21CSLA (21st Century California School Leadership Academy)

This report examines Transitional Kindergarten (TK) teachers’ perceptions of school climate and its associations with compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and turnover intention. The survey involved 143 teachers from approximately 45 school districts in California, focusing on how school climate affects teachers’ professional experiences. The majority of TK teachers (97.9%) reported a positive perception of their overall school climate. However, despite this overall positivity, it is important to note that each category of school climate may carry different meanings and should also be examined separately. Differences in perceptions based on race and gender are evident, with Caucasian/White and Asian/ Asian American teachers showing higher average levels of agreement with positive perceived school climate. Male teachers also reported higher average satisfaction compared to female and non-binary teachers. Additionally, our findings indicated that a positive school climate was associated with higher levels of compassion satisfaction but did not show a significant correlation with reduced compassion fatigue, suggesting that additional support may be required to address this aspect. Moreover, school climate significantly influences turnover intentions, with nearly half of the participants recently considering leaving their jobs. These findings underscore the need to foster a supportive school environment that enhances both teacher retention and overall well-being.