1. Compassionate Education for Youth Exposed to Trauma: A Training of the Trainers to Help Students Find Success in the Classroom
Welcome: Jackie, Paul
Presenter Introductions
Current Position
Background in education
Passion for the work: education as leverage for the marginalized
Participant Introductions: Debbie
Position By Show of Hands, a few answers (What to Walk Away With)
Created by
Preneka Burnham, M.S. Ed Debbie Staub, Ph.D

2. · Plans and strategies to foster safe learning environments
AGENDA
A.M. The Neuroscience of Trauma, Attachment,
and Toxic Stress
ACES
Attachment 
Toxic Stress
Historical Trauma and Epigenetics
Myths and Perceptions
Secondary Trauma
What Does Trauma “Look” Like in the Classroom
Specific Populations
Developmental Consequences
Impacts of Behavior
Self-Care
Compassionate Schools Initiative
12:00-1:00 LUNCH: Guest Speaker 
P.M. DOE EdInsight Dashboard Presentation
Michele Marinucci, Woodbridge School District
Helping Students Exposed to Trauma Learn
De-Escalation Tips
Self Regulation
Social-Emotional Competence
Working with Families
Action Plans and Next Steps
Questions and Answers
Feedback and Evaluations
4:30 END
LEARNING OBJECTIVES 
Participants will learn:
· What trauma and insecure attachment does to growing brains and how educators can help mediate the impact of trauma
· Plans and strategies to foster safe learning environments
· Positive engagement for students with challenging behaviors
· How to structure a classroom to benefit students exposed to trauma, and ultimately all students
· Simple, practical tools for engaging and improving communication with your students
· How to support your school site in structuring a positive learning environment for students who have been exposed to trauma, and ultimately all students
Identify ‘ground rules” and Talk About Self Care: Debbie

3. Kids do well if they can. If they can’t, something is getting in the way. Bruce Perry
Mental Models
Experiental activity: Monkey Business Illusion
In the scenario we just viewed it is easy to make a parallel to what goes on in the classroom. Youth who have experienced trauma may “miss the monkey” when it comes to learning because they are focused on their internal turmoil that comes with exposure to trauma.
Likewise, an educator might “miss the monkey” in evaluating or assessing the student, because of the focuse on poor behavior.
Tools for the trainers: MENTAL MODELS
Big Picture: Problem behavior is a symptom of a greater problem (opportunity to see the child as a whole)
Systems Structure: The trauma brain functions differently than the non-trauma brain (recognize breaks in the “system”) before planning for repairs
Changes Perspectives: Use a trauma lens, consider your own trauma history/triggers, work as a site-team and with families/community

4. TRUST IDENTITY CONSCIENCE CONCENTRATION RELATIONSHIPS
If we approach students with assumptions for healthy brain development, we come up all daisies
But kids who have experienced trauma may be overgrown with weeds
HANDOVER TO DEBBIE

5. TRUST IDENTITY CONSCIENCE No one Cares Adult’s Can’t Be Trusted
CONCENTRATION
IDENTITY
I Am Worthless
RELATIONSHIPS
I Am in Danger
CONSCIENCE
If we approach students with assumptions for healthy brain development, we come up all daisies
But kids who have experienced trauma may be overgrown with weeds
HANDOVER TO DEBBIE
I Don’t Belong

6. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Something happens between infancy and adulthood to create a lifetime of addictions, abuse and mental health problems.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Available at
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
A piece of the core story –what happens to brains matters for a lifetime

7. The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Health
ACE Study:
The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Health
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
ACE Study
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. The study is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.
More than 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) members undergoing a comprehensive physical examination chose to provide detailed information about their childhood experience of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. To date, more than 50 scientific articles have been published and more than100 conference and workshop presentations have been made.
The ACE Study findings suggest that certain experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life in the United States. Progress in preventing and recovering from the nation's worst health and social problems is likely to benefit from understanding that many of these problems arise as a consequence of adverse childhood experiences.
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at

