This article details the challenges and possibilities of assigning first year students writing assignments that require engagement with emotions and memories during the COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2021). Using one first year writing class as a case study, the author describes the challenges that arose in writing conferences. Noting the rise in mental…

Increasing suicide rates among our nation's youth show an alarming trend among girls. Since 2007, the suicide rate for girls (ages 10-14) rose 12.7% per year, compared to 7.1% for boys in the same age group. For adolescents (ages 15-19), the annual suicide rate increased by 7.9% for girls and 3.5% for boys (Ruch et al., 2019). School counselors…

As part of a larger project focused on the intersection of educational and health trajectories over the life course, we use in-depth interviews with 28 adults who experienced multiple non-promotional school changes during the course of their K-12 schooling in three U.S. urban centers to advance understanding of frequent student mobility. Prior…

Student mental health needs continue to rise across the United States and many students and families rely on schools to provide services to meet these needs. Yet, an overwhelming number of available frameworks and approaches to school mental health (SMH) and overlapping terminology surrounding SMH supports like trauma-informed (TI) approaches,…

Studies have identified negative effects of cortisol, a stress hormone, on academic performance. Because natural disasters induce community-wide stress, students who experience natural disasters may subsequently perform worse academically. Our study is the first to examine the immediate effects of close exposure to a natural disaster on academic…

Trauma-Informed Elementary Schools (TIES) is a pilot program designed to bring trauma-informed services to early elementary schools in a rural state. Although two sequential TIES pilot studies found significantly positive outcomes in cultivating a trauma-sensitive school climate and culture, the program has been limited to a few schools and has…

Many district and school leaders have leveraged instructional leadership or social justice leadership to advance student achievement for minoritized students. While research has examined these approaches separately, we identify a potential gap at the nexus between instructional and social justice leadership. In particular, we need further research…

Empathy is an emotional intelligence skill that has been known to make significant impacts in various professional environments. Teachers have always been expected to work at high levels in the midst of difficulties. Educators are constantly inundated with increasing workloads, added responsibilities, ever changing expectations and regular…

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted in the United States in 1990 to protect the rights of the descendants of Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives to their ancestors' human remains and sacred and cultural items (25 U.S.C; 43 CFR Part 10). Although enacted to protect and ensure that…

Widespread recognition of trauma's harmful impacts and the related consequences for children, families, and society has resulted in Federal, State, and local initiatives over the last decade to resolve trauma-related issues through the promotion of Trauma-Informed Care. Research of successful implementations of Trauma-Informed Care are a few. This…

The turnover rate of clinicians working in community outpatient mental health centers is alarming. The significant turnover at a community mental health organization prompted a study of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. An action research (AR) study was conducted using Price and Mueller's (1981) causal model of turnover theory and…

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Trauma Informed Practice Scales -- School Counseling Programs Version scores using item response theory with a sample of 270 school counselors. Participants ranged in age from 24 to 69 years (M = 42.82, SD = 9.96). Participants identified as female (81.5%), male (14.1%) or unreported (4.4%,).…

The problem addressed in this qualitative case study was that many early childhood educators are unprepared for or lack the knowledge and skills to utilize trauma informed practices in their classrooms to help address early childhood trauma which leads to the use of exclusionary disciplinary measures. The purpose was to better understand teachers'…

This quantitative correlational-predictive study aimed to determine if and to what extent Secondary Traumatic Stress predicted Intent to Leave when mediated by Resilience in PreK-12 public school teachers certified to teach special education and have been teaching for 1 to 3 years. How the three study variables were correlated has yet to be…

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase youths' risk for leaving high school before graduating. However, to our knowledge, no one has examined how youth themselves conceptualize the role of ACEs in their journeys away from school. In this exploratory qualitative study, we used narrative analysis to examine (1) whether youth (n = 27)…