PUBLIC SCHOOL FORUM OF NC INC

NC RESILIENCE AND LEARNING PROJECT - THE NC RESILIENCE AND LEARNING PROJECT WORKS WITH HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS ACROSS THE STATE WHERE STUDENT TRAUMA IS PREVALENT. OUR MODEL IS A WHOLE SCHOOL, WHOLE-CHILD FRAMEWORK TO CREATE TRAUMA-SENSITIVE SCHOOLS THAT WILL IMPROVE ACADEMIC, BEHAVIORAL, AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS. THE CDC-KAISER PERMANENTE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES (ACE) STUDY FOUND THAT ROUGHLY 64% OF THE OVER 17,000 PARTICIPANTS REPORTED HAVING AT LEAST ONE ACE (ACES INCLUDE ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND HOUSEHOLD DYSFUNCTION SUCH AS A HOME WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE, MENTAL ILLNESS, MOTHER BEING TREATED VIOLENTLY, OR AN INCARCERATED RELATIVE). RESEARCH SHOWS ACES CAN ACTUALLY ALTER BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND CAUSE CHEMICALLY TOXIC EFFECTS IN THE BRAIN RESULTING IN CHILDREN REMAINING IN A CONSTANT STATE OF "SURVIVAL MODE" LEADING TO THE FIGHT, FLIGHT, OR FREEZE RESPONSE. THIS REACTION RESULTS IN MAJOR IMPACTS IN CHILDREN'S LEARNING, CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR, AND RELATIONSHIPS. STUDENTS WITH ACES HAVE HIGHER RATES OF OFFICE REFERRALS, SUSPENSIONS, AND RETENTION AS WELL AS LOWER ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. OUR PROJECT HAS TWO COMPONENTS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SCHOOL-WIDE STAFF AND THE FORMATION OF A SCHOOL STEERING COMMITTEE WHO MEET REGULARLY AND SERVE AS THE CHAMPIONS OF THIS WORK. THE COMMITTEE IDENTIFIES AREAS OF URGENCY, CREATES, AND IMPLEMENTS SPECIFIC TRAUMA-SENSITIVE STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS EXPERIENCING TRAUMA IN ORDER TO POSITIVELY INFLUENCE LEARNING AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS. THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR WILL BE OUR 8TH YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION. AS OF 2024, WE HAVE PROVIDED TRAINING AND/OR COACHING IN 39 SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE. THIS SCHOOL YEAR IS OUR BIGGEST YEAR YET AS WE HAVE YEAR-LONG PARTNERSHIPS WITH 18 SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND 48 INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS FOR OUR FULL MODEL OF IMPLEMENTATION. WE WILL PROVIDE SHORT-TERM TRAINING WITH OTHER SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS AS WELL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. IN ADDITION TO OUR SCHOOL AND DISTRICT-LEVEL TRAINING AND COACHING WORK, OUR TEAM ALSO FOCUSES ON POLICY AND RESEARCH RELATED TO TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES WITHIN SCHOOLS. WE DO THIS THROUGH: - OUR OWN TEAM POLICY BRIEFS - CASE STUDIES ON PARTNER SCHOOLS - EDUCATION PREPARATION PROGRAM TASK FORCE ON TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES - A TEAM OF FACULTY FROM ED PREP PROGRAMS ACROSS THE STATE MEETING BI-MONTHLY TO COLLABORATE AND SET BEST PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS - PARTNERSHIP WITH DUKE UNIVERSITY TO COLLECT DATA AND PROVIDE EVALUATION ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AS WELL AS OTHER RELATED AREAS SUCH AS HOW TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICES CAN BETTER SUPPORT STUDENTS SPECIFICALLY WITH LEARNING DIFFERENCES - OTHER EDUCATOR STATEWIDE COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES BRINGING TOGETHER PARTNER SCHOOL AND DISTRICT STAFF TO CONVENE AND COLLABORATE ON THEIR OWN TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK.