Tagged With "Education justice"
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The connection between trauma and the dropout crisis [The Philadelphia Public School Notebook]
When reflecting on the factors that derailed them academically, Quad’ir Ford and Nalik Lark-Hightower didn’t mention living in poverty or exposure to trauma as factors. But experts have said that these two distinct yet intertwined conditions in children’s lives can go far in explaining the root cause of the dropout crisis. “Trauma is not a singular event; neither is poverty,” said Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend, executive director of the Philadelphia Youth Network and co-chair of Project U-Turn.
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United Way to fund four-part Trauma Series: Apply Now!
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey is funding a four-part trauma series of college courses (graduate or undergraduate) leading to a certificate in Trauma Studies in Infancy and Early Childhood from Saint...
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What can Pennsylvania schools do to address the prevalence of trauma among students? [pennlive.com]
Childhood trauma is a widespread issue. According to Child Trends, nearly half of children in the United States and in Pennsylvania have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, which often leads to traumatic stress. Research is clear that traumatic stress in children can negatively impact cognitive, academic and behavioral outcomes. Yet schools are not equipped to address these problems. A recent ACLU report notes that 90 percent of U.S. public schools do not meet the...
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With new proposal, trauma-informed care could become standard in Pa. schools [WHYY.org]
If a pair of powerful Pennsylvania state senators get their way, a burgeoning approach to managing student behavior could become a mandate. State Sens. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, and Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, announced a proposal last week to create a “trauma-informed system of education.” The central plank of their proposal is a requirement that all teachers, school board members, and school employees “with direct contact with students” receive trauma-informed training. The details don’t...
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Failing Schools or Failing Paradigm ?
Yes, money matters in Education. Money is absolutely necessary, but money is Not sufficient. A key variable has been missing from the discussions about a new Education Paradigm: Childhood Trauma. Childhood trauma is broad in scope and...
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Kudos SDP for ending Kindergarten suspensions!
Last year 448 kindergartners were suspended from schools in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). Last week, t he School Reform Commission announced... that it has approved revisions to the Student Code of Conduct that will remove suspensions as punishment for Kindergarten students. The Philadelphia ACE Task Force applauds this change which is based on a growing awareness in the SDP that many of the challenging behaviors that precipitate suspension of young children have their roots in...
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New Continuing Education Course for Nurses: "Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress and Working with the Child Welfare System"
Do you have clients with health concerns, injuries, or acute/chronic illnesses? According to NSCAW, 28% of children in foster care have a chronic health condition, and 12% have two or more. About 35% of children in child welfare have either a health condition or special need. Your clients with medical conditions will likely have frequent contact with the health care system. Since many have experienced prior trauma, when faced with medical issues they are at greater risk for illness- or...
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Nowhere to Hide: The Elephant in the [Class]room
We are trying to scoop water out of a boat which has gaping trauma-holes in the bottom.
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OPPORTUNITY: Philadelphia Parent Innovation Institute
The Philadelphia Parent Innovation institute will bring early childhood organizations and the families they serve together to learn human-centered design so they can strengthen family engagement in early literacy and language programs for Philadelphia’s youngest learners. Between April 2020-May 2021, organization representatives and parents they support will work collaboratively in small teams and identify a challenge they would like to solve together. The teams will be guided through a...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
© Elliot Gilfix/Flickr . What happened to Jasmine? . Photo © Jinx!/Flickr When you look...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Danny
When you look inside a classroom, there are some things you can not see . . .
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Wiry, active, savvy. Jasmine. There were not many good days. . . only random moments of calm in a violent storm, erupting on a ‘hair trigger’ When you look inside a classroom there are some things you can not see….
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Photo credit Max Klingensmith at flickr . Jose was one of the calmest, quietest, most peaceful boys in the classroom. The kind of boy everybody loves. ...
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An Evidence-Based Indictment of Inaction
If schools are to be guided by data, the data says that 2 of 3 children experience at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE): children of all incomes, all colors, all social levels, all educational levels. It is all of us. Is your school trauma-informed?
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An Important Event for Anyone in Higher Education in the Philadelphia Region
The Need for Trauma-Informed Curricula at Institutions of Higher Learning: A Call to Action On October 20th, Children's Crisis Treatment Center , The Philadelphia University Community and Trauma Counseling Program and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey are hosting a very special and important conversation for any one who is involved in training the next generation of service professionals - nurses, doctors, social workers, teachers, lawyers, community health...
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An open letter to Governor Wolf:
Childhood Trauma: "The elephant in the [class] room".. . and it doesn't "just go away" Dear Governor Wolf and Education Secretary designee Rivera : I write regarding injured, marginalized children in our schools, to ask that you include them explicitly in a broad, “Healthy State” paradigm in your new administration. Read more at: WHYY NewsWorks http://lucidwitness.com/…/childhood-trauma-versus-public-e…/...
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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 (BEFC) of...
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Can adding neighborhood Adversity Scores to SAT's help our young people?
