This article analyzes how schools in the U.S respond to trauma in children and teens after the homicide of a peer and provides suggestions for best practices. The focus is not on in-school mass shootings but on homicide of young people outside of schools, in neighborhoods, which is the leading cause of death for African Americans between ages 15…

Incarcerated girls have disproportionately higher rates of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse compared with their nonincarcerated peers. Failure to address this trauma and abuse can lead to mental health disabilities such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anti-social behaviors. Many girls who experience trauma engage…

There has been a sharp increase in mental health support for children in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a growing demand for school-based mental health services due to gaps in the US youth mental health infrastructure. This dissertation presents an action research study conducted in a Title I middle school in Arizona, exploring a school…

The global COVID-19 pandemic invited first-year teachers to a unique lens of university and local school learning experiences during their transition from student teaching to full time positions. Our study identified changes first-year teachers experienced while transitioning into fulltime teacher positions after completing their education…

The authors together with the Center for Professional Learning and the Ukrainian Institute for Educational Development created free, open educational courses to support the well-being and development of teachers experiencing war and displacement in Ukraine. These courses provide knowledge and skills in the topics of mental health, trauma-informed…

The importance of preparing teachers to support the cognitive, social, and emotional success of students with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds cannot be overstated. It is a universal concern. The recommendation presented are based on evidence provided by teachers and executive staff of one school with a reputation for exemplary…

The Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK) program was developed to increase family awareness of kindergarten expectations, create a positive relationship with families, and support smooth school transition and kindergarten readiness for children who were from diverse backgrounds and/or had adverse experiences. We used a mixed methods design to study the…

This manuscript describes an implementation of a new model for integrated school mental health services. By incorporating trauma-informed practices with universal screening and teacher coaching, this study examined the processes and procedures necessary to deliver school-based mental health services across Tier I and Tier II within a Multi-Tiered…

Myriad research has found a relationship between working with potentially distressing situations and content, such as that related to child sexual abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence, and the experience of vicarious traumatization and/or compassion fatigue. While the current body of literature addresses a wide range of career fields…

Background: There is a lack of research on trauma in people with intellectual disabilities. This study assessed expert consensus on the traumatic potential of a broader range of adverse life events, and differences in symptom manifestation and behavioural symptom equivalents of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Method: The present…

Adolescents living in low-income areas often have high need for mental health supports due to experiences of poverty and trauma, coupled with limited access and availability of such supports. This study investigated the implementation of a socio-emotional learning curriculum titled, "Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training for Emotional…

Dance as an artform touches the biopsychosocial dimensions of people and as such is increasingly used as a vehicle to improve the quality of life of diverse populations in the community. Yet little is known about how dance classes are experienced by marginalized populations. The purpose of this action research was to explore the potential of dance…

Parent involvement is a reverently studied, crucial concept that impacts overall student achievement. An educational technology tool, involvED, was developed by a School Psychologist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker using principles of behavioral change research and grounded in family systems theory. Incorporating a scientific approach for…

Natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast region of Texas on August 25, 2017, may have potentially devastating effects on the local community and especially the public education system. Adverse health consequences because of this traumatic event may include Compassion Fatigue, a condition of emotional, physical, and…

Anti-Blackness is a form of racism that devalues Black life and systematically marginalize Black people. Structural racism and Anti-Blackness are deeply entrenched in the very fabric of America. For much of the nation's history, racial discrimination and oppression were legalized and socially accepted. Too often Black people and in particular,…