8. Adverse Childhood Experiences
Of 17,000 respondents, two-thirds had at least one adverse childhood event
Physical, emotional or sexual abuse
Emotional or physical neglect
Growing up with family members with mental illness, alcoholism or drug problems
Family violence
Incarcerated family member
One or no parents
Parental divorce
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
Of 17,000 respondents, two-thirds had at least 1 adverse childhood event
Physical, emotional or sexual abuse
Emotional or physical neglect
Growing up with family members with mental illness, alcoholism or drug problems
Family violence
Incarcerated family member
One or no parents
Parental divorce

9. ACE Study Findings Of the 17,000+ respondents…
More than 25% grew up in a household with an alcoholic or drug user
25% had been beaten as children
Two-thirds had 1 adverse childhood event
1 in 6 people had four or more ACES
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at

10. ACE Study Findings ACE Scores Linked to Physical & Mental Health Problems
Compared with people with no ACEs, those with four or more ACEs were:
Twice as likely to smoke
Seven times as likely to be alcoholics
Six times as likely to have had sex before age 15
Twice as likely to have cancer or heart disease
Twelve times more likely to have attempted suicide
Men with six or more ACEs were 46 times more likely to have injected drugs than men with no history of adverse childhood experiences
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
Compared with people with no ACES, those with 4 or more ACES were…
Twice as likely to smoke,
7x as likely to be alcoholics,
6x as likely to have had sex before age 15, twice as likely to have cancer or heart disease
12x more likely to have attempted suicide
Men with 6+ ACEs were 46x more likely to have injected drugs than men with no history of adverse childhood experiences
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at

11. Twice as likely to smoke, have cancer or heart disease
Clear dose-response relationship between stressors causes adverse health outcomes up to 50 years later
Compared with people with no ACEs, those with 4 or more ACEs were…..
Twice as likely to smoke, have cancer or heart disease
7x as likely to be alcoholics
6x as likely to have had sex before age 15
12x more likely to have attempted suicide
Men with 6+ ACEs were 46x more likely to have injected drugs than men with no history of adverse childhood experiences
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
Clear dose response relationship
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
All of the 10 most common causes of death in America have roots in early trauma.
Compared with people with no ACEs, those with 4 or more ACEs were…..
Twice as likely to smoke, have cancer or heart disease
7x as likely to be alcoholics
6x as likely to have had sex before age 15
12x more likely to have attempted suicide
Men with 6+ ACEs were 46x more likely to have injected drugs than men with no history of adverse childhood experiences

12. Untreated Adverse Early Childhood Events Only Exacerbate Over Time
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
The ACE Study makes one of the most compelling reasons for addressing early trauma in that we now know that untreated adverse early childhood events don’t just go away on their own; but rather will only exacerbate over time if untreated. Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at
Untreated trauma can also manifest in developmental delays such as “not talking” or skill regression in which they can walk but they prefer to crawl. We
also see this in the challenging behavior of young children in childcare who have been kicked out of multiple centers for unprovoked aggression, which for many is really a cry for help for their unmet emotional needs.
Untreated trauma in adolescence may manifest itself in more destructive ways. Studies of delinquent teens have found that many have ACES of “Researchers from Northwestern University recently gave psychiatric evaluations to more than a thousand young detainees at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago- a facility where the majority of YAP students had spent at least a little time-and found that 84 percent of the detainees had experienced two or more serious childhood traumas and that the majority had experienced six or more. Three-quarters of them had witnessed someone being killed or seriously injured. More than 40 percent of the girls had been sexually abused as children. More than half of the boys said that at least once, they had been in situations so perilous that they thought they or people close to them were about to die or be badly wounded. And these repeated traumas, not surprisingly, had had a devastating effect on the detainees’ mental health: two-thirds of the males had one or more diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Academically, they were severely behind the curve: the detained youth had average scores on standardized vocabulary tests at the fifth percentile, meaning they were below 95 percent of their peers nationwide.
“ Source: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough, p. 26
References: Karen M. Abram et al., “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma in Youth in Juvenile Detention,” Archives of General Psychiatry 61 (April 2004).
Roseanna Ander, Philip J. Cook, Jens Ludwig, and Harold Pollack, Gun Violence Among School-Age Youth in Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Crime Lab, 2009).
Untreated trauma in adults also manifest in destructive physical and mental health. One study found that 75% of women in psychiatric units had a history of early abuse. Similarly with substance abuse, many have unresolved early adverse experiences which they have numbed or self medicated with drugs and alcohol.
Source: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Information available at

13. ACES: Impacts are widespread
How many families in our drug treatment centers, psychiatric units and homeless shelters are the result of unhealed earlier traumas?
Ask: How many families in our drug treatment centers, psychiatric units and homeless shelters are the results of unhealed early childhood traumas? Ask the participants to think about the families they work with and the generational trauma that may exist.

14. ACES Impacts Learning 51% of children with 4+ ACE scores
had learning and behavior problems in school
Compared with only 3% of children with NO ACE score
Source: Burke, N.J., Hellman, J.L., Scott, B.G., Weems, C.F & Carrion, V.C. (June 2011). “The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on an Urban Pediatric Population,” Child Abuse and Neglect, 35, No. 6.
ACES impacts learning
Source:
Burke, N.J., Hellman, J.L., Scott, B.G., Weems, C.F & Carrion, V.C. (June 2011). “The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on an Urban Pediatric Population,” Child Abuse and Neglect, 35, No. 6.

15. Delaware vs. Nationwide Adverse Family Experiences Children 0-17
National
No adverse family experiences
49.6%
52.1%
One adverse family experience
27.6%
25.3%
Two or more adverse family experiences
22.8%
22.6%
"There is some data you can access on the website: . I already selected Delaware and you can edit the search criteria on the top right where it says "edit search criteria". Basically the of the kids for whom the survey was conducted, about 50% had no aces yet, with the other 50% being split between one or two or more. When you introduce other variables (e.g. race, household structure) you can see how those impact the ACE exposure."
From:

16. Trauma, Stress and Attachment

17. What is Traumatic Stress?
Overwhelming experience
Involves a threat
Results in vulnerability and loss of control
Leaves people feeling helpless and fearful
Interferes with relationships and beliefs
Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and Recovery. New York Basic Books.

18. Sources of Traumatic Stress
Loss of a loved one
Accidents
Homelessness
Community/School violence
Domestic violence
Neglect
Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Man-made or natural disasters
Terrorism

19. The Foster Care Experience
Being in foster care is one of the many traumatic experiences in the lives of children and families
Casey Family Programs

20. The Stress Response: A Chemical One
Prepares the body for action when threat is detected
Helps the body respond to stress effectively

21. Fight, Flight, Freeze
In order to protect itself, the body uses increased energy to respond to danger in 1 of 3 ways:
Fight
Flight
Freeze

22. The Stress Response and Trauma
Overwhelms a person’s usual ability to cope.
All who experience trauma have varied responses.
Most recover.
Some develop more severe difficulties.

23. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development (90 seconds)
Video here (90 seconds)
Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011)
This video shows what the biology of adversity can tell us now about how healthy development can be derailed, which can lead to lifelong consequences (referred to ACES – adverse childhood experiences).
Learning how to cope with adversity is an important part of healthy development. While moderate, short-lived stress responses in the body can promote growth, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system in the absence of protective adult support. Without caring adults to buffer children, the unrelenting stress caused by extreme poverty, neglect, abuse or severe maternal depression can weaken the architecture of the developing brain, with long-term consequences for learning, behavior and both physical and mental health.
© Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

24. Toxic stress from exposure to violence can impair healthy development
One study revealed that exposure to relationship-based violence and trauma in the first two years of life resulted in lower IQ scores at 5 and 8 years of age.
These early years are critical because they are the period of the most rapid development in the areas of brain development, physical growth, motor skills, language formation, emerging self-concept and social and behavior skills.
FOR TRAINER REFERENCE:
Scientific Research
Childhood trauma exposure has been associated with deficits in cognitive functioning. The influence of timing of exposure on the magnitude and persistence of deficits is not well understood. The impact of exposure in early development has been especially under-investigated. This study examined the impact of interpersonal trauma exposure (IPT) in the first years of life on childhood cognitive functioning. Children (14,206) participating in a longitudinal birth cohort study were assessed prospectively for exposure to IPT (physical or emotional abuse or neglect, sexual abuse, witnessing maternal partner violence) between birth and 64 months. Child intelligent quotient (IQ) scores were assessed at 24 (2), 64 (~5) and 96 (8) months of age. Race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, maternal IQ, birth complications, birth weight and cognitive stimulation in the home were also assessed.
Results IPT was significantly associated with decreased cognitive scores at all time points, even after controlling for socio-demographic factors, maternal IQ, birth complications, birth weight and cognitive stimulation in the home. IPT in the first two years appeared to be especially detrimental. On average, compared with children not exposed to IPT in the first two years, exposed children scored one-half SD lower across cognitive assessments. (7.25 points out of 15 = 1 SD)
Conclusion IPT in early life may have adverse effects on cognitive development. IPT during the first two years may have particular impact, with effects persisting at least into later childhood.
NARRATIVE TEXT CHANGED
Enlow MB, Egland B, Blood EA, Wright RO, & Wright RJ (April 4, 2012)
Interpersonal trauma exposure and cognitive development in children
to age 8 years: a longitudinal study.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health Online First.

25. Triggers
Triggers include seeing, feeling, or hearing something that remind us of past trauma.
Triggers activate the alarm system.
When the alarm system is activated, but there is no danger, it is a false alarm.
The response is as if there is current danger.
Ask participants what behaviors they see most

26. Development and Trauma
Skills specific to each developmental stage build on learning from previous stages.
Children exposed to trauma invest energy into survival instead of developmental mastery.
Development in adulthood may continue to be impacted.

27. Child Welfare and Trauma
“Trauma can be a single event, connected series of traumatic events or chronic lasting stress.”
Diagnostic Classification: 0-3R
Children in the child welfare system almost by definition have suffered trauma, often multiple traumatic events, and 50-75% exhibit behaviors or symptoms that need mental health treatment.
Source: Landsverk, Burns, Stambaugh, & Rolls Reutz (2009). Psychosocial Interventions for Children and Adolescents in Foster Care: Review of Research Literature. Child Welfare, 88 (1),
Source: Landsverk, Burns, Stambaugh, & Rolls Reutz (2009). Psychosocial Interventions for Children and Adolescents in Foster Care: Review of Research Literature. Child Welfare, 88 (1),
NARRATIVE TEXT CHANGED

28. Delaware 2013 Educational Outcome Data for Students in and not in Foster Care
2013
F.C. Kids
Non-F.C. Kids
total population
690
130,994
average daily attendance
92.60%
94.60%
% Special Ed
36.90%
13.60%
number discipline incidents*
1420 (48.5%)
99,790 (76%)
in-school suspensions
400
21,832
out-of-school suspensions
421
23,419
expulsions
1 (.14%) (S middle school)
108 (.08%)
% repeating current grade
7.25% (See note below)
1.72% (See note below)
graduation rate
58.8% (20 of 34)
91.60%
single year drop-out rate
9.70%
1.05%
% students passing Algebra I by 9th grade
52.30%
82.30%
math proficiency
42.50%
71.40%
reading proficiency
44.20%
71.70%
*While a discipline incident percentage rate was calculated, it is unclear how this impacts the data because the number of people disciplined does not necessarily correlate with the number of discipline incidents (i.e. multiple incidents could be attributed to one person).
1. Discipline Incidents for : Kent and NC Counties had highest # of discipline incidents in 9th grade. Sussex was 11th grade, followed by 10th. Ninth grade also shows high numbers in Kent and NCCo for out of school suspensions. No expulsions occurred in high school for foster youth. For non-foster youth, the highest # of discipline incidents occurred in middle school (and expulsions correlate).
2. Repeating current grade in : In the regular population, 9th graders are highest repeater percentage in all 3 counties (by far). For foster youth, same is true (by far) except in Sussex County where 12th grade is higest repeater percentage (1 out of 6 students). Next highest for Sussex is 10th grade (2 out of 20 students) and 9th grade (1 out of 10). Kent and NCCo do not have 12th grade repeaters.
3. Students passing Algebra I by 9th grade: The gap between 9th graders passing Algebra I has remained fairly stable between youth in care and youth not in care.

29. Historical Trauma – Evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder across generations
Pregnant women impacted by the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 who had PTSD from the event gave birth to babies with an elevated stress response and a hypersensitive stress axis. These babies will be more susceptible to anxiety, depression and even PTSD than those whose mothers did not experience PTSD
The role of epigenitics –our DNA can actually be passed down through generations making people more susceptible to the impacts of trauma especially in the absence of a “buffering relationship”

30. Attachment Enduring emotional bond Biologically driven
Impacts future relationships and self-regulation

31. Secure and disrupted attachment
Secure Attachment:
Secure “container”
Provides for basic needs and safety
Has the freedom to explore and learn
Disrupted Attachment:
Lack of availability and predictability
Lack of safety and security
Diminished ability to develop trusting relationships and coping skills

32. Self-Regulation
“The growth of self-regulation is a cornerstone of early childhood development that cuts across all domains of behavior.” From: Neurons to Neighborhoods, p. 26. In other words, it is the ability to balance self-control with self-expression.

33. Examples of self-regulation:
Establishing sleep-wake patterns
Increasing attention span
Focusing on a goal
Managing emotions appropriately and in context
Expressing feelings constructively
ADHD study??????

34. Trauma, Self-Regulation & Coping Skills
Biology of trauma impacts ability to regulate
Trauma impacts the caregiver-child relationship
To heal, children must feel safe in their bodies and they must have supportive relationships with loving caregivers who they can trust
If coping skills are more developed, a child is much better equipped to handle stress

35. The Experience of “trauma” and the impact of it in the classroom
Have audience share their own experiences of interacting with students that they believe have been impacted trauma? What kinds of behaviors did they see? What worked in terms of “helping” these students. What were some of the challenges they faced as professionals?

36. Johnny Madrid Video clip debrief:
What were some of the traumas that Johnny experienced in his childhood?
Do you believe that Johnny experienced toxic stress? Why? Evidence?
What kinds of things might have helped Johnny through? Did help Johnny through?
As an educator, what kinds of things would you have wanted to know about Johnny’s history and situation?

37. Who are the students experiencing trauma?
Students who are or have been in foster care or receiving child welfare services
Students who are or have been homeless
Students who are or have been adjudicated
Students who live in poverty, unsafe and unsupported communities
Students who experience frequent mobility (e.g., children of migrant workers, military families, etc.)
Who else?
Any student can have adverse family/childhood experiences and many of us can recall times in our own childhood when we experienced a traumatic event such as the loss of a loved one or even family pet that was dear to us. Maybe there was a divorce, substance abuse, domestic violence, etc. Or maybe we were involved in a car accident or natural disaster. I know that after being in a pretty significant earthquake, every time I heard a rumble from say a large truck driving by, etc. my heart rate would increase and I would become hypervigilant to my environment. But of course once I figured out that it wasn’t an earthquake or after shock I would eventually calm down.
There are however, a number of populations of students that are particularly vulnerable to traumatic experiences and as we clearly can see from Johnny’s story and thousand likes his, the experience of living in foster care and being removed from your family is traumatic and likely to have great impacts on a student’s ability to effectively learn. Some of the populations then that we want to be particularly sensitive to include:
Students who are or have been in foster care or receiving child welfare services
Students who are or have been homeless
Students who are or have been adjudicated
Students who live in poverty, unsafe and unsupported communities
Students who experience frequent mobility (e.g., children of migrant workers, military families, etc.)
Who else?

38. Trauma from a developmental perspective
How we address trauma is dependent on the age and developmental level of the students we are supporting? No one child will experience trauma in the same way, nor will they respond to their experiences in the same way Much of what we do and how we respond needs to take into account is not only the child’s age and developmental level, but also the behaviors they demonstrate in response to their adverse experiences
Refer to the Ages and Stages Handout –ask them to describe the different types of behaviors they might see based on the student’s age
Ask why it is important to view trauma through a developmental lens?
How we address trauma is dependent on the age and developmental level of the students we are supporting?
No one child will experience trauma in the same way, nor will they respond to their experiences in the same way
Much of what we do and how we respond needs to take into account is not only the child’s age and developmental level, but also the behaviors they demonstrate in response to their adverse experiences

39. Taking care of yourself Self-care checklist
Physical fitness
Nutrition and hydration
Sleep and rest
Assertiveness skills
Centering and solitude
Creative activities
Fun and enjoyment
Support provided
Support received
Set and monitored goals
What else?
Before moving onto looking at some vignettes of students and discussing their traumatic experiences and how to help them along, it is important to remind ourselves, especially if we interact with troubled families and children day in and day out whether that be in the classroom or our counseling offices or as a caseworker making home visits or even as a CASA volunteer, such as myself, we must remember that all this great work we do can also take a toll on us and our families.
Caring is important. It is the foundation for success in the work we do every day in the schools. However, when it comes to working with those who have been traumatizd, there is a cost of the caring. It is not uncommon for school professionals, who have a classroom with one or more students struggling with the effects of trauma, to experience symptoms very much like those their students are exhibiting. These symptoms are called vicarious or secondary trauma. They can affect our personal lives and our ability to performance professionally.
For those who care for others (all of us in this room), self-care and self-awareness is the only way to prevent vicarious trauma.
Probably the most common reference to this feeling for professionals is “burnout.” Constant demands to care for others, which are a daily part of our jobs, may cause fatigue, emotional stress, or apathy.
The self-care checklist –but what about right now? What can we do to help support you right now as you may be feeling stressed and “burn-out” during this day and focusing on these tough concepts.
Building a self-care action plan HANDOUT???? (p 58-59)
Ask audience what they need to practice self-care
Pages of The Heart of Learning manual

40. If Kids Can’t Learn by the Way We Teach, then Teach the Way They Learn.
Ignacio Estrada
Creating Trauma-Sensitive Environments
Work where they are
not where you are

41. What Students Tell Us: 2006 WA State Healthy Youth Survey (6th-12th)
Initiative that begin in 2006 with the goal of raising academic performance and improving wellbeing.
What Students Tell Us: 2006 WA State Healthy Youth Survey (6th-12th)
25-30% of youth (8,10 &12th grades) felt so sad and hopeless for 2 or more weeks in a row that they stopped their usual activities.
16-32% (6,8,10,12th grades) had been bullied in the past 30 days
8-12% (8,10,12th grades)attempted or made a plan for suicide
9-26% of youth engaged in binge drinking
Implemented in 2008 throughout several schools stretching over 2 counties, Pierce and Spokane, Offers teaching and supports to develop an infrastructure of positive behavior development in schools.
Partnership between Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the 2 counties supported by the Mental Health Transformation Grant
Purpose to increase the capacity to serve the needs of children and families who’ve encountered multiple challenges associated with negative social, emotional, behavioral, and learning outcomes.
They based their approach on the ACE study framework
The specifics of what schools were faced with were
0. neighborhoods that had high rates of gang activity,
1. There is a single-minded focus on academics.
2. Staff becomes angry at students when they misbehave.
3. Fear of families.
4. Challenges in reframing student behavior into a more workable intervention.
5. Many staff have high ACEs themselves and are triggered by student behavior.
6. Discipline policies that favored suspensions and expulsions over restorative practices
7. Access to staff development

42. Lincoln High School Walla Walla, WA
(Before new approach) • 798 suspensions (days students were out of school) • 50 expulsions
(After new approach) • 135 suspensions (days students were out of school) • 30 expulsions
Retell the story of the biology teacher

43. Flexible Framework for Trauma Sensitive Schools
School wide infrastructure and culture;
Staff training;
Linking with Community Partners;
Academic instruction for traumatized children;
Nonacademic strategies; and
School policies, procedures, and protocols
Intent is to complement rather than replace existing models Response to Intervention (RTI) , Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

44. Resilient Children
“A resilient child is one who bounces back from adversity and continues to function reasonably well, despite continued exposure to risk” Gilligan, 1997
Resilient youth share:
Self-esteem and self confidence
Sense of self-efficacy - a belief in their ability to affect their own lives
A range of social, problem solving approaches
One significant adult
External support system

45. What is Social & Emotional Learning?
Recognizing one’s emotions and values as well as one’s strengths and limitations
social &
emotional
learning
Self-
awareness
Social awareness
Relationship
Skills
Responsible decision-making
Self-management
Making ethical, constructive
choices about personal
and social behavior
Managing emotions and
behaviors to achieve
one’s goals
The process through which children and adults acquire the skills to recognize and manage their emotions, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging situations effectively
These skills provide the foundation for academic achievement, maintenance of good health, and civic engagement in a democratic society
Forming positive relationships,
working in teams, dealing effectively with conflict
Showing understanding and empathy for others

46. How SEL Supports Good Outcomes for Kids Slide Courtesy of CASEL
Safe, Caring,
Challenging,
Well-
Managed ,
Participatory
Learning
Environments
Greater
Attachment,
Engagement,
& Commitment
to School
Better
Academic
Performance
and Success
in School
and Life
Teach SEL
Competencies
Self-awareness
Social awareness
Self-management
Relationship skills
Responsible
decision making
Less Risky
Behavior, More
Assets, More
Positive
Development
Students affected by trauma often compete with their teachers for power. This is because they believe that controlling their environment is the way to achieve safety
Traumatic events make it difficult for children to trust. They make it difficult to feel worthy, take initiative, and form relationships. Students struggling with trauma don’t need another adult to tell them what is wrong with them. What they do need, what helps them thrive, is an adult who treats them with simple sustained kindness, an adult who can empathize with the challenges they face moving between home and school.
Meaningful participation gives us opportunities to be heard, to make choices, to have responsibilities, to belong, and to engage in problem solving. When we make meaningful contributions to the welfare of others, we improve our own feelings of self-worth. Helping others strengthens resiliency. Providing guided opportunities for participation is an important principle of compassionate teaching. Such supervised opportunities can provide solace, create mutual trust, and affirm the self-worth of those involved.
Students will be provided with opportunities to feel safe and assured.
Students will be able to identify triggers that set off “fight-flight-fright” behaviors that distract them from learning.
With the help of their teachers, students will either remove trigger stimuli or respond to those stimuli differently.
Students will improve their abilities to attune themselves to the cues of others.
1. What was the function of the student’s behavior. Was it to defy us or was its intent to somehow cope with a perceived danger?
2. Acknowledging and respecting boundaries. Knowing all the details is not the most useful way to use our energy.
Triggers can be external, internal, or a combination of both. Their response is reflexive not reflective.
4. Provide the student with choices. a) Remove the stimulus, b) Help the student remove the stimulus, or c) Help the student learn to respond to the stimulus differently.
Compassionate strategies for traumatized students tend to be useful for all students.
Ask the audience what this looks like
Slide Courtesy of CASEL

47. END