The Huffington Post article "SAT to Add 'Adversity Score' to Reflect Student's Privilege ," by Hayley Miller, reports on the 15 factor neighborhood score that may be reported with a student's SAT's when applying to college. The inclusion of community-level adversity with the SAT is conceptually a major step towards acknowledging the environmental impacts that can affect SAT outcomes. Philadelphia is a region with one of the highest densities of colleges and universities as well as the seat...
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City's Office of Education releases findings from community school meetings [Philly Voice]
Strengthen city support for schools. Empower parents and community members. Increase access to and opportunities for neighborhood resources. Those are the three most important things that Philadelphia residents want from Mayor Jim Kenney's community schools initiative, findings based on months of discussions with stakeholders and the Mayor's Office of Education. On Wednesday the office released a report on its findings after 14 roundtable discussions with principals, teachers, students,...
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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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District finds that creating more trauma-informed schools requires a change of culture [thenotebook.org]
“The world of thinking about trauma, the importance of school climate and social-emotional learning is 20, 30, 40 years behind the world of instruction." Joanna Schwartz, a 2nd-grade teacher at Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School, was about to take a scheduled break and desperately needed a place to have peace and quiet. But the only place she could find was a broom closet. A few years earlier, in another school, Schwartz said teachers were baffled by a 3rd grader who continually fell...
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Do Children have a Right to be Safe ?
A comparison survey of government and departmental treatment (legal vs. healthcare, vs. education) of child safety given prevalence of childhood trauma. http://lucidwitness.com/2014/0...-right-to-be-safe-2/
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group, an ad hoc group of ACE Task Force Members and Community Partners, convened on Tuesday, May 10 th at Friends Center. This meeting served as first re-convening of this group since work that had been done in 2015 around developing messages about ACEs, trauma, and resilience that “catch-on”. The group began by discussing some of this former work and reviewing some guiding principles as they move to narrow messages and test them with focus groups throughout Philadelphia.
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Community Education Work Group Meeting
The Community Education Work Group met on Tuesday, January 19th at the CityLife Neighborhood Clinic in Philadelphia, PA. Representatives from the CityLife Neighborhood Clinics gave the group an overview of the work that they do, explaining that they often see the impact that ACEs have throughout the life course in the seniors they serve. Group members were interested in potential opportunities to develop intergenerational programming. The majority of the meeting was spent reviewing and...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Community Education Work Group Meeting
The Community Education Work Group met on Thursday, February 18th at the Health Federation of Philadelphia. The group began with a review of the work they had done in 2015 to convene Philadelphia ACE Task Force professional members with community members to learn more about trauma and messaging. The group then discussed directions for the ACEs Messaging Group (AMG) project, funded by the First Hospital Foundation , giving consideration to target locations for messaging and focus groups, the...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Workforce Development Work Group Meeting
The Workforce Development Workgroup of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force met on Wednesday, May 18 th at the United Way. There were several members in the room who were either new or who have not been able to attend meeting recently so the group caught up on current work. The group began with an update from the subcommittee that is working to develop focus groups with teachers and administrators in from the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) to better understand how they are using...
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PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, EDUCATION COMMITTEE Hearing on Standardized Testing NOTES
"We won’t have a successful education paradigm, or even accurately interpret academic success, while ignoring trauma’s overwhelming presence." ...
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Philly school board set to decide: Should all high schools use metal detectors? [philly.com]
The Philadelphia school board is slated to decide a tough topic Thursday night: Should every high school in the city require students to pass through metal detectors? All 49 Philadelphia district high schools have the scanning equipment, but three don’t use it. A proposed board policy would shift that, effectively requiring Science Leadership Academy, Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, and the Workshop School to use their metal detectors. Amir Curry, a senior at SLA Beeber, thinks that...
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Podcast Episode, "The Power of Peer Learning and Capacity Building: Improving Access to Quality Early Care and Education in Philadelphia"
The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) at Vital Village Network is excited to share the fourth episode of In the Arena with NOW , a podcast series that lifts up the voices of community leaders who are “in the arena” -- in classrooms, playgrounds, Congressional halls, hospitals, and neighborhood streets -- working to make sure that all children and families can live healthy, thriving lives. In our fourth episode, The Power of Peer Learning and Capacity Building , we speak with...
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POPPYN’s video report on foster care in Philly is making waves at DHS [generocity
When Josh Childs’ father saw POPPYN’s episode on the Black Lives Matter movement , he told Josh he wasn’t a kid anymore. “He accepted me for my knowledge and didn’t make me be quiet,” said Childs, a junior at Science Leadership Academy who coproduced the episode. POPPYN, or Presenting Our Perspective on Philly Youth News, is a program that gives Philadelphia high school students the chance to tell their side of the story on a topic of interest through visual media. Read the complete story by...
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Rep. Sappey's trauma-informed education signed into law [DailyLocal.com]
Legislation to implement trauma-informed education in Pennsylvania schools has been signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf, largely thanks to a bill authored by state Rep. Christina Sappey, D-158th Dist. Earlier this year H.B. 1415 and S.B. 200, which would implement approaches to student learning that recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma and integrates that knowledge into education-based policies, learning, procedures and practices, was introduced by state Reps. Christina Sappey,...
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Rep. Sappey to introduce trauma informed education legislation [DailyLocal.com]
WEST CHESTER — State Rep. Christina Sappey, D-Chester, and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh/Berks, will be introducing legislation aimed at creating trauma-informed school environments in Pennsylvania. “House Bill 1415 seeks to ensure that adverse childhood experiences are recognized in the school setting, where children arguably spend the most time, so they get the support they need to reach their full potential,” Sappey said. Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs include all forms of abuse,...
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Speak Out For Safe Schools! The Talk to Your State Senator Statewide Video Contest
School Violence - In the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, the topic has gained more and more attention. Although members of the national media tend to focus on gun violence, the percent of school children who are affected by school shootings remains very small; not a great comfort to those who experience such a tragic event. Instead, it is far more likely for students to be affected in their day-to-day lives by other threats or acts of hostility that make them feel unsafe.
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Re: New Continuing Education Course for Nurses: "Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress and Working with the Child Welfare System"
I'm sorry. Um when is the webinar? Could this be placed on the colander for ACEs in peds? Thank you.
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Re: City's Office of Education releases findings from community school meetings [Philly Voice]
Greetings! I will be out of the office starting 7/8/16 through 7/17/16 returning 7/18/16. If you need immediate assistance during my absence, please contact Barbara Wilhelmy at bwilhelmy@pottstowncluster.org . Otherwise I will respond to your emails as soon as possible upon my return. Warm Regards, Jenn Brown PCRC, Director of Support Services
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Re: PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, EDUCATION COMMITTEE Hearing on Standardized Testing NOTES
Thank you for presenting this testimony to City Council. I'd love to know how they reacted, and what type of questions they may have had for you.
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Re: PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, EDUCATION COMMITTEE Hearing on Standardized Testing NOTES
Hello Nick, City Council reacted with much interest, and maybe a little surprise, and (I am hoping) eventually some follow through and action. Time will tell. Their questions to-date are all about statistics, or quantitative research learning. I take the fact that they are even asking questions, as a hopeful positive signal. Daun
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Re: PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, EDUCATION COMMITTEE Hearing on Standardized Testing NOTES
Thanks, Daun. This does sound hopeful; I wonder if if/how our ACES community can help maintain some momentum with keeping local politicians engaged?
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Re: PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL, EDUCATION COMMITTEE Hearing on Standardized Testing NOTES
Great question ! Not sure yet. Thinking . . . I'm a little sensitive about being too aggressive, too fast.
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Re: An open letter to Governor Wolf:
Daun, This letter is an incredible example of how we should and can engage in policy change while educating our elected officials and the general public. The way in which you outlined the role of childhood trauma, in particular ACEs, and the implications for education, is incredible! Thank you so much for providing such a great example for those of us wanting to engage in trauma informed policy work!
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Re: POPPYN’s video report on foster care in Philly is making waves at DHS [generocity
Thanks for sharing, Leslie. I loved this video done by the kids, sharing their perspective on things. And so great to see that it caught the attention of DHS and their voices are being heard.
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Re: Rep. Sappey to introduce trauma informed education legislation [DailyLocal.com]
Quoting: "This bill would instill trauma-informed and focused policies, procedures and practices inside the classroom, such as requiring newly elected school board members, educators and other school staff members who have direct contact with children to complete training on trauma-informed approaches to education." Hmmm, great start towards the goal ! Meanwhile, we must all realize that State "requirements" imply a large cascade of change at ground level. We all need to acknowledge, up...
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Re: Rep. Sappey to introduce trauma informed education legislation [DailyLocal.com]
Daun, Your comments are very important. While we would all like to see our schools move towards being trauma-informed and sensitive environments for children, as well as for the adults who are with them each day, it is no simple task to accomplish. It can be done poorly and incompletely with limited and temporary results if not approached with the right attitudes, resources, and implementation strategies. Indeed, "training" is likely to be a small part of the solution, since being "informed"...
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Philly school board hearing report: speakers seek fewer police, more support services [thenotebook.org]
Teachers, counselors, parents, and national activists added their voices to students’ call for “police-free schools” at a general public hearing held by Philadelphia’s Board of Education on Thursday. The board holds two of these hearings annually, as the City Charter mandates; the only agenda for the meetings is to hear speakers. At the hearing and at a virtual “rally” held during the hour before, members of the Philadelphia Student Union and their allies repeatedly said that reform of the...
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In-person classes have stopped. Shootings haven’t. So Philly schools are taking trauma support online [billypenn.com]
When students came to class in person, the private St. Malachy School in North Philadelphia was equipped with a robust emotional support program to help kids deal with trauma. The 11th and Thompson building offered its 275 students access to a space called the Peace Room. It was stocked with bean bag chairs, books, music, snacks — even an elliptical, in case they needed to get some energy out. There were two full-time staffers working the room at all times, one of whom is a counselor. When...