Trauma-Sensitive Schools

This book introduces the trauma-sensitive schools movement and provides K–5 education professionals with clear explanations of current research and dozens of practical, creative ideas.

Growing evidence supports the important relationship between trauma and academic failure. Along with the failure of “zero tolerance” policies to resolve issues of school safety and a new understanding of children’s disruptive behavior, educators are changing the way they view children’s academic and social problems. In response, the trauma-sensitive schools movement presents a new vision for promoting children’s success. This book introduces this promising approach with practical ideas to help educators:

• View poor academic and social progress through a trauma-sensitive lens.
• Create a school climate that fosters safety and resiliency in vulnerable children.
• Establish relationships with children that support their efforts to self-regulate.
• Design instruction that reflects the social nature of the brain.
• Work with the brain’s neuroplasticity to increase children’s executive functioning.
• Reduce teacher attrition in high-risk schools by decreasing secondary traumatic stress.
• Influence educational reforms by aligning them with current research on the prevalence of childhood trauma and its effects on learning.

Integrating research on children’s neurodevelopment and educational best practices, this important book will build the capacity of teachers and school administrators to successfully manage the behavior of children with symptoms of complex developmental trauma.

Dr. Susan E. Craig is a sought-after public speaker and professional developer, offering in-person training anywhere in the United States. Invite Dr. Craig to your facility to train your staff. Visit her blog: www.meltdownstomastery.wordpress.com

Susan E. Craig is an independent consultant to school systems nationwide on topics such as inclusion, effects of violence, trauma-sensitive schools, positive behavior support, differentiated instruction, and integrated therapies. Dr. Susan E. Craig is a sought-after public speaker and professional developer, offering in-person training anywhere in the United States. Invite Dr. Craig to your facility to train your staff. Visit her blog: www.meltdownstomastery.wordpress.com

"Susan Craig’s book, Trauma-Sensitive Schools, couldn’t have come at a better time. In the book, she points out that this research is essential knowledge if educators want to create a school system where all children can feel safe enough to learn and succeed academically."
—From the foreword by Jane Ellen Stevens, founder and publisher ACEs Connection Network

"Kudos! Susan Craig has done it again. After Reaching and Teaching Children Who Hurt, she has written a book that will help administrators and educators truly make schoolwide trauma sensitivity a regular part of the way their schools are run. A major contribution to education reform."
—Susan Cole, director, Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, Massachusetts Advocates for Children, and Harvard Law School

"Dr. Craig’s message is clear that promoting self-reflection, self-regulation, and integration gives traumatized children the chance at learning that they’re not getting in traditional approaches. And she bravely points out that it’s critical for teachers to recognize the toll that this emotional work can take and the need for self-care. Being mindful of both the importance of trauma-sensitive systems and the enormity of the task of helping vulnerable children build resilience is so critical for everyone working with and caring for our children."
—Julie Beem, executive director of the Attachment and Trauma Network, Inc.