Tagged With "Protective Factors"
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ACEs Science in Education: The Next Big Challenge is Systems Change #ACEsCon2018
One of the first sessions of the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access discussed the barriers and opportunities for increasing access in the field of education. The main question was: "How can one achieve systematic changes within the field of education?" The session was moderated by Michelle Flowers, a passionate advocate, and the principal of Kinney High in Rancho Cordova, CA, which is part of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. It included a dynamic and diverse panel of education...
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Potential impact of Trauma on special education eligibility
This is a follow up to my previous email concerning the PP v Compton class action lawsuit concerning adverse events and eligibility under the Americans with Disability act. I did a presentation at the Legal Issues in Special Education conference on April 24th. The participants consisted of special education directors, compliance officers and parent advocates The big surprise was that there was huge interest in this issue. It was standing room only in the room. Secondly even though this...
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Poverty seen as factor in dropout rate (Wilkesboro, NC) [JournalPatriot.com]
Local school officials say worsening economic problems in the last decade are adversely impacting student success and likely played a role in last year’s 63.5 percent increase in the Wilkes County high school dropout rate. The dropout rate rose from 1.71 in the 2013-14 school year to 2.68 in 2014-15. Last year’s rate was the highest since 3.50 in 2009-10 and the first increase since 2008-09. “The economic problems that families are facing (in Wilkes) are huge,” said April Marr, director of...
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CUSD ACEs resolution adopted!
The Chico Unified School District adopted a resolution declaring November ACEs awareness month, and encouraging schools to participate in ACEs awareness activities during the month of November and beyond. This is a great template to be used with our other school partners.
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Defending Childhood
Common Sense Millions of injured children whose pleas are not being heard are waiting at the intersection of the “Defending Childhood” Report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Congress’s rewrite...
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Development and Implementation of Standards for Social and Emotional Learning in the 50 States (selpractices.org)
Development and Implementation of Standards for Social and Emotional Learning in the 50 States · SEL Thrive { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "SEL Thrive", "url" : "https://www.selpractices.org/", "logo": "https://www.selpractices.org/apple-touch-icon-180x180.png", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/", "https://twitter.com/" ], // "contactPoint" : [{ // "@type" : "ContactPoint", // "telephone" : "+1-555-555-555", // "contactType" : "customer service"...
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Diverting the School to Prison Pipeline Through School Connectedness
What if the we could stifle the School to Prison Pipeline by simply creating a culture of belonging and inclusion in elementary school? The need for caring classrooms that promote a sense of connectedness and belonging is essential and must begin the day a child begins their educational experience. In many, not all, underserved communities, minority students are being taught by less experienced teachers who have emanated from culturally and economically incongruent backgrounds. Furthermore,...
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Dovetail Learning's TOOLBOX a resource for schools seeking to be Trauma-Informed
Bryan Clement, Dovetail Learning, gave a compelling presentation to the ACEs Connection community coalition in late January. He began with a video showing how kids are putting social and emotional skills into action in their school settings: TOOLBOX clearly offers great tools for strengthening relationships between folks of all ages. It also provides the language and framework creating a strong relationship-based foundation for schools seeking to become Trauma Informed. Bryan shared the...
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Education Transformations - Providing Soc/Emot Training to Schools & More
Education Transformations is a company that works with districts, schools, teachers, and other organizations to improve Social/Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and what we call Relational Competency. We are San Diego, CA based, but can travel.
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Educational success curbs effects of child abuse, neglect [sciencedaily.com]
The emotional and sexual abuse that some children endure can lead them to commit crimes later in life. But when children achieve good grades and don't skip school, the likelihood of self-reported, chronic criminal behaviors declines significantly, according to researchers at the University of Michigan and University of Washington. This new ongoing study is one of the few in the nation to follow the same individuals over several decades to learn about how child maltreatment -- described as...
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Engaging Parents, Developing Leaders
A Self-Assessment and Planning Tool for Nonprofits and Schools By the Annie E. Casey Foundation This publication introduces an assessment and planning tool to help nonprofits evaluate their parent engagement efforts and chart a path toward deeper partnerships with parents and caregivers. The tool spans just eight pages, with accompanying text outlining how to use it, how to assess its results and what real-world strategies and programs are already in play — and working — to boost parent...
