Trauma-Skilled Schools Resources

Improving School Outcomes for Trauma-Impacted Students

Gailer, J., Addis, S., & Dunlap, L. Introduction by Dr. Bill Daggett and Ray McNulty. (2018). Improving School Outcomes for Trauma-Impacted Students. Anderson, SC: National Dropout Prevention Center, a division of Successful Practices Network.

Preliminary-Efficacy-Indicators-of-Trauma-Skilled-Schools-Model with Research Brief prepared for presentation at The 2021 Annual Meeting of THE American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Certification

Trauma-Skilled Specialist Certification Program

The National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) is pleased to offer the Trauma-Skilled Specialist (TSS) Certification Program for educators and at-risk youth workers. The certification verifies knowledge of the Trauma-Skilled Schools Model and expertise to share the model with others within the certificate holder’s place of employment. Trauma-Skilled Specialist Certification is founded on NDPC’s Trauma-Skilled Schools Model, a research-based guide for structuring school climate, modifying instructional practices, and imparting educator skills to improve achievement and graduation outcomes for trauma impacted and adversely stressed students.

Connect: NY Trauma Informed Education

Dr. Sandy Addis, Director of the National Dropout Prevention Center, recently participated in a panel discussion with host Susan Arbetter of PBS affiliate WCNY, that explores incorporating trauma-informed practices into the classroom, why trauma is affecting more children, and looks at the skills educators are adopting to help them cope. Watch Dr. Addis on Connect: NY “Trauma Informed Education.”

Trauma-Skilled Schools Model Presented to South Carolina House Education Subcommittee on School Climate and Safety

Access the video of National Dropout Prevention Center Director Dr. Sandy Addis testifying to the South Carolina House Education Committee on School Climate and Safety regarding the importance of addressing stress and trauma in education and introducing the National Dropout Prevention Center Trauma-Skilled Schools Model.

The sources of trauma and stress are widespread, have a direct relationship to the dropout issue, and must not be underestimated. It is the position of the National Dropout Prevention Center that to meet students’ needs for safe learning environments and to achieve the best outcomes for the most students, all educators and support staff in a school must not only have a shared understanding of trauma and speak a common language about it, they must also acquire shared trauma-related skills, behave consistently and in unison toward trauma-impacted students, and be able to articulate and justify their behaviors in terms of desired student outcomes.

Trauma-Skilled Literacy: What’s the Connection?

Dr. Sandy Addis, Director of the National Dropout Prevention Center, shares the latest research on the critical link between building capacity as a Trauma-Skilled School and building literacy capacity for all students. Viewers will gain an understanding of trauma as a root cause of student challenges and how to support trauma-impacted students in strengthening their literacy skills. This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to elementary through high school teachers and school and district leaders.

Documents

Dropout prevention and trauma: Addressing a wide range of stressors that inhibit student success

Rumsey, A., & Milsom, A. (2017). Dropout prevention and trauma: Addressing a wide range of stressors that inhibit student success [White paper]. Clemson, SC: National Dropout Prevention Center/Network

This paper includes facts, resources, and some models related to families and students who have experienced, or are experiencing, trauma, whether chronic or short-term.

Strategies for supporting immigrant students and families: Guidelines for school personnel

Stegelin, D. A. (2017). Strategies for supporting immigrant students and families: Guidelines for school personnel [White paper]. Clemson, SC: National Dropout Prevention Center/Network.

This paper looks at some of the laws involved as well as strategies for supporting immigrant students and families, and includes guidelines for school personnel.

Press Release

Research-Based Trauma-Skilled Schools Model Jointly Released by Two National Organizations

[Press Release October 24, 2018]

Dropout Prevention Month: How to keep students engaged according to Dr. Robert Brooks.

A key to keeping students engaged in school may be as easy as welcoming them every day by name and giving them a smile, said Dr. Robert Brooks, a psychologist and faculty member of Harvard Medical School who will be a keynote speaker at the National Dropout Prevention Conference Saturday, Oct. 5, through Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Aurora’s Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center. “When you interview people who have faced great adversity in their lives as children and adolescents but are now doing relatively well in life and you ask them what helped them through their hard times, almost all respond that there was one person who encouraged and believe in them,” Brooks said. “That person often turns out to be a teacher.” Brooks’ speech Monday will highlight a strength-based approach for preventing students from dropping out, with a focus on the relationships that students have with teachers and other professionals in a school setting.