Based on the findings, several recommendations

The gap

Evidence profile

Stated in the recommendations section of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Climate and Classroom Behavior on the Mental Health of Special Needs Education Teachers (2026) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi

  Based on the findings, several recommendations are proposed: 1. Strengthen Professional Development Programs. Schools should provide continuous training focused on differentiated instruction, classroom management, and inclusive education to help teachers better address diverse learner needs, which is a major source of stress. 2. Enhance Teacher Coping and Wellness Programs. Institutions should implement stress management and wellness initiatives, such as mental health support services, peer support groups, and resilience-building workshops, to sustain teachers’ effective coping mechanisms and prevent long-term burnout. Increase Student Participation and Autonomy. Schools should adopt approaches that give students more voice and choice in learning, such as collaborative learning, project-based activities, and participatory decision-making in class, to enhance motivation and classroom practices. 3. 4. Strengthen Positive Classroom Climate. Administrators and teachers should work together to foster a supportive, inclusive, and respectful classroom environment, reinforcing prosocial behavior while addressing behavioral concerns through structured interventions such as social-emotional learning (SEL) programs. 5. Conduct Further Research. Future studies may explore additional variables such as leadership styles, school culture, and student-related factors, and may use larger samples or mixed methods to better understand the complex relationships among stress, classroom climate, and student behavior. These recommendations aim to enhance teacher well-being, improve instructional quality, and promote better student outcomes, ultimately contributing to a more effective and resilient educational environment.

  generalstated in recommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: classroom student programs teachers better stress enhance learning based recommendations strengthen schools management inclusive teacher
• Firefighters and Problem-Solvers: A Comparative Case Study of Elementary School Principals' Divergent Perspectives on Managing Stress (2026) · European Journal of Educational Management · doi

  As noted, caring leadership practices may be especially valuable in improving school climate and reducing teacher stress. District leaders should consider the barriers more demanding principals face in implementing relational practices when they may be treading water, especially in times of crises. Without significant intervention and alleviation of job-stressors, principals are not able to spend their time and energy building relationships and fostering a positive school climate. District leaders can enhance support for principals in schools with higher levels of teacher stress who are dealing with more intensive student needs, accountability pressures, and other negative impacts due to the pandemic. As one principal noted, district leaders could be asking, ‘What are the needs of the students?’ And ‘how are the needs of the students different from my campus, and the campus across the street?’ For example, district leaders could allocate resources more equitably and hire a social worker on one campus struggling with teacher and student mental health and student basic need concerns, and provide social-emotional learning training to another school that has seen an uptick in student behaviors and disconnection after the pandemic. The CARD classification system for teachers could be useful to school leaders interested in assessing the incidence of stress in their schools. We note that the CARD measure has been translated into several languages and its validity explored in those contexts, suggesting the applicability of these findings to nations beyond the U.S. (Ullrich et al., 2012). While the specific role of school leaders may vary across countries, the importance of accurately assessing teacher stress is a clear takeaway from our findings. Lastly, district leaders should redirect accountability pressures and emphasize resources to help schools build a supportive climate and resiliency among all staff, including principals and teachers, as improved school climate results in less stress and greater self-efficacy in both teachers and principals. While principals play an important role in climate, teachers may also share this responsibility. With district leaders, principals, and teachers working together, schools can create a more supportive and collaborative environment that prioritizes positive school climate and enhances both principal and teacher well-being, resulting in greater outcomes for all. More broadly, these findings provide additional evidence for leaders and policymakers to consider the significant impacts of variations in internal and external stressors on principals’ ability to address the needs in their buildings and improve school and student outcomes. Why do some schools consistently meet or exceed growth while others struggle to do so? These findings may be one piece of the answer.

  generalstated in recommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: leaders school principals climate district teacher stress schools student teachers needs campus noted practices especially
• Crises in Schools and Crısis Management Skills of Principals (2026) · Science Insights Education Frontiers · doi

  The following recommendations can be developed in line with this study: 1. Crisis Management Training Should Be Made Mandatory: In-service crisis management training for school principals should be restructured to be informative, supported by practical scenarios, and should be inte- grated into the Ministry of National Education legislation (Table 1). 2. Psychological Resilience and Emotional Intelligence Training Should Be Increased: Development programs focused on emotional intelligence and resilience should be implemented to enable principals to protect their own psychological health and manage the school climate in crisis environments. 3. Crisis Committees Should Be Established in Schools: A crisis committee should be established in every school to be activated in times of crisis; this committee should conduct regular drills with predetermined job de- scriptions. 4. A Distributed Leadership Culture Should Be Encouraged: Instead of centralizing decisions during crisis periods, shared leadership practices SIEF, Vol.31, No.2, 2026 5134  Şahin. (Türkiye). Crises in Schools and Principals’ Management Skills. 5. with teachers and other staff should be encouraged, increasing the school’s holistic reflexivity. Interventions to Address Teacher Loneliness Should Be Developed: In light of findings that teachers become isolated during crisis periods, guidance systems should be established to enable school administrators to recognize this loneliness and establish support mechanisms. 6. Crisis Leadership Modules Should Be Added to Education Faculties: Mandatory or elective courses on “crisis leadership” should be added to the educational administration programs of education faculties to in- crease the preparedness of aspiring administrators for crises. 7. A National Strategy Should Be Developed for Policymakers: The Minis- try of National Education should develop a comprehensive national- level guideline, protocol, and resource pool to support school adminis- trators in crises. As this study is a literature review focusing on research published be- tween 2015 and 2025, evidence regarding which combination of leadership strategies yields the most effective short- and long-term outcomes across dif- ferent crisis contexts remains limited. Future investigations should prioritize comparative case studies that systematically assess outcomes such as safety, continuity of learning, and psychosocial recovery in schools employing vary- ing leadership approaches. Additionally, longitudinal research is necessary to examine how schools internalize lessons from crises and translate them into enduring policy reforms.

  generalstated in recommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: crisis school leadership national education schools crises developed management training principals established mandatory psychological resilience

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