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Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the United States. This is especially true for teachers who are responsible for meeting the complex needs of students with disabilities, particularly those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). In fact, EBD teachers have a higher risk of experiencing burnout than their special education and general education colleagues. This burnout leads EBD teachers to leave the specialization of EBD, leave the field of special education, or leave the teaching profession as a whole. One way to mitigate this exodus of EBD teachers is to provide a broader pedagogical opportunity. Project-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical methodology that is not often used by EBD teachers. The current study examines the use of PBL teaching to support students behaviorally and its impact on EBD teacher stress and job satisfaction. PBL was shown to improve student classroom and personal behaviors as well as increase job satisfaction for EBD teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of a special educator is one of many different hats, including teacher, interventionist, comforter, parent, counselor, therapist, and administrator. These varying roles, particularly when working with students with emotional behavioral disorders, create one of the most emotionally taxing and challenging jobs in public education, which in turn leads to increased educator burnout and attrition. However, this does not need to be the fate of special educators. The purpose of this article is to (a) review one current support system widely implemented in the field for teachers of children with emotional behavioral disorders, (b) discuss the benefits of mentorship in the teaching workforce, (c) identify some of the barriers to mentorship, and (d) identify areas of reform for more effective mentorship practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]