Protecting Teachers’ Voices: Investigating Risk Factors, Conducting Cost Analysis

项目概要/摘要 学校教师的声音问题很严重，不仅因为这些问题发生得频繁，而且还因为 因为它们破坏了课堂教育。研究提出了一些相关的 生理、环境和行为风险因素。但仍存在根本性差距 了解这些因素如何影响教师在一个学年中的声音健康，教师如何 适应他们面临的声音要求，以及当前的职业政策（包括财务政策）如何 以及教育政策制定者的态度限制）都会影响教师的声音健康，无论好坏。的 这种差距的持续存在对实现积极的声音健康的长期目标构成了障碍 教育和治疗计划。当前的提案将通过探索如何推动这一努力 教师的声音受到声音风险、声音要求、声音调节和声音健康的影响 政策。这项经验丰富的研究以强大的基础工作和生产力记录为基础 团队提出了 3 个具体目标： [1] 确定与发生相关的风险因素之间的相互作用 通过将横截面和纵向（一年）调查数据与标准进行比较来解决教师的声音问题 声音评估； [2]量化教师对课堂声音的感知敏锐度和适应性 要求通过在课堂上进行分析和模拟来增加声音健康问题的风险 课堂环境； [3] 调查当前和潜在的校本政策，以改善声音 通过审查对教师声音问题的行政反应并量化两者的成本来促进健康 解决方案和不干预。该提案具有创新性，部分原因在于它[1]融合了虚拟现实 技术与先前测试的声学模拟和实时可听系统进行复制 课堂风险因素和干预措施，在受控环境中引发“教师声音”； [2] 使用来自 独特的跨学科研究团队（即语音科学、声学工程、通信、 经济学和教育）以有效的创新方式解决重大公共卫生问题； [3] 将可靠的调查工具（使用焦点小组开发）与标准临床相结合 评估以准确跟踪教师的声音在整个学年中的变化情况。同时 不是临床试验，这些数据具有临床意义，因为可能会出现模式，包括当声音 问题的发生、它们在一个学年中的进展情况以及它们为何改善或恶化。因此，这个 雄心勃勃的方法将有助于保护教师的声音健康，改善出现问题时的反应， 间接改善课堂学习环境。这项研究的结果也将为学校提供 管理员和其他决策者提供实用且经济上可行的信息，可用于 支持所在地区教师的声音健康。

Project Summary/Abstract Schoolteachers' voice problems are significant, not only because these problems occur so frequently but also because they undermine education in the classroom. Research has suggested a number of associated physiological, environmental and behavioral risk factors. However, there remains a fundamental gap in understanding how these factors affect a teacher's vocal health over an academic year, how teachers accommodate to the vocal demands they face, and how current occupational policies (including the financial and attitudinal constraints of educational policy makers) impact teachers' vocal health for better or worse. The continued presence of this gap represents a barrier to the long-term objective of proactive vocal health education and treatment programs. The current proposal will move this effort forward by exploring how teachers' voices are impacted by vocal risks, vocal demands, vocal accommodations, and vocal health policies. Grounded on strong foundational work and a track record of productivity, this experienced research team proposes 3 specific aims: [1] determine the interactions between risk factors related to the occurrence of teacher voice problems by collating cross-sectional and longitudinal (year-long) survey data with standard voice assessments; [2] quantify teachers' perceptual acuity of and accommodations to classroom vocal demands that increase the risk of vocal health issues by conducting analyses in classrooms and simulated classroom environments; and [3] investigate current and potential school-based policies to improve vocal health by reviewing administrative responses to teachers' voice issues and quantifying the costs of both solutions and non-interventions. The proposal is innovative in part because it [1] merges virtual reality technologies with previously tested acoustic simulations and real-time auralization systems to replicate classroom risk factors and interventions, eliciting “teacher voice” in controlled settings; [2] uses tools from a unique interdisciplinary research team (i.e. Voice Science, Acoustical Engineering, Communication, Economics, and Education) to approach a significant public health concern in an effectively innovative way; and [3] combines reliable survey instruments (developed using focus groups) with standard clinical assessments to accurately track how a teacher's voice changes over the course of a full academic year. While not a clinical trial, these data are clinically significant because patterns may emerge, including when voice problems occur, how they progress over an academic year, and why they improve or worsen. Thus, this ambitious approach will help preserve teachers' vocal health, improve the response when problems present, and indirectly improve the classroom learning environment. The results of this study will also provide school administrators and other policy makers with practical and economically feasible information that can be used to support teachers' vocal health in their districts.