Blog Posts -- Research & Reports

"Nothing about these experiences of adversity and trauma is inevitable in terms of the development of the child."-Dr. Gerry Giesbrecht The adverse childhood experiences study has taught us that 2/3 individuals has experienced some form of childhood adversity between the age of 0-17 years, and that this adversity can have long term negative effects on the individual. But how might this adversity impact a mom and her baby? According to my latest conversation with Dr. Giesbrecht, approximately...

Find research-based practices for kinder, happier schools on our new Greater Good in Education website. The fields of social-emotional learning (SEL), mindfulness, ethical development, and other prosocially oriented forms of education have emerged to help support and guide teachers’ efforts to transform education. We here at the Greater Good Science Center’s Education Program would like to offer our support as well with the launch of our new website, Greater Good in Education (GGIE). GGIE...

Nationwide, public schools identified 1.5 million children experiencing homelessness in the 2017-2018 school year, an increase of 11% from the previous school year, according to a report released in January by the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE). A small portion of those students are living in unsheltered situations, such as cars, parks, streets or bus stations, a segment that more than doubled from the previous school year. Homeless students in emergency shelters or...

A new study from the nonprofit Research for Action highlights “promising models” nationwide and calls on state lawmakers to implement a comprehensive approach in Pennsylvania. “There are two areas where the research is extremely clear. Childhood trauma is an extremely common experience, and traumatic stress can have a wide range of negative consequences for children,” said Rachel Comly, a senior analyst at Research for Action. The study recommends that schools provide professional...

A virtual library card is needed for the legions of working professional nurses who must be current in our practice. However, our access to the very journals that hold the most cutting edge, evidence-based nursing practice (EBP) is inaccessible once we graduate. Of course, we can purchase individual subscriptions to journals, but that financial burden is often elusive for nurses who are paying off massive student debt. This important issue was raised on Twitter by public health nurse Melanie...

A new survey from the Pew Research Center found that seven-in-10 teens identified anxiety and depression as a major problem they face, The New York Times reported. While being a teenager has long been synonymous with angst, it's important to distinguish typical teen behavior from anxiety and depression, which are diagnosable mental health conditions . Though issues like bullying, substance use disorder, alcohol consumption , and gang violence were also cited as problems, mental health was...

Despite the pervasive effect of stressful experiences — from mass school shootings to the opioid epidemic — on student performance, only 11 states encourage or require staff training on the effects of trauma. Half of states have policies on suicide prevention. And just one state, Vermont, requires a school nurse to be available daily at every school campus. Those are among the key findings of a report released Thursday by the nonprofit Child Trends, which found that most states have failed...

Lesbian, gay and bisexual students in California’s middle and high schools are much more likely than their straight peers to feel depressed, abuse substances and skip school, according to a new report by Kidsdata .* The report examines data from two state-sponsored surveys, one looking at student wellbeing in grades 7,9 and 11 and non-traditional students, and another that gauges the opinions of staff at elementary through high schools on student behavior, policies and programs, and overall...

Some teachers are able to build deep emotional connections with students and inspire them to learn. What does that look like in the brain? The University of Southern California is exploring that question and other connections between the brain and effective teaching in a new study launched this fall at Intellectual Virtues Academy, a public charter school with middle and high school campuses in Long Beach. In a combination of psychology, teaching and neuroscience, the study will monitor...

Discover the ways trauma-informed practices, social emotional learning, and positive behavioral interventions and supports complement one another. School leaders will learn how to shift current PBIS practices to reflect a trauma-informed mindset and best support students. Identify ways to adjust referral forms and access our ready-to-use, trauma-informed Student Support Form. Download free white paper | PDF from ASCD Whitepaper Library Click HERE for the white paper on MoveThisWorld's website.

There’s been heightened awareness and activism in recent years surrounding the discipline gap, or the occurrence that minorities — black males in particular — are disproportionately suspended or expelled relative to other racial and gender subgroups. But what’s received less attention are some of the other surprising trends embedded deep in data out of California. Black males in California public schools are suspended at a rate 3.6 times greater than the statewide average for all students,...

Child Trends is now accepting submissions of published or unpublished evaluations, reports, or other documented information about programs, policies, and practices that schools have implemented to identify students who have experienced trauma, link them to care within the school or broader community, or foster environments that avoid re-traumatizing students. This request is part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded project aimed at supporting the development of evidence-informed...