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Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, will be the lead witness in a hearing on trauma-informed practices in education on Wednesday, Sept. 11 in the House of Representatives Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education. The hearing is titled "The Importance of Trauma-Informed Practices in Education to Assist Students Impacted by Gun Violence and Other Adversities." Other witnesses include I ngrida Barker, Ed.D. , Associate...

By Sarah Ferguson, Forbes, August 29, 2019 In times of emergency, children are always the most vulnerable. Hurricane Harvey was no exception. Four days after the slow-moving Category 4 storm made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, on August 25, 2017, heavy rainfall and winds up to 130 miles per hour had caused billions of dollars in damage and left approximately 13 million people — including 3 million children — in Texas and Louisiana reeling in its wake. "Trauma is trauma regardless of...

By Daniel Strain, University of Colorado Boulder, September 3, 2019 At the start of second grade several years ago, a young boy that we’ll call Carlton to protect his privacy had been through more than most of his school friends. Before classes began, Carlton was diagnosed with lymphoma. But when he got to school, the boy decided to share his story with his fellow seven-year-olds. He even pointed out where doctors had poked him to draw blood. And that’s when something surprising happened,...

By Mauricio Tellez-Sanchez, August 29, 2019, for Chronicle for Social Change California Assembly Bill 901 would instruct schools to refer habitually truant students in California to community-based organizations rather than juvenile court. The California State Senate will vote Friday on a measure that seeks to decriminalize truancy and limit the power of probation departments to work with youth who have not been charged with any crime through “voluntary probation” programs. Assembly Bill...

By Jessica Lander Roughly half of American school children have experienced at least some form of trauma — from neglect, to abuse, to violence. In response, educators often find themselves having to take on the role of counselors, supporting the emotional healing of their students, not just their academic growth. With this evolving role comes an increasing need to understand and address the ways in which student trauma affects our education professionals. In a growing number of professions,...

By Cassandra Coburn, The Lancet, August 30, 2019 Finland's educational system is routinely praised as among the best in the world, achieving superb results through methods regarded by other scholastic systems as unorthodox. Among the differences that single it out for praise is the delayed start to education, with compulsory schooling beginning with a pre-primary education for children at 6 years old, and full-time schooling only starting at age 7. In contrast to the battery of tests faced...

By Dwyer Gunn, 5280, September 1, 2019 On a frigid morning this past March, Jo Carrigan, principal of Denver Public Schools’ Doull Elementary School in Harvey Park, stood on a blacktop playground as students streamed into the red brick building. As evidenced by the elaborate hairstyles, shimmery party dresses, and clip-on ties, it was school picture day. Carrigan complimented students on their outfits as she guided them around an icy spot on the pavement. Inside the building, up a flight of...

By Christina Caron and Katherine Zoepf August 22, 2019 In more than 700 communities across the country, teachers are supporting students of all ages — and their parents — outside the classroom. Even for the youngest children, the benefits can be profound. Yumna al-Kashto is only 4, but she’s already had to adapt to lots of changes in her life. She was born in Antakya, Turkey, after intense fighting forced her parents and four older siblings to flee their home in Idlib, the Syrian opposition...

The back-to-school period can mean a stressful transition for students, parents and teachers alike. To help them manage that anxiety, the nonprofit program Y.O.G.A. for Youth is bringing techniques for mindfulness and relaxation to the classroom. Damien Henson of Student Reporting Labs has the story. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/ show/managing-school-stress- by-bringing-yoga-into-the- classroom

By Science Daily, August 26, 2019 Two new studies from MIT suggest that mindfulness -- the practice of focusing one's awareness on the present moment -- can enhance academic performance and mental health in middle schoolers. The researchers found that more mindfulness correlates with better academic performance, fewer suspensions from school, and less stress. "By definition, mindfulness is the ability to focus attention on the present moment, as opposed to being distracted by external things...

By Kathleen Carroll, EdSurge, August 26, 2019 At Harvest Collegiate High School in Manhattan, students know what to do when they face a mysterious math problem. Take a breath, recognize a “maze moment,” and retrace their steps to find an alternative to their temporary dead end. It’s a simple idea: learning as navigation, choosing among concepts and strategies that either pave a path forward or trap you in the puzzle at hand. But these “maze moments” at Harvest, along with a half-dozen other...

By Sarah D. Sparks, Education Week, August 20, 2019 There's never been a clearer scientific picture of the ways damaging experiences and intense, chronic stress can hurt a child's ability to learn in school. But for many schools, the picture of what trauma-sensitive schooling looks like in practice is still developing. "We're in an all-fired hurry because there's this 'trauma' thing and we have to help our kids," said Melissa Sadin, the director of the Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools...