Trauma-Sensitive Schools for the Adolescent Years: Promoting Resiliency and Healing, Grades 6–12

by Susan E. Craig

The trauma-sensitive schools movement is the result of a confluence of forces that are changing how educators view students’ academic and social problems, including the failure of zero tolerance policies to resolve issues of school safety, bullying, and academic failure, as well as a new understanding of adolescents’ disruptive behavior. In this follow-up to her bestseller, Trauma-Sensitive Schools , Susan Craig provides secondary school teachers and administrators with practical ideas for how to improve students’ achievement by implementing a trauma-sensitive approach to instruction. Along with clear explanations of the role that childhood adversity and trauma play in determining academic success, readers will find dozens of concrete strategies to help Book

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2017

About the author

Susan E. Craig, PhD, completed her doctorate in sociology at the University of New Hampshire and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Miami. She is a lifelong student of early trauma and its effects on children’s learning. Her teaching experience, as well as years of on-site training and technical assistance to school districts throughout the country, provides the context for her advocacy for trauma-sensitive educational reform.

Dr. Craig began her writing career in 1992 with an article in Phi Delta Kappan describing the educational needs of children living with violence. This work received special notice in the now famous “purple book” Helping Traumatized Children Learn (2005) published by Massachusetts Advocates for Children: Trauma and Policy Initiative. Her book Reaching and Teaching Children Who Hurt: Strategies for Your Classroom (2008) is a bestseller among teachers and administrators, who use it to guide their efforts to make schools more accessible to children with challenging behaviors. In 2013, Dr. Craig was among those interviewed in the Safe Start National Resource Center series profiling women who have made an impact on the issue of children’s exposure to violence.

Dr. Craig is an avid blogger and sought-after public speaker. Her blog, www.meltdownstomastery.wordpress.com, covers topics of interest to educators working with traumatized children.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for administrators and teacher education instructors to read. It gives a strong overview of the science of how trauma impacts teens, and best practices for supporting their growth and healing in school. I wouldn't recommend this as a "First read" for a teacher getting started with trauma-informed practice, but it's a great "dig deeper" text.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and give suggestions on how to transform a school into a trauma-sensative school. There are pages of additional resources for further professional development.

[Jennifer Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful...but I did read it for a class.

[Heather Josephine Pue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for secondary educators. A quick, easy read which gets at the heart of how trauma impacts our students and what we can do about it.