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Guide - Creating Trauma-Informed Policies: A Practice Guide for School and Mental Health Leadership
Author, Leora Wolf-Prusan, EdD, School Mental Health lead for SAMHSA's Mental Health Technology Center Pacific Southwest http://mhttcnetwork.org/mhttc/mhttc-psw.html Creating compassionate policies is a cornerstone strategy of educational leadership. This guide provides a deep dive into developing, implementing, and evaluating trauma-informed and compassionate school policies. It highlights four "choice points" for education and mental health leadership: Choice Point 1: Names &...
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Held back, but not helped (hechingerreport.org)
Administrators at Carver say that students who enter high school overage feel like they’re wearing a scarlet letter, regardless of why they were retained. “There’s so much shame attached to it. Students constantly tell me, ‘I want to be at my right grade,’” said Jerel Bryant, Carver’s principal. “It’s a huge thing.” Those doubts and shame are one of the many reasons that overage students are at significant risk of dropping out of school. But in New Orleans, overage students are incredibly...
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How good is your kid's school? A new color-coded system will tell you (ocregister.com)
From 1999 to 2013, California’s Academic Performance Index boiled down everything about the state’s K-12 public schools to a single number between 200 and 1,000. That type of accountability is going away, to be replaced by a more nuanced system that is under construction. In the old model, the desirability of neighborhoods or even whole communities hinged in part on their school’s API score. Careers were made or lost based on how far a school or district was from the magic 800 target number.
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Introducing myself, Morgan Vien & NEW Practicing Resilience Community
Hello! I’m a Community Manager for the Practicing Resilience for Self-Care & Healing community. This is an introduction to me and this new community. I graduated with a B.S. in Public Health from Santa Clara University June 2017. And I’m interested in preventing chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, at the community and population level by addressing biological, psychological, and social factors that affect chronic disease outcomes. As the...
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Social-Emotional Life Skills Wrapped Up in Fun
This past school year Every Neighborhood Partnership (ENP) had a great opportunity to collaborate with two Fresno Unified Elementary schools, Fresno State, Fresno City College and Alliant International University to pilot two unique programs that help to build resiliency and social-emotional life skills. Through this collaborative partnership, ENP was able to facilitate two evidence-based programs that help students to build and develop social and emotional life skills through yoga and...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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Sonoma County Trauma-Informed Teaching: Knowing our Students' Stories and Fostering Resilience
Sonoma County Office of Education published this bulletin that provides an overview of ACEs science, trauma in Sonoma County, trauma-informed teaching strategies, and building resilience for teachers and students. It's attached to this post, and also available for download in this group's resources for download section.
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Be part of a breathtaking tipping point !
. Education Equity for trauma-impacted children: from failing funding to fair funding. Be part of the solution! Background A heartfelt tip of the hat to the Basic Education Funding Commission...
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Belongingness Can Protect Against Impact of Trauma, Study Suggests [madinamerica.com]
A new study, published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, investigates the effects of belongingness on adult mental health, outcomes of childhood trauma, and risky alcohol use. The results of the study suggest a feeling of belonging in childhood may serve as a protective factor for difficulties with mental health and adverse outcomes of childhood trauma later in life. Research suggests rates of depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental health issues are exhibited at higher...
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Blended Learning Built on Teacher Expertise (edutopia.org)
An inside look at a teacher-designed instructional model that combines blended learning, student self-pacing, and mastery-based grading. DEVISING A NEW TEACHING MODEL In an effort to redesign my classroom around my students’ diverse needs, I developed a scalable instructional model built around three core principles. 1. Blended instruction: Most blended learning models involve outsourcing the creation of digital content. In the model I developed and then shared with other teachers at my...
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Brain Development and Academic Achievement
"As much as 20% of the gap in test scores could be explained by maturational lags in the frontal and temporal lobes. ... The influence of poverty on children’s learning and achievement is mediated by structural brain development. To avoid...
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Cherokee Point Youth Leaders Educate Community on Child Abuse Prevention
It’s not every day I get to bring an entire pizza party to 30 kids, but a few weeks ago, that’s exactly what I got to do. I went to visit the youth leaders at Cherokee Point Elementary School , San Diego’s first trauma-informed elementary school. We were celebrating a major accomplishment. A few months ago, I wrote about my visit to Cherokee Point to visit youth leaders and talk about Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month, which occurs every April. During my initial visit in March, youth...
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The Real Crisis in Education: An Open Letter to the Department of Education by Krista Taylor
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202 Governor John Kasich Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria Ohio Department of Education 25 South Front Street Columbus, OH 43215-4183 Dear Secretary DeVos, Governor Kasich, and Superintendent DeMaria: I write to each of you, in my position as a teacher in the Cincinnati Public Schools, to ask for...
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The Relentless School Nurse: Candida Rodriguez is Creating Community Through the Power of Conversations That Matter
Candida Rodriguez is my mentor, while she may disagree with that statement and say it is the opposite, it is the absolute truth. My respect, admiration, and amazement at the depth of her knowledge, talent, and compassion astound me every time we work together. Candida serves her complex and ever-changing community with dedication, skill and a relentless pursuit of coordinating care for her students and families. We are partners in the Community Cafe Initiative that began in 2015 after I...
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The State of Climate & Culture Initiatives in America's Schools (kickboardforschools.com)
ESSA requires that states incorporate at least one non-academic factor—such as school climate and safety, student engagement, or others—into their accountability systems. This research brief seeks to bring educators’ voices to the table as issues related to school climate & culture and student social and emotional well-being are increasingly discussed and debated across America. The brief seeks to display the findings of the research in an objective fashion, while wrapping up with a...
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Recalling Happy Memories in Adolescence Can Cut Depression Risk [psychcentral.com]
In a new study, University of Cambridge researchers found that recalling positive events and experiences can help young people build resilience against depression in later life. Depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 300 million people. The condition often first emerges in adolescence, a critical developmental time period when an individual experiences substantial changes in their brain structure and chemistry. Moreover, a known risk factor of...
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Reclaiming Black Girlhood with Hand Games (ascd.org)
"Hand games were a major factor in how we experienced the world as black girls," adds Halyard, a lawyer with a background in education and child advocacy. She and her Hand Games Project partner OnRaé LaTeal, a professional music producer and youth educator, discovered the widespread influence of games like Mary Mack with female friends near and far. Beyond back-in-the-day nostalgia, Halyard and LaTeal see hand games as an underused but potentially powerful tool to teach resiliency,...
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Resource list - Articles on ACEs/trauma-informed schools
Articles about how schools integrate trauma-informed practices, and the outcomes of doing so. If you recommend any others besides those listed here, please leave a comment with a link and/or information.
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Resource List - Research & Reports
Reports and research about how ACEs affect schoolchildren, or about how schools become trauma-informed, or the outcomes of integrating trauma-informed and resilience-building practices in schools. If you recommend any others besides those listed here, please leave a comment with a link and/or information.
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Re: Trauma Training For Educators (Free)
I'd also like to respond to your comment, Jim, about the challenge of creating that paradigm shift - making a strong introduction to administrators to convince them that spending 1-2 hours of a professional development day on trauma is a very worthwhile use of their time. We are trying to develop a good intro. letter to principals. However, we've found that it helps tremendously if we have campus staff who have demonstrated their own skills in working with these challenging students and...
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Re: Author: To Reach Struggling Students, Schools Need to Be More 'Trauma-Sensitive' [EdWeek.org]
A powerful article and profoundly true...I'm speaking as a teacher. I would just like to keep broadening the idea of trauma to schools as well. We must factor into this crucial dialogue the knowledge that sometimes home is the safe place and school is the trauma zone http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02...-paper.html?emc=eta1
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To understand early childhood homelessness, we need more consistent federal data collection [childtrends.org]
Homelessness in early childhood is a known risk factor for children’s health and well-being. Because high-quality early care and education (ECE) programs can buffer some of the negative effects of homelessness on a child’s development , federal ECE programs (such as child care subsidy, Head Start, and early intervention) have begun to prioritize these children for care. Unfortunately, ECE providers in the field often have difficulty identifying families eligible for child care slots that are...
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Tools for teachers -- Children's Resilience Initiative
The Children's Resilience Initiative's web site, ResilienceTrumpsACEs.org has an assortment of resilience-building tools for elementary school-age children. Because we understand the impact of trauma on a child’s sense of safety...
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Trauma education and mindfulness help youth living amid gun violence
Armon Hurst, 2nd from left, first row, Teens on Target, courtesy of YouthAlive! Eighteen-year-old Armon Hurst serves as vice president of the student body at Castlemont High School in Oakland, Calif. He has a 4.0 grade point average, is an avid baseball player, and is slated to go to college next year. But until a few years ago, Hurst would find himself waking from nightmares in the middle of the night. It was difficult to concentrate at school, and he wasn’t eating well. Armon Hurst “There...
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Trauma Informed Care -- Workforce training framework
A colleague of mine -- here in New Zealand!! -- recently passed the attached PDF, from Scotland, onto me. It concerns a relatively recent, and still developing, proposed trauma training framework. This might be helpful to others wishing to go further in introducing TIC in their own services. It includes a consideration of ACEs. Naturally, it needs to incorporate culture-specific additions or modifications to suit your local conditions. The document as it is likely has broad application.
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Trauma-informed practices may lower rate of school suspensions [Reflector.com]
By Amber Revels-Stocks The Times-Leader Saturday, November 3, 2018 Pitt County Schools is implementing a new practice in an attempt to decrease the amount of discipline referrals in its schools. Trauma-informed practices take into consideration adverse childhood experiences or ACEs that can affect physical, mental or emotional health, according to Karen Harrington, director of student services. Examples of ACEs include having a household member in prison, having divorced or separated parents...
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Trauma-informed practices may lower rate of school suspensions [Reflector.com]
By Amber Revels-Stocks The Times-Leader Saturday, November 3, 2018 Pitt County Schools is implementing a new practice in an attempt to decrease the amount of discipline referrals in its schools. Trauma-informed practices take into consideration adverse childhood experiences or ACEs that can affect physical, mental or emotional health, according to Karen Harrington, director of student services. Examples of ACEs include having a household member in prison, having divorced or separated parents...
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Unintended Consequences
This article -- The Education Practice That is Costing Taxpayers Billions of Dollars -- is about what may happen to students who are suspended from school. While not everything bad happens to all students who are suspended, there are enough of them to have a societal impact. The problem is that the societal impact is far enough into the future that it becomes disconnected from the event that might cause it. Or maybe there are a lot of events that might lead to the result, but we aren't aware...
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Using Meditation to Help Close the Achievement Gap (nytimes.com)
(Image: Students meditating at Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School in San Francisco.) Closing the so-called achievement gap between poor inner-city children and their more affluent suburban counterparts is among the biggest challenges for education reformers. The success of some schools’ efforts suggests that meditation might significantly improve children’s school performance – and help close that gap. A major factor preventing underserved children from learning is the stress they...
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Using Meditation to Help Close the Achievement Gap [Well.Blogs.NYTimes.com]
Closing the so-called achievement gap between poor inner-city children and their more affluent suburban counterparts is among the biggest challenges for education reformers. The success of some schools’ efforts suggests that meditation might significantly improve children’s school performance – and help close that gap. In 2007, James Dierke, then the principal of the Visitacion Valley Middle School in a troubled neighborhood in San Francisco, was determined to improve both the quality of...
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What do you do with a school that is beloved by its families but is failing them academically? St. Paul’s Dugsi Academy is finding out (the74million.org)
Pillsbury recommended that Dugsi’s Somali-dominated board engage a small consulting firm, the School Leadership Project , to help a committee solicit and screen proposals from groups interested in leading a turnaround. Representatives from the school held interviews and toured schools run by the groups they were most interested in. Dugsi family liaison Aden Ahmednur was a member of the committee. Stafford, he said, did as much listening as talking: “When she came here, she asked the...
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Why Early School Start Times Are a Threat to Public Health (thriveglobal.com)
Rarely do the worlds of medicine and education directly collide in the lives of students, but school start times are a notable exception. Despite compelling scientific evidence that starting school too early in the morning conflicts with the biological shift in teens’ sleep patterns, delaying school start times remains challenging for many districts. Recognizing that early start times are a key, modifiable factor contributing to the public health epidemic of teen sleep deprivation, the...
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Why Mandating Mental Health Education in Schools is a Band-Aid on a Gaping Wound
Don’t get me wrong: of course I care deeply about the mental and physical health of children, including my own son’s. I don’t want students to suffer in silence and shame. But I am very concerned about just how this topic will be taught in schools.
Ask the Community
When poverty is a contributing factor to ACEs, can schools make up the difference?
A Connecticut court is looking at the disparity in education between districts located in impoverished communities and those located in communities of higher means. The court is not specifically addressing ACEs, but addressing issues of poverty, could open the doors to increasing opportunities to build resilience. More information about the court case can be read here . Court considers fairness of state education funding. CT Post by Bill Cummings
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Re: For parents who want to talk to schools
Hello Ariane, I have some suggestions: Chapter 4 of The Connected Child (attached with permission) shows the disarming of fear to create felt safety in what I think is an approachable way that is easy to share with teachers. An Article of "Trauma Informed Classrooms" from Adoption Advocate (attached with permission) gives some practical framework to what is needed in a classroom setting TBRI® Animate: Toxic Stress & The Brain - is helpful as well. I provide resources for Southern...