Adverse childhood experiences and trauma-informed care: Part 1 — ACEs 101

The issue of childhood trauma — and the impact it has on educational, health and behavioral outcomes — has become a topic of great interest in the education community in recent years. As classroom behavioral issues are increasing, schools are looking closer at causes for learning disruptions.

This article will provide background on the issue of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma-informed care (TIC). We also will provide links to resources and research on this topic. A follow-up article in next month’s issue will discuss strategies for communicating about ACEs and TIC.

Adverse childhood experiences

As educators, we see the impact of ACEs on a daily basis. Our students’ adverse experiences impact their ability to learn and increase their likelihood of future health and behavioral issues. ACEs can include:

• physical, sexual or emotional abuse;
• neglect;
• economic hardship;
• living with someone who is suffering from mental illness, depression or suicidal tendencies;
• witnessing or being the victim of violence; l substance abuse, either personal or family; l parental separation or divorce;
• incarceration of a family member;
• death of a parent or close family member.

Since the initial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/60466), there have been hundreds of research papers published on the impact of ACEs. The link between childhood trauma and future chronic disease, depression, mental illness, violence, poor academic outcomes and negative health behaviors has been strongly established. No one is immune to the impact of trauma.

Trauma affects individuals, families and communities. It disrupts healthy development, adversely affects relationships and contributes to behavioral health issues, domestic violence and child abuse. The costs to communities of multiple generations of people with untreated trauma include an increase in crime, loss of wages and threat to the stability of the family.

It is estimated that by age 4, 1 in 4 children  have experienced trauma. In a national sample, 60% of children 17 years old and younger experienced or witnessed maltreatment, bullying or assault within the last year. The most common ACEs are economic hardship, divorce, substance abuse and mental illness.

Many districts offer training and professional development on this topic. This training can help educators identify ACEs and support families and students on their path toward healing. However, there is still a great deal to be done to mitigate the impact of ACEs and introduce trauma-informed practices into schools.

Trauma-informed care

In school settings, this training can help disrupt cycles of trauma and abuse, foster resiliency and improve student opportunities and outcomes. A leader in this  area has been Oregon’s Gladstone School District.

Gladstone received grant funding to form an ACEs/TIC cross-district collaborative with neighboring districts. The districts went through a multiphase process to learn about ACEs, train staff and implement trauma-informed practices. The focus was on developing high-quality, locally-driven solutions and trauma-informed learning environments.

Research shows trauma-informed practices result  in increased school readiness and attendance rates, higher graduation rates and lower juvenile delinquency rates. The pre-K-12 education system plays an important role in this effort. Together with health partners and community-based organizations, we can mitigate the impact of ACEs on students, families and communities. Educators are deeply concerned about the social- emotional development of children in school care. As awareness of ACEs increases, interest in TIC principles continues to grow. Training topics can include:

• understanding how trauma impacts children and families;
• benefits of a trauma-informed system of care;
• principles of trauma-informed care;
• best practices in building resilience in children and families;
• how to implement trauma-informed practices within our schools.

Trauma-informed schools provide an environment where adults are prepared to recognize and respond to those impacted by traumatic stress. Students are given clear expectations and communication strategies to guide them through the stressful situations in their lives. Adults intentionally provide a culture of respect and support designed to foster resilience and help mitigate the impact of ACEs.

The November/December CommunicationPlus will cover strategies to help communicate with educators, community members, parents and students about ACEs.

Resources

• CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/60466
• What is a Trauma-Informed School — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/29817
• Adverse childhood experiences: National and state level prevalence — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/50110
• Washington State Department of Health ACEs resources — http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/74664
• Trauma Informed Oregon — https://traumainformedoregon.org/about
• Oregon Student Wellness Survey — https://oregon.pridesurveys.com

Contributed by Crystal Greene, communications consultant

Recruiting and caring for volunteers

Schools rely on volunteers. Throughout the year, a whole workforce of unpaid parents and community members helps support schools through program leadership, student attention, office work and general assistance, as needed. They provide services that are both essential and nice-to-have bonuses. Students have a better school experience because of the countless volunteers who show up and generously donate their time and services.

The value of volunteer service in schools cannot be understated, but it may be helpful to estimate the economic benefit of volunteers as a means of celebrating the value of this army of school supporters. Points of Light has a calculator for the economic impact of volunteer service at http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/75315.

Plan your volunteer program

The start of a new school year is a great time to consider your volunteer needs, update how you seek new volunteers and review how you are retaining current ones.

• Define your needs. What tasks can volunteers do to help your staff become more effective?
  Know why you want volunteers and how you’ll use them before you issue a blanket invitation to parents and others in your community to volunteer. Plan the volunteer work and try to have backup tasks that are not urgent but will allow general service volunteers to feel they are contributing useful volunteer time.
  Volunteers often come to you with an offer to help because they want to serve kids. They are supportive of education and just want to share their time and service. Other volunteers will answer the call when a special need arises.
• Set objectives for your school volunteer program. The goal of your volunteer program is to help school staff assist students. Volunteers can relieve professional staff of nonteaching duties and enrich educational programs. An added, important benefit is wider community engagement. Volunteers often become key school boosters in the community.
• Get school staff on board. Be sure that teachers are comfortable working with volunteers and committed to spending the extra planning time to ensure the effective use of volunteer time.
• Assign a volunteer coordinator. This key position is often funded by the district or filled by a staff member as part of his or her role. If your school lacks this staff resource, seek a staff volunteer who can help with volunteer applications, supervision and scheduling.
• Focus on recruitment. If you are lucky, volunteers will come to you, but it is just as likely that you will need to seek them out if you have specific needs. After you identify the long- and short-term volunteer tasks, it is easier to match volunteers’ skills, time and interests. Some volunteers may not be available during the school day. Remember to set aside work that can be done at home for that group. During recruitment, emphasize how much volunteer work will help students.
  Parents are a natural volunteer pool. Be sure to post sign-up sheets during back-to-school events, parent conferences and school events. Another, possibly untapped, volunteer resource is the local senior center or senior service clubs. Senior citizens may be willing to come in as a group to stuff envelopes or as individuals to read with students. This group is among the most willing and available for volunteer service in your classrooms and schools.
• Provide an orientation for volunteers. Introduce new volunteers to your site to make them feel welcome and comfortable. Give them a name tag. Share information about the resources they can use and the people with whom they will work. Be clear about the kind of work they will be doing and how their time and help will benefit both them and students.
• Provide opportunities for volunteers to learn new skills. Volunteers, like employees, