Bias in Data Assessment Tool (Burkhardt et al., [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref92">7</reflink>]). This tool was designed for use with survey datasets and includes 25 questions about data collection approaches and structure to evaluate potential racial and ethnic bias in the dataset. There is no scoring system used in the tool; instead, users are encouraged to consider their specific study and how all the tool's questions and possible remedies contribute to the overall risk of bias. In addition to the questions, the tool also contains information that assists users in addressing issues effectively, including the context of each question and evidence-based strategies and recommendations for minimizing risk and reporting the dataset's limitations related to race and ethnicity. Two of the authors of this study assessed the NSECE 2019 workforce survey dataset using the tool and identified potential biases in demographic data and representativeness of the samples. One of the most important limitations noted was that children's race and ethnicity were reported by the teachers rather than reported by their primary caregivers, potentially leading to inaccurate estimates of racial concordance within the classroom. Another important limitation was that the survey was only available in English and Spanish, precluding ECE teachers from participating if they spoke a different language. The third major limitation noted is that race and ethnicity were collected via two separate variables which can lead to respondent confusion and undercounting Hispanic respondents (Marks & Jones, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref93">53</reflink>]; Olmsted-Hawala & Nichols, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref94">68</reflink>]). The research team was unable to correct for any of these limitations; this is further highlighted in the Discussion section.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-9">Measures</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0191573886-10">Outcome Variables</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0191573886-11">Depression</hd> <p>This study used the 7-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-7; Levine, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref95">49</reflink>]) scale to measure respondents' depressive symptoms. Levine ([<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref96">49</reflink>]) reported high internal consistency reliability for the CESD-7 (Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.78 to 0.83) as well as better unidimensional validity than the long form CES-D. The CESD-7 scale score, already calculated and included as a variable in the 2019 NSECE workforce survey, is the respondent's total score on the items assessing depressive symptomatology and ranges from 0 to 21. Respondents rated the frequency they experienced symptoms, such as poor appetite, trouble concentrating, feeling depressed, and restless sleep, during the past week on a four-point response scale, from 0 = <emph>rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day a week)</emph> to 3 = <emph>most or all of the time (5–7 days a week)</emph>.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-12">Job Stress</hd> <p>The 2019 NSECE workforce survey used an adapted version of the Curbow Job Stress subscale to measure ECE teachers' job-related stress (Curbow et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref97">16</reflink>]). The job stress subscale score had a possible range from 4 to 12. Respondents were asked to rate the frequency in the past week (1 = <emph>never,</emph> 2 = <emph>once</emph>, or 3 = <emph>more than once</emph>) on four items asking about challenging child behavior, parents blaming the program for children's behavioral problems, sources of stress in children's lives that are out of the teacher's control, and parents picking up children late. Cronbach's alpha value for the adapted Curbow Job Stress subscale, calculated using the data in the NSECE workforce survey, was 0.62—likely due to having only four items—which is considered to be moderate reliability (Taber, [<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref98">90</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-13">Control Variables</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0191573886-14">ECE Teacher Demographics</hd> <p>Survey respondents reported their gender, race, and ethnicity. Respondents also reported household income, which was categorized into six income ranges. A binary indicator for the respondent having a household income greater than $30,000 was used in the final analysis, as this was the median household income for the sample.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-15">Combined Race and Ethnicity Variable</hd> <p>The NSECE workforce survey contains data on the respondent's race and ethnicity. Respondents were asked to select one or more racial categories: White, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. In the restricted use dataset accessed for this study, the respondent's race was coded as "other" if the respondent selected only American Indian or Alaska Native; only Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or if they selected two or more of the response categories.</p> <p>The respondents were then asked to indicate if they are also of Hispanic or Latino descent. A combined race and ethnicity variable was created for this analysis based on the following rules: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref99">1</reflink>) If the respondent selected "Non-Hispanic" for their ethnicity, the selected race variable was utilized. (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref100">2</reflink>) If the respondent selected "Hispanic" for their ethnicity and a race value of either "White" or "other," they were coded as Hispanic. (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref101">3</reflink>) If the respondent selected "Hispanic" for their ethnicity and a race value of either "Black" or "Asian," they were coded "other," as those respondents were considered "Multiracial."</p> <p>This decision was based in part on studies showing that people who select White race and Hispanic ethnicity tend to identify as Hispanic or Latino only, not White (Campbell & Rogalin, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref102">8</reflink>]; Olmsted-Hawala & Nichols, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref103">68</reflink>]), and that 42% of people with Hispanic ethnicity treat that identity as a race by choosing "other" when asked for their racial classification (Hitlin et al., [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref104">30</reflink>]; Marks & Jones, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref105">53</reflink>]). Furthermore, recent federal guidelines for collecting race and ethnicity data recommend a combined race and ethnicity format, including "Hispanic or Latino" as one of the race and ethnicity categories (Office of Management and Budget, [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref106">67</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-16">ECE Teacher Job Characteristics</hd> <p>Respondents reported their hourly wage, full-time or part-time status, and role. Full-time status was a variable included as part of the workforce survey with respondents who reported working 35 or more hours per week coded as full-time teachers. A binary lead teacher status variable was created for the role, with respondents reporting their role as "Teacher, instructor, or lead teacher" coded as 1, and those who reported either "Aide or assistant teacher" or "Other/undetermined" coded as 0.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-17">ECE Teacher Professional Supports</hd> <p>The survey asked respondents whether they had received training in the past 12 months on strategies for working with children and families of different races, ethnicities, or cultures. Receipt of professional development on cultural training in the past year was included as a binary variable in the analysis (0 = no, 1 = yes). Survey respondents reported whether they received a formal review and feedback on their performance at least once in the past 12 months. Receipt of annual work review/performance feedback was included as a binary variable in the analysis (0 = no, 1 = yes).</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-18">Center Characteristics</hd> <p>Staff turnover rate was provided in the 2019 NSECE center-based provider survey as a continuous variable between 0 and 1 representing the percentage of staff attrition in the past 12 months. For example, a value of 0.5 signifies that 50% of staff left the center in the past 12 months. The center turnover rate variable was linked from the center-based survey to each respondent in the workforce survey and included as a variable in the final analysis.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-19">Community Characteristics</hd> <p>Information on community density and community poverty density was included in the workforce survey. The community density variable was derived using data from the 2010 census and was based on data from all census tracts in the community surrounding the ECE center. The NSECE classified communities into three categories: high density of urban population; moderate density of urban population; or rural population. A binary urban status indicator was created for the final analysis and was coded as 1 if the community was listed as "high density of urban population," or coded as 0 if the community was listed as either "Moderate density of urban population" or "Rural population."</p> <p>Community poverty density was provided as a variable in the workforce survey and was derived via raw data from the 2013–2017 American Community Survey database. Community poverty density was determined by the percentage of the total population below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and was categorized as the following: Low Poverty Density (0–13.8% of population below FPL); Moderate Poverty Density (13.9–20% of population below FPL); or High Poverty Density (> 20% of population below FPL). This variable was kept as a three-level variable for the final analysis, with a score of 1 representing low-poverty density, 2 representing moderate-poverty density, and 3 representing high-poverty density.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-20">Classroom Characteristics</hd> <p>The workforce survey required respondents to report the number and percentage of children in their classroom who were in the following racial and ethnic groups: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-21">Racial and Ethnic Concordance</hd> <p>The racial and ethnic concordance variable used in this study was a 0 to 1 continuous variable representing the proportion of children in a classroom that are the same race and ethnicity as their teacher. We used the following concordance (C) formula to calculate this variable:</p> <p> <ephtml> <math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mrow><mi>C</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>W</mi><mi>w</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>B</mi><mi>b</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>H</mi><mi>h</mi><mo>+</mo><mi>A</mi><mi>a</mi></mrow></math> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>where</emph>: Children in the classroom: W = % White, B = % Black, H = % Hispanic, A = % Asian.Teacher: w = 1 if White, 0 if not White; b = 1 if Black, 0 if not Black; h = 1 if Hispanic, 0 if not Hispanic, a = 1 if Asian, 0 if not Asian.</p> <p>A value of 0 signifies that no children in the classroom are the same race and ethnicity as their teacher, while a value of 1 signifies that all children in the classroom are the same race and ethnicity as their teacher. Records with incomplete data on child race and ethnicity were still used to calculate concordance if the percentage of children in the classroom that were the same race and ethnicity as the respondent was known.[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref107">3</reflink>]</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-22">Classroom Diversity</hd> <p>This study used the Simpson Diversity Index to measure classroom diversity (Simpson, [<reflink idref="bib86" id="ref108">86</reflink>]). In the context of this study, the Simpson Diversity measure represents the probability that two randomly chosen children from the same classroom are from a different racial and ethnic group. The formula to calculate the Diversity index is shown below, where <emph>n</emph> represents the total number of children in the classroom of a particular race and ethnicity, and <emph>N</emph> represents the total number of children in the classroom:</p> <p> <ephtml> <math display="block" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mrow><mi>D</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>-</mo><mfenced close=")" open="("><mfrac><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">Σ</mi><mi>n</mi><mfenced close=")" open="("><mrow><mi>n</mi><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></mfenced></mrow><mrow><mi>N</mi><mfenced close=")" open="("><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>-</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></mfenced></mrow></mfrac></mfenced></mrow></math> </ephtml> </p> <p>The measure is a 0 to 1 continuous variable. A value of 0 signifies a 0% chance that two children randomly selected from a classroom are from different racial and ethnic groups, whereas a value of 1 signifies a 100% chance that two children randomly selected from a classroom are from different racial and ethnic groups. The diversity calculations require that race and ethnicity be provided for all students in the classroom, therefore certain records with incomplete child race and ethnicity data that were used in the concordance sample were excluded from the diversity sample.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-23">Analytic Sample</hd> <p>Of the original 4,709 records in the NSECE workforce survey, 146 records were omitted due to missing data on the ECE teacher's racial and ethnic identity. An additional 874 records were omitted due to missing data on the race and ethnicity of children in the classroom. The mutually exclusive racial and ethnic groups included in the analytic samples were Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White, as these were the racial and ethnic groups used by teachers to describe the children in the classroom. All respondents with a race and ethnicity value of "other" were also excluded (<emph>n</emph> = 187), resulting in a final analytic sample of 3,547 respondents (hereafter referred to as the "concordance sample"). Applying survey weights, the respondents in the concordance sample represent 1,000,101 ECE teachers nationwide.</p> <p>A diversity subsample was created to further examine the effect of classroom diversity, as well as racial and ethnic concordance between teachers and children, on ECE teacher depression and work-related stress. The diversity subsample excluded an additional 483 respondents due to missing data on the racial and ethnic composition of children in the classroom that made it impossible to calculate the diversity measure. The diversity subsample consisted of 3,064 respondents representing 896,484 ECE teachers nationwide.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-24">Analysis</hd> <p>Data were analyzed using R 4.1.2 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, [<reflink idref="bib91" id="ref109">91</reflink>]). Survey-weighted linear regression models were used to examine the effect of racial/ethnic concordance and the other predictors on ECE teachers' job stress and depression levels. Additional models using the diversity subsample incorporated the classroom diversity measure as an added predictor. NSECE sampling weights were applied for all models, which reduces selection bias by correcting for the disproportionality of the sample (Pfeffermann, [<reflink idref="bib74" id="ref110">74</reflink>]). Design-corrected standard errors were estimated to account for stratification and clustering in the NSECE survey design. For accurate estimation of standard errors, the entire workforce dataset was used across all analyses, with the subset command from the R survey package used to select the records that were specific to the analytic sample. All results with a <emph>p</emph> < 0.05 were considered significant. Missing data on the predictors ranged from 0 to 10%, with household income having the highest rate of missing data. Missing data on predictor variables were handled by imputing 20 datasets using multiple imputation (Rubin, [<reflink idref="bib83" id="ref111">83</reflink>]), and the results from the pooled datasets are presented. Missing data on race and ethnicity for teachers or children were not imputed. Cases with missing outcome values were used in the imputation of independent variables but were excluded from the regression analyses (Von Hippel, [<reflink idref="bib93" id="ref112">93</reflink>]). The combined teacher race and ethnicity variable was used in the analyses rather than including teacher race and ethnicity as two separate variables. White teachers, who were the most common racial and ethnic group in the sample (60%), were used as the reference group for all regression models.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-25">Expert Panel</hd> <p>After analyzing the data, the research team convened an expert panel to discuss the study's findings and potential practice implications. The 10 panelists were ECE experts and included child care providers, center administrators, faculty from ECE workforce education programs, and early childhood mental health consultants. They represented diverse personal identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, age) and professional experiences.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-26">Results</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0191573886-27">Sample Characteristics</hd> <p>Table 1 displays the weighted sample demographics for the full NSECE workforce survey sample (excluding <emph>n</emph> = 483 administrative only records), as well as for the concordance and diversity subsamples used in the current study. Variables in this table include teacher demographic characteristics, community characteristics, and the racial and ethnic concordance between the teacher and the children in the classroom. In the concordance sample (<emph>n</emph> = 1,000,101),[<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref113">4</reflink>] 98% of the teachers were female, 75% worked full time, and 64% were lead teachers. The average hourly teacher wage was $13.82, and 48% of teachers had annual household incomes over $30,000.</p> <p>Table 1 Demographic characteristics for ECE teacher sample and subsamples</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Characteristic</p></th><th align="left"><p>Full workforce survey sample (<italic>n</italic> = 1,348,182)</p></th><th align="left"><p>Concordance sample (<italic>n</italic> = 1,000,101)</p></th><th align="left"><p>Diversity sample (<italic>n</italic> = 896,484)</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Gender (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Female</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>96.6%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>97.5%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>97.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Male</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.1%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Missing</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>1.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.1%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Race and Ethnicity (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Asian</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.6%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Black</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>16.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>19.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>18.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Hispanic</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>16.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>17.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>17.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> White</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>57.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>60.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>60.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Other race</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.5%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Missing</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Annual Household Income</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> $0–$15,000</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>16.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>17.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>16.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> $15,001–$30,000</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>23.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>24.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>24.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> $30,001–$45,000</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>11.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>12.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>12.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> $45,001–$60,000</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>10.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>12.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>12.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> $60,001–more</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>22.5%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>24.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>25.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Missing</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>14.5%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>10.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>10.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Hourly Wage</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Mean (SD)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>$13.92 (7.18)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>$13.82 (7.08)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>$13.76 (7.02)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Missing</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>7.7%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Employment Status</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Full time</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>74.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>75.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>75.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Part time</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>24.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>24.3%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>24.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Missing</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Role</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Lead teacher</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>62.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>63.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>64.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Other classroom role</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>38.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>36.2%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>35.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Missing</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Community Poverty Level</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Low Poverty Density</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>53.4%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>51.2%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>50.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Moderate Poverty Density</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>20.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>21.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>21.9%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> High Poverty Density</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>25.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>26.9%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>27.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="4"><p>Community Density</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Rural</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>11.2%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>10.7%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>11.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Moderate Density</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>19.8%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>20.6%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>20.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Urban</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>69.0%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>68.6%</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>67.8%</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Concordance, <italic>M (SD</italic>)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>N/A</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.63 (0.33)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.65 (0.33)</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>NSECE sampling weights were applied to generate nationally representative estimates</p> <p>In the concordance sample, the average concordance was 0.63 (SD = 0.33), meaning that, on average, 63% of children in a classroom were the same race or ethnicity as their teacher. Table 2 displays the mean concordance between teachers and the children in their classrooms by teacher race and ethnicity. Asian teachers had the lowest average concordance at 19%, followed by Hispanic (43%) and Black (55%) teachers, with White teachers having the highest average concordance level at 73%. The concordance rates correspond with the race and ethnicity frequency distribution of teachers in the sample (see Table 1).</p> <p>Table 2 Mean concordance, stress, and depression scores by ECE teacher race and ethnicity</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Race and ethnicity</p></th><th align="left"><p>Concordance, M (SD)</p></th><th align="left"><p>Job stress, M (SD)</p></th><th align="left"><p>Depression, M (SD)</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Asian</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.19 (0.23)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>7.00 (2.14)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>1.70 (3.04)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Black</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.55 (0.36)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>7.03 (2.21)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>2.69 (3.07)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Hispanic</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.43 (0.35)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>6.99 (2.25)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>2.31 (3.16)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>White</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.73 (0.27)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>7.26 (2.08)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>2.95 (3.45)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Total</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.63 (0.33)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>7.22 (2.15)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>2.75 (3.33)</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>NSECE sampling weights were applied. Possible score ranges: Concordance 0–1; Stress 4–12; Depression 0–21</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-28">ECE Teacher Depressive Symptoms</hd> <p>On the CESD-7, a cutoff score of 8 is used to determine risk for major depression (Levine, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref114">49</reflink>]). In our concordance sample, applying survey weights, 9.2% of teachers had a depression score of 8 or higher. Mean scores on the measure of depressive symptoms by teacher race and ethnicity are displayed in Table 2.</p> <p>Table 3 displays the results of the regression analyses predicting teacher depressive symptoms. Using the concordance sample (<emph>n</emph> = 982,564), 4% of the total variance in teacher job depression was explained by the model. Racial and ethnic concordance between teachers and their students significantly predicted teacher depressive symptoms, <emph>β</emph> = −0.62, <emph>p</emph> = 0.049, controlling for all other variables. Thus, increased racial and ethnic concordance was associated with decreased depressive symptoms for ECE teachers. The study found that ECE teachers who identified as Asian or Hispanic reported lower depressive symptoms compared to White teachers, <emph>β</emph> = −1.48, <emph>p</emph> = 0.002, and <emph>β</emph> = −0.92, <emph>p</emph> = 0.001, respectively. ECE teachers who identified as Black tended to have lower estimated depression scores than White teachers, but this effect did not reach statistical significance (<emph>p</emph> = 0.08). In addition, staff turnover level at the center significantly predicted teacher depressive symptoms, <emph>β</emph> = 1.32, <emph>p</emph> = 0.016. No other independent variables significantly predicted teacher depressive symptoms.</p> <p>Table 3 Regression results predicting teacher depressive symptoms</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" rowspan="3"><p>Variable</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Concordance sample (<italic>n</italic> = 982,564)</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Diversity sample (<italic>n</italic> = 880,257)</p></th></tr><tr><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Model 1 (R<sup>2</sup> =.04)</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Model 1 (R<sup>2</sup> =.04)</p></th></tr><tr><th align="left"><p>Standardized coefficient (SE)</p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic>-value</p></th><th align="left"><p>Standardized coefficient (SE)</p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic>-value</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>(Intercept)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>2.71 (0.89)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.01**</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>2.66 (1.03)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.01**</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="5"><p>Teacher characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher race and ethnicity – Black</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.49 (0.28)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.08</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.36 (0.29)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.22</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher race and ethnicity – Asian</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−1.48 (0.48)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.002**</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−1.23 (0.53)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.02*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher race and ethnicity – Hispanic</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.92 (0.28)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.001**</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.68 (0.30)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.03*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Annual household income over $30,000</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.31 (0.26)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.23</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.21 (0.29)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.46</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher gender – Female</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.63 (0.52)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.23</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.40 (0.57)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.48</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher wage</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0 (0.02)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>1.0</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0 (0.02)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.92</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher full-time status</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.48 (0.3)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.11</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.40 (0.33)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.23</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher role – lead teacher</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.09 (0.24)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.70</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.05 (0.27)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.85</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher professional development in cultural sensitivity</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.30 (0.27)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.26</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.29 (0.29)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.31</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher performance review</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.62 (0.32)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.054</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.60 (0.35)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.08</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="5"><p>Classroom characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher-classroom concordance</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.62 (0.32)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.049*</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.38 (0.42)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.36</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Classroom Diversity</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.27 (0.56)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.63</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="5"><p>Center characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Center – staff turnover rate</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>1.32 (0.54)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.016*</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>1.38 (0.60)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.02*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="5"><p>Community characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Community – urban</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.23 (0.31)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.46</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.19 (0.33)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.56</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Community – poverty density</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.12 (0.12)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.31</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.13 (0.13)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.35</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>NSECE sampling weights were applied. Independent variables included imputed data except for teacher race, concordance, and classroom diversity. Dependent variables were not imputed *<emph>p </emph><.05, **<emph>p </emph><.01</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-29">ECE Teacher Job Stress</hd> <p>ECE teachers had a mean job stress sum score of 7.22 for the four items, which represents experiencing each stressor on the scale about once per week. Mean scores on the measure of job stress by teacher race and ethnicity are also displayed in Table 2.</p> <p>Table 4 presents the results from the regression analyses predicting teacher job stress. In the model using the concordance sample (<emph>n</emph> = 921,325), 4% of the total variance in teacher job stress was explained by the model. The study found that ECE teachers who identified as Hispanic reported lower job stress than White teachers, <emph>β</emph> = −0.45, <emph>p</emph> = 0.048. Teachers who worked full time, as compared to part time, reported higher job stress, <emph>β</emph> = 0.38,<emph> p</emph> = 0.01. Teachers with higher wages reported higher stress, <emph>β</emph> = 0.03,<emph> p</emph> = 0.02. No other independent variables were significant predictors of teacher job stress in the concordance sample.</p> <p>Table 4 Regression results predicting teacher job stress</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" rowspan="3"><p>Variable</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Concordance sample (<italic>n</italic> = 921,325)</p></th><th align="left" colspan="4"><p>Diversity Sample (<italic>n</italic> = 826,837)</p></th></tr><tr><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Model 1 (R<sup>2</sup> =.04)</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Model 1 (R<sup>2</sup> =.04)</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Model 2 (R<sup>2</sup> =.05)</p></th></tr><tr><th align="left"><p>Standardized coefficient (SE)</p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic>-value</p></th><th align="left"><p>Standardized coefficient (SE)</p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic>-value</p></th><th align="left"><p>Standardized coefficient (SE)</p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic>-value</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>(Intercept)</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>6.16 (0.45)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.001***</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>5.86(0.55)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.001***</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>5.42 (0.60)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.001***</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="7"><p>Teacher characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher race and ethnicity – Black</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.40 (0.22)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.07</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.31(0.24)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.20</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.33 (0.23)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.15</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher race and ethnicity – Asian</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.48 (0.38)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.20</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.39(0.4)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.33</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.37 (0.42)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.38</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher race and ethnicity – Hispanic</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.45 (0.23)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.048*</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.3(0.26)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.24</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.33 (0.26)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.20</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Annual household income over $30,000</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.21 (0.19)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.29</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.2(0.21)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.34</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.84 (0.37)*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.02*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher gender – Female</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.05 (0.29)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.86</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.18(0.27)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.50</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.17 (0.29)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.55</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher wage</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.03 (0.01)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.02*</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.04(0.01)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.01**</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.03 (0.01)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p> <.01**</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher full-time status</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.38 (0.15)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.01*</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.37(0.17)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.03*</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.35 (0.16)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.03*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher role – lead teacher</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.21 (0.19)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.27</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.21(0.21)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.33</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.22 (0.20)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.27</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher professional development in cultural sensitivity</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.17 (0.17)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.31</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.12(0.19)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.52</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.12 (0.17)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.49</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher performance review</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.15 (0.21)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.48</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.15(0.23)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.51</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.20 (0.22)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.38</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="7"><p>Classroom characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Teacher-classroom concordance</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.17 (0.24)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.48</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.05(0.32)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.87</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.03 (0.32)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.92</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Classroom Diversity</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.17(0.44)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.70</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>1.13 (0.56)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.04*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="7"><p>Center characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Center – staff turnover rate</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.14 (0.36)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.70</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.15(0.4)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.71</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.18 (0.39)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.63</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="7"><p>Community characteristics</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Community – urban</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.09 (0.23)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.70</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.14(0.24)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.56</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−0.12 (0.24)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.62</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Community – poverty density</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.11 (0.10)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.28</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.1(0.11)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.39</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>0.13 (0.11)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.25</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="7"><p>Interaction, Two-Way</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Classroom Diversity x High-income household</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>–</p></td><td char="(" align="char"><p>−1.82 (0.76)</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>.02*</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>NSECE sampling weights were applied. Independent variables included imputed data except for teacher race, concordance, and classroom diversity. Dependent variables were not imputed *<emph>p</emph> <.05, **<emph>p</emph> <.01, ***<emph>p</emph> <.001</p> <p>Table 4 also presents the results from two regression models showing the effect of classroom diversity on teacher stress using the diversity sample. Model one (r-squared = 0.04) shows the main effect of diversity on teacher stress, which was not significant. Model two (r-squared = 0.05) includes an interaction term between classroom diversity and household income, which was significant (<emph>p</emph> < 0.05). For teachers whose annual household income was above $30,000, racial and ethnic diversity among children in the classroom was inversely associated with teacher job stress levels. Thus, higher classroom diversity predicted lower teacher job stress for teachers with an annual household income above $30,000 and predicted increased teacher job stress for teachers with an annual household income below $30,000.