Associations Between Teacher-Student Racial/Ethnic Congruence and Public School Teachers' Risk for Stress

Using national data from the National Center for Education Statistics 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey and Common Core of Data, we examined the relationship between K-12 practitioners' risk for stress and the teacher-to-student racial/ethnic congruence. Analyses indicated significant variation in risk for stress by school racial composition and suggested that the likelihood of being categorized as most at-risk for stress is associated with the teacher-to-student racial/ethnic congruence. Findings point to substantial differences in how teachers appraise their environments depending on school context, which has implications for how education stakeholders recruit and prepare classroom practitioners.