The Trauma Skilled Schools Model

Ray McNulty and Sandy Addis, National Dropout Prevention Center

Educators are calling for additional support in the form of counselors, school psychologists and behavioral specialists to deal with the growing challenges they face in their schools. Research indicates that our students are dealing with unprecedented levels of stress and trauma that negatively impact a student’s cognitive functions and behaviors.

What’s challenging for educators is that students don’t express the distress in ways that are easily recognizable and they often mask their pain with behavior that is aggressive or off-putting. It can be especially challenging for educators to recognize this distress in virtual learning environments.

The researched-based Trauma Skilled Schools Model (TSS Model) seeks not to identify traumaimpacted students, but to build within schools the capacity to create strategies, policies and procedures that support students and establish a culture that eliminates practices that are detrimental to trauma-impacted students. The TSS Model is a tier 1 RTI strategy that positively impacts all students, helps students recognize their strengths, and builds the self-confidence and self-efficacy needed to be a successful learner.

The school behaviors and achievement of at least half of our students are negatively impacted by childhood stress and trauma; many of these students and their traumas will never be identified, yet schools are responsible for the success and graduation outcomes of these students. Many of the students who eventually drop out are impacted by childhood traumas but have not been able to overcome the impact of those traumas on their behavior and learning.

In addition, trauma-impacted students often have negative assumptions, mindsets, and reaction patterns that cause unacceptable behaviors, prevent engagement, and lead to discipline problems and academic failure. The behaviors and learning of these students can be improved by informed, mindful, and skilled behaviors of educators including practices and skills that, when agreed on and implemented, will improve school climate, rebuild resiliency of at-risk students, and improve behavior and instructional engagement.

The TSS Model

The TSS Model involves a five-step process that begins with foundational trauma knowledge of all school personnel. This knowledge is used to establish common practices among all educators that create and reinforce essential resiliency skills and that are particularly important for traumaimpacted students. Staff members are guided to master relational and instructional skills that minimize the interference of trauma with behavior and learning. School leaders are supported to practice, institutionalize, and maintain the TSS Model over time.

Implementation

1. Implementation of the TSS Model should consider local and cultural contexts, existing understandings, and prior training. It is recommended that the TSS Model be implemented over a two-year period using the following steps:

2. Readiness assessment to ascertain existing knowledge of trauma issues and perceptions.

3. Orientation to rationale for the TSS Model and expectations for leadership and all staff.

4 . Formation of a small lead team of staff members to guide, monitor, and support implementation.

5. Professional development for all staff in Step I (Knowledge), Step 2 (Building Resilience), and Step 3 (Skills Acquisition).

6. Creation of a Trauma Skilled School Plan for support and maintenance of the model over time.

7. Periodic assessment to measure changes in perceptions, practices, climate, and success of implementation.

A detailed explanation of the Trauma-Skilled Schools Model is offered in the publication, Improving School Outcomes of Trauma-Impacted Students (2018, J. Gailer, S. Addis, L Dunlap, W. Daggett, R. McNulty). The publication may be found here http://dropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Trauma-Skilled-Schools-Model-Final-I.pdf.

The staff of the National Dropout Prevention Center may be contacted at ndpc@dropoutprevention.org or at 864-642-6372 for additional information.