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-30">Discussion</hd> <p>This study is the first to examine the relationship between teacher-children racial and ethnic concordance and the well-being of the early childhood workforce. It is also the first study to examine the association between classroom diversity and ECE teacher well-being. The present study tested teacher-level, classroom-level, center-level, and community-level predictors of ECE teacher job stress and depression, revealing several key findings. Racial and ethnic concordance between ECE teachers and children in their classrooms had a significant inverse relationship with teacher depression. Teacher depression levels also varied by teacher race and ethnicity and staff turnover rates at the center. Teacher job stress levels were not associated with racial and ethnic concordance between teachers and the children in their classrooms. However, job stress levels were associated with wages, part- or full-time status, and teacher race and ethnicity. For teachers with higher household incomes, teacher job stress levels were lower in classrooms with greater racial and ethnic diversity. Findings and implications are explored in detail below.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-31">Depression</hd> <p>In this study, 9.2% of the sample had a depression score indicating clinically significant depression. Although recent studies have found rates of clinically significant depression on the CESD-7 or similar depression screeners in ECE teachers ranging from 2% (Jones et al., [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref115">36</reflink>]) to 23% (Kwon et al., [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref116">40</reflink>]), the depression rate in the present study was similar to the rate reported in other pre-pandemic studies of ECE teachers (e.g., 7%, Otten et al., [<reflink idref="bib70" id="ref117">70</reflink>]; 9%, Roberts et al., [<reflink idref="bib82" id="ref118">82</reflink>]; 10–11%, Hindman and Bustamante, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref119">29</reflink>]). Rates of depression in ECE teachers were greater than the general population, which was 3% in a nationally representative sample from 2019 (National Center for Health Statistics, [<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref120">62</reflink>]).</p> <p>ECE teacher depression was associated with three variables: racial concordance between teachers and students, teacher race and ethnicity, and staff turnover. Turnover might be related to depression in myriad ways, including teachers facing increased workloads when other staff leave, a decline in social support from peers, as an indicator of other problems within the center, and increased behavioral issues with children whose teachers leave. Kwon et al. ([<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref121">42</reflink>]) found that teachers overwhelmingly believe that turnover negatively affects children, families, remaining teachers, and the center overall. That study found that teachers believe that children's social-emotional development was affected, families' distress and mistrust increased, and collegial relationships disrupted when staff turnover occurred. Hindman and Bustamante ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref122">29</reflink>]) found that depression was inversely related to peer connectedness, and connections are naturally affected when peers come and go. In addition, previous research has shown that teachers who are experiencing depression are more likely to leave their job (Carson et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref123">9</reflink>]; Hale-Jinks et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref124">28</reflink>]; Kim et al., [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref125">39</reflink>]; Markowitz et al., [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref126">52</reflink>]; McMullen et al., [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref127">57</reflink>]; Wells, [<reflink idref="bib95" id="ref128">95</reflink>]), creating a reciprocal and negative loop. Research is lacking on how turnover levels affect depression in remaining ECE teachers, but studies have found that higher turnover can lead to higher stress levels in the teachers who stay (Cassidy et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref129">11</reflink>]; Hale-Jinks et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref130">28</reflink>]).</p> <p>Asian and Hispanic teachers in this study sample scored lower on the depression scale than White or Black teachers. Unfortunately, most studies examining ECE teacher depression levels do not disaggregate Asian teacher scores from other racial groups, so it is difficult to determine if this finding is similar to other studies. Additionally, studies vary in their estimates of depression rates amongst Hispanic ECE teachers (Hindman & Bustamante, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref131">29</reflink>]; Mendez et al., [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref132">58</reflink>]; Palomino, [<reflink idref="bib72" id="ref133">72</reflink>]).</p> <p>It is critical to note the heterogeneity of individuals and groups defined as Asian-American, which makes it difficult to measure the prevalence of depression (Chu & Sue, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref134">13</reflink>]; Kalibatseva & Leong, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref135">37</reflink>]). The same problem exists for people classified as Hispanic or Latino/a in the US, with people from several countries with unique cultures and belief systems combined into one group, affecting prevalence estimates (González et al., [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref136">22</reflink>]; Oquendo et al., [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref137">69</reflink>]; Leung et al., [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref138">48</reflink>]). Researchers have proposed differing and sometimes conflicting explanations for the variable rates of reported depressive symptoms in Asian and Hispanic populations in the US. One idea is that cultural norms and beliefs around mental health positively and negatively affect the recognition and reporting of depressive symptoms (Ayón et al., [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref139">4</reflink>]; Kalibatseva & Leong, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref140">37</reflink>]; Karasz, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref141">38</reflink>]; Lee et al., [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref142">46</reflink>]; Leung et al., [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref143">48</reflink>]; Yeung et al., [<reflink idref="bib98" id="ref144">98</reflink>]). Another idea is that access to culturally competent mental health care is limited for these populations and that there may be a preference for seeking support from family members; as a result, individuals do not report depressive symptoms as freely (Appel et al., [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref145">2</reflink>]; Chu & Sue, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref146">13</reflink>]; Escobar & Gorey, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref147">17</reflink>]; Leung et al., [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref148">48</reflink>]). There may be additional factors at play in the early care and education space, but more research is needed to understand the role of ECE teachers' racial and ethnic identities on their reported depressive symptomology.</p> <p>This study found that higher racial concordance between teachers and their students predicted lower scores on the depression scale. The data used in this study cannot explain <emph>why</emph> or <emph>how</emph> these factors are related, but other research can point to some possible explanations. Teachers who have the same racial or ethnic identity as their students may have more positive interactions or experiences with their students and their students' families. A body of literature has demonstrated the idea of <emph>shared cultural understanding</emph> (Redding, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref149">77</reflink>]), supporting that students of color taught by teachers of color experience more positive outcomes (for review, see Redding, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref150">77</reflink>]), and researchers have tried to understand the mechanisms underlying that phenomenon. Villegas and Irvine ([<reflink idref="bib92" id="ref151">92</reflink>]) reviewed the literature to understand these mechanisms and identified five practices that may contribute: "(a) having high expectations of students; (b) using culturally relevant teaching; (c) developing caring and trusting relationships with students; (d) confronting issues of racism through teaching; and (e) serving as advocates and cultural brokers" (p. 180). The expert panel with whom we discussed our study findings posited that teachers and families might build stronger relationships and effective communication when they share the same racial or ethnic background, echoing previous findings that positive teacher-family relationships can support teacher well-being and job satisfaction and mitigate teacher stress (Gross et al., [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref152">26</reflink>]).</p> <p>The expert panel also mentioned the role of teacher self-efficacy, explaining that it may be associated with both racial and ethnic concordance and teacher well-being. This aligns with research that has found that teacher self-efficacy is associated with greater well-being and may protect teachers from negative effects of job stressors (Jeon et al., [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref153">33</reflink>]; Wang et al., [<reflink idref="bib94" id="ref154">94</reflink>]; Zee & Koomen, [<reflink idref="bib100" id="ref155">100</reflink>]). While one study found that racial and ethnic concordance between K-12 teachers and students was associated with greater teacher self-efficacy (Geerlings et al., [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref156">21</reflink>]), additional research is needed to understand the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and racial and ethnic concordance in ECE settings, and how that may contribute to teacher's experience of depression symptoms.</p> <p>Unlike other studies, we did not find any relationships between depression and teacher wages, household income or the poverty level of the community in which the center was located.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-32">Job Stress</hd> <p>The job stress levels reported by the ECE teachers in this study indicated that teachers experienced each of the job stressors in the scale about once a week. The mean job stress score in the concordance sample (7.22) was higher than Curbow and colleagues' study with child care workers, which found a mean score of 6.60 (SD = 4.15) (Curbow et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref157">16</reflink>]).[<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref158">5</reflink>] The present study found three variables associated with job stress. The first finding was that teachers receiving lower wages reported lower stress levels. This counterintuitive result was unexpected, given other research that found lower wages were associated with higher stress (Madill et al., [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref159">51</reflink>]) and were more likely to intend to leave their jobs (Schaack et al., [<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref160">85</reflink>]). However, Kwon et al. ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref161">40</reflink>]) found a similar result as the present study: ECE teachers with greater educational attainment and pay had poorer well-being. As Kwon and colleagues state: "Compensation and benefits—while helpful—are not sufficient to promote well-being" (p. 165). Future research is needed to further investigate this finding.</p> <p>The second variable related to job stress is ECE teacher racial and ethnic identity, finding that identifying as Hispanic predicted lower job stress. The levels of job stress reported by Black and Asian teachers in this sample were similar to White teachers, all reporting job stress levels higher than Hispanic teachers. The literature on race and job stress is inconsistent. Findings from one study, using the NSECE 2012, found high rates of distress among Asian teachers (Madill et al., [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref162">51</reflink>]). Other studies found that Hispanic and Black teachers (K-12) reported lower levels of stress than White teachers (Bottiani et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref163">5</reflink>]; McCarthy et al., [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref164">55</reflink>]), yet Cordaro et al., ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref165">14</reflink>]) found that Hispanic teachers had the highest stress levels. These inconsistent findings could be attributed to the different measures of stress used. Furthermore, generalized stress is different than job stress, which specifically measures work demands. Other factors likely impact racial and ethnic differences in ECE teacher stress levels that have yet to be consistently measured or identified.</p> <p>The third finding was an interaction effect between classroom diversity and teacher income on job stress. For teachers with household incomes over $30,000, racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom was associated with lower job stress levels. One potential interpretation of this finding of the interaction effect of diversity and income on stress is that teachers with lower incomes may experience a cognitive load from worrying about finances, interfering with attention (Pande, [<reflink idref="bib73" id="ref166">73</reflink>]) and allowing for fewer cognitive resources for implementing nuanced practices and responding to diverse needs of the classroom. Teachers with higher incomes, on the other hand, can use individualized and inclusive practices with the diverse classroom, which may help to reduce job stress through potential mechanisms of increased teacher self-efficacy and improved child behavior and academic growth. This study is the first to explore the relationship between stress and classroom diversity in ECE, and additional research is needed to understand this relationship and the role of teacher income.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-33">Limitations</hd> <p>Although several studies have examined how racial and ethnic concordance affects K-12 students (for review, see Redding, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref167">77</reflink>]), this is the first study to examine the role of racial and ethnic concordance with early childhood teachers. While the study's findings shed new light on these topics, they should be viewed in the context of some limitations. There were constraints in the NSECE survey instrument itself. The Racial Bias in Data Tool (Authors) was used to assess the 2019 NSECE for potential racial and ethnic bias and found limitations that may affect the study's findings. The most important limitations were that teachers were asked to guess their students' races, and teachers' race and ethnicity were collected as separate variables, which has been found to undercount Hispanic respondents (Marks & Jones, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref168">53</reflink>]; Olmsted-Hawala & Nichols, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref169">68</reflink>]). In addition, the NSECE included limited questions about job stress, measuring this domain in narrow terms that might not fully represent respondents' experiences. Furthermore, the study did not examine any positive aspects of teacher well-being (e.g., self-efficacy, sense of belonging, job satisfaction) that might be related and may provide a fuller picture of their sense of well-being. The low variance explained by the regression models indicates that additional variables contribute to teacher depression and job stress that were not included in the models. Finally, the study was unable to examine why and how specific variables were related because the study did not collect any qualitative data that could provide context for the survey findings.</p> <p>There were additional limitations affecting the analysis, including a large amount of missing data on race and ethnicity of teachers or children (22%) and the exclusion of questions about supervision, as these variables were self-reported and highly correlated with other independent variables and the dependent variables; people experiencing job stress and depression may also have a negative perception of work conditions (Griffin et al., [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref170">24</reflink>]). Another important limitation was the exclusion of multiracial identities and other races except Black, White, Asian, and Hispanic, due to the inability to match the teachers' and children's races for these groups.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-34">Future Directions</hd> <p>This study is a first step in understanding how teacher and student race and ethnicity are related to teacher well-being; there is so much more to learn. Qualitative research could illuminate why these constructs are related. The question of why teachers with higher wages report higher stress, an unexpected finding in this study, could be examined with future versions of the NSECE, in addition to qualitative work. Future quantitative research should also conduct sensitivity analyses to examine how different methods for coding race and ethnicity may impact the effect of racial and ethnic concordance on teacher stress and depression. Other questions of interest include: how teacher-student racial concordance is related to teacher-family relationships and teacher well-being; why Asian and Hispanic teachers report lower depression levels; why classroom diversity interacts with teacher household income to affect job stress; and how structural factors— such as teacher role (Jeon et al., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref171">34</reflink>]) and whether the program is publicly funded (Johnson et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref172">35</reflink>])—interact with well-being and racial concordance. The study contributes to the literature on teacher–child racial and ethnic concordance. Still unknown is the potential effect of culturally responsive practice (Souto-Manning, [<reflink idref="bib88" id="ref173">88</reflink>]) and culturally relevant pedagogy (Aronson & Laughter, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref174">3</reflink>]; Ladson-Billings, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref175">44</reflink>]; Young, [<reflink idref="bib99" id="ref176">99</reflink>]) and its relationship to concordance in ECE classrooms. These practices respect and value the cultural knowledge of the children and families in the school, and teachers of all races and ethnicities can use this knowledge to support the children in their classrooms (Ladson-Billings, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref177">43</reflink>]).</p> <p>Understanding factors related to ECE workforce job stress and depression can help clarify the changes needed to improve ECE teacher well-being. Research on ECE workforce well-being has revealed key factors that can support the well-being of teachers, including administrative and peer support, opportunities for autonomy and decision-making, ongoing professional development training on supporting mental health of staff and children, and adequate compensation (Cumming, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref178">15</reflink>]; Smith & Lawrence, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref179">87</reflink>]; Stein et al., [<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref180">89</reflink>]). This study contributes to further understanding of ECE teacher well-being and important contextual factors affecting workforce well-being and lays a strong foundation for future inquiry.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-35">Funding</hd> <p>This project is supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (Grant # 90YE0280) totaling $99,925.42 with 100 percent funded by ACF/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACF/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the ACF website, Administrative and National Policy Requirements.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-36">Declarations</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0191573886-37">Conflicts of interest</hd> <p>The authors report no conflicts of interest.</p> <hd id="AN0191573886-38">Publisher's Note</hd> <p>Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.</p> <ref id="AN0191573886-39"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref3" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Achinstein B, Ogawa RT, Sexton D, Freitas C. Retaining teachers of color: A pressing problem and a potential strategy for "hard-to-staff" schools. Review of Educational Research. 2010; 80; 1: 71-107. 10.3102/0034654309355994</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref91" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Appel HB, Huang B, Ai AL, Lin CJ. 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Review of Educational Research. 2016; 86; 4: 981-1015. 10.3102/0034654315626801</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0191573886-40"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibtext> The literature review focuses on the US context, as the early childhood landscape varies widely internationally, and the data source reflects a nationally representative sample of ECE teachers in the US.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The sampling design used 219 primary sampling units (PSUs), which are counties or clusters of contiguous counties, and 747 secondary sampling units (SSUs), are which are one or two adjacent census tracts falling within the PSU. Low Income SSUs are defined as SSUs with at least 40% of households having an income below 250% of the federal poverty threshold; 508 of the 747 SSUs in the NSECE sampling design are low-income. ECE centers were selected in census tracts within 2 miles of each SSU's population center.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For example, if an Asian teacher reported that 25% of the children in the classroom were Asian and did not provide data on the remaining racial or ethnic groups of the children in the classroom, concordance was still calculated. However, if the teacher was White rather than Asian, concordance was not calculated for that record since the percentage of White students is unknown.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The sampling strategy and sampling weights allow the sample of 4,709 teachers to be generalizable to the entire population of ECE teachers in the US.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The mean score on the job stress scale was significantly higher in our sample compared to the ECE workers in Curbow et al. ([16]) sample, <emph>t</emph>(3643) = 2.72, <emph>p</emph> = .007.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Tiffany Burkhardt; Lee Ann Huang; Cody Oltmans and Reiko Kakuyama-Villaber</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author; Author; Author</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib47" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib61" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib87" firstref="ref7"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib50" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib64" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib96" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib89" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref19"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib54" firstref="ref21"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib85" 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  Data: Racial and Ethnic Concordance and Early Childhood Workforce Well-Being
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tiffany+Burkhardt%22">Tiffany Burkhardt</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9141-0782">0000-0001-9141-0782</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lee+Ann+Huang%22">Lee Ann Huang</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cody+Oltmans%22">Cody Oltmans</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Reiko+Kakuyama-Villaber%22">Reiko Kakuyama-Villaber</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education+Journal%22"><i>Early Childhood Education Journal</i></searchLink>. 2026 54(2):547-562.
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  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
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  Data: 16
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: Administration for Children and Families (ACF) (DHHS)
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  Data: 90YE0280
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Early+Childhood+Teachers%22">Early Childhood Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Well+Being%22">Well Being</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stress+Variables%22">Stress Variables</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Depression+%28Psychology%29%22">Depression (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Student+Relationship%22">Teacher Student Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Race%22">Race</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethnicity%22">Ethnicity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Diversity%22">Diversity</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1007/s10643-024-01849-9
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  Data: 1082-3301<br />1573-1707
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  Data: Teachers in the early care and education (ECE) workforce have been experiencing elevated levels of depression and job stress, which can lead to lower quality teaching practices, less emotional support to children, and higher staff turnover. Research has shown that racial concordance (or matching) between teachers and their students is associated with positive effects on children's outcomes and lower stress in teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade. However, no research had examined how racial concordance is related to teacher well-being in ECE settings. To examine the predictors of ECE teacher stress and depression and the role of racial concordance, this study analyzed data collected in 2019 for the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) using survey-weighted regression models. Higher racial concordance between ECE teachers (n = 3,547) and their students was associated with lower teacher depression levels. Lower staff turnover and Hispanic or Asian teacher identity also predicted lower depression. Lower wages, working less than full time, Hispanic identity, and, for higher-income teachers, greater student racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom were all associated with lower job stress. This study contributes to further understanding ECE teacher well-being and important contextual factors, including racial concordance and classroom diversity.
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