1. Latest News from Trauma Informed Schools- ASDN Webinar 2/2/17
Christopher Blodgett, Ph.D.
WSU CLEAR Trauma Center/Child and Family Research Center

2. Structure for today’s webinar
Supplemental information specific to schools that builds on the presentation shared with participants
An opportunity for discussion
Key concepts
ACEs are established early in life and have a direct impact on school readiness and school success
ACEs is a community issue as well as an individual challenge
To address ACEs, we have to shift to addressing complex trauma
Copyright WSU CLEAR Trauma Center

3. The need to align trauma response with educational policies
Schools are inherently stressed systems, Integrating Trauma response with policies
supports consistency and predictability
Supports innovation adoption and sustainable change
Trauma response has to support improved academic outcomes to be sustainable

4. To support children, families, and communities, we have change
“Not one more thing on my plate, this is the plate”
For children to learn, they have to believe we care for and believe in them
Critical foundation for multicultural education
Expand our focus on the highest need children
Complex trauma emerges
Complex trauma effects are on a continuum
Trauma-informed practice as the framework for multi- tiered systems of support (MTSS) in schools
Copyright WSU CLEAR Trauma Center

5. CLEAR (Collaborative Learning for Educational Achievement and Resilience)
Four CLEAR Goals
A Multi-Tiered Systems Model
Practical skills in applying trauma informed practice
Individualization of education
Manage the social and physical environment
Systematic building of the components of resilience.
Build skills to recognize and respond when children cannot benefit from typical educational practices.
Use of trauma informed reflective practice to support educational strategies.
Create the structures and policies that can sustain trauma-informed practices.
Targeted Supports Based on School Capacity
High Standards for All
Social Emotional Learning practices
Trauma Sensitive Strategies
Copyright WSU CLEAR Trauma Center

6. Adults as the focus for change
Educators reflect the same trauma risk as any other adult.
Preservice training rarely prepares teachers to understand behavior
Staff differences predictive of student success, job satisfaction, work stress, and burnout.
Sense of efficacy in implementing SEL practices
Personal capacity for self-regulation of stress and emotions
Attributions about students’ behavior and motivation
Coaching may be necessary to address core skill development
Addressing staff burden by increasing ‘compassion satisfaction’.

7. Educational policy drivers and trauma-informed practice
The power of integrated social emotional (SEL) learning practices
Authoritative school practice
Multicultural education
Role of leadership
Teacher self-regulation skills as foundation for SEL practice and instructional success
Restorative practices
Copyright WSU CLEAR Trauma Center

8. Effective social emotional classroom management is trauma-informed practices
Clear and effective rules and procedures
Effective discipline and accountability practices support learning
Role appropriate high quality teacher-student relationships
Teachers’ ‘Mindfulness’ in assessing, anticipating, and acting to support learning and behavior
Instruction and management practices that support student responsibility for learning
Parent engagement and inclusion in learning supports
Intentional use of physical and social environment to support learning.
Copyright WSU CLEAR Trauma Center

9. Multicultural education
Multicultural education integrates appreciation of culture in all activities
Increases personal meaning of education
Supports higher quality student-teacher relationships
Disproportionate risk of trauma in disenfranchised communities
Cultural differences in learning styles can be confounded with trauma coping
Re-traumatization risk increases in students from diverse backgrounds
Children care about learning when they believe you care about them
Strong cultural identification improves academic success and school affiliation

10. Re-thinking discipline practices
Safety as the decision framework
A teacher-student relationship dynamic
How trauma changes the relationship
Authoritative school climate
Accountability v. punishment
Emphasis on quality of relationship
High standards
Managing behavior and setting standards
Redemption, Recovery, Restoration
Copyright WSU CLEAR Trauma Center

11. The ARC Model
Talk about how we have partnered with Margaret and Kristine in adapting their original use of the ARC model to align it with fit in school
You can see the groupings and how they build off of each other- however, it is not a step by step process.
There are 4 layers
-Attachment, Regulation, and Competency, the over-arching themes
-Attachment in depth- how do you establish effective relationship?
-Regulation in depth- how do you support self-regulation?
-Competency in depth- once the first two layers have been attended to, how do you impact a child’s understanding of their capabilities?
It is a dance where one move may incorporate one, two, or all of the blocks.
Sometimes you will use ARC blocks in structured activities, but often the chance to build these skills occurs in ‘teaching moments’.
Notice that smushed in developmental tasks- it is something that is encompassed in all of the blocks, that we need to pay attention to no matter which block we’re working on. It helps us shape our expectations of kids (and parents) and fine-tune our responses as helping professionals.
Keep in mind that a person’s developmental age is not necessarily the same thing as their chronological age. Has anyone ever met a 37 year old who makes you think, “Holy cow, this person reminds me of my toddler?”
Thinking back to shared work outline, we anticipate going into depth into these blocks over the next 2 years, so today we’ll do a very brief overview. If you have questions or place you want more information, please let us know on your eval.

12. Overarching Objectives for CLEAR and supporting Regulation in Schools
Copyright WSU CLEAR Center 2015
Overarching Objectives for CLEAR and supporting Regulation in Schools
Physical Safety: School contains predictable and safe environments (including classrooms, hallways, playgrounds, and school bus) that are attentive to transitions and sensory needs.
Emotional Safety: School environment fosters trust and emphasizes authenticity, transparency, and quality of communication between and among staff and administration.
Predictability: Students and staff can anticipate expectations when a change is implemented or during periods of transition. Change is implemented with consideration for expectations and values.
Consistency: CLEAR values are collectively adopted and evident throughout the school and the school is shifting to adoption of school-wide practice (note: it is not necessary that all staff are implementing CLEAR but that a shift in values is becoming evident).
The power of common language as the first task
Our work in CLEAR tends to focus on supporting schools and districts in their ability to successfully provide these 4 key components.
Regulation in service of executive functioning
If you were to ask yourself the difference between emotional and physical safety—what would that be—both are critical to supporting regulation—if we don’t feel safe, most likely we aren’t regulating well.