Shifting away from a focus on grades and test scores may make teachers safer

Columbus, OH — Schools that foster a culture of deep engagement in learning – rather than prioritize grades and test scores – may be keeping teachers safe from violence, researchers claim.

A team from Ohio State University surveyed nearly 9,400 teachers – from prekindergarten to high school in urban, rural and suburban settings – to find out how often they’ve been the target of violent acts and their perceptions of educational focus on a mastery goal structure versus a performance goal structure.

When schools focused more on students’ mastery of materials, incidents of violence against the teachers were less frequent.

The researchers hypothesize that putting more emphasis on grades and test scores creates more negative emotions, which can lead to violence from students, parents, colleagues and/or administrators. Conversely, focusing on mastery of learning contributes to students’ happiness. In turn, teachers are safer from various types of violence.

“What was really striking was this performance culture predicted all kinds of increased violence by students, whether it be physical violence, verbal threatening or property violence,” lead study author Eric Anderman, a professor of educational psychology at OSU, said in a press release.

The study was published online in the Journal of School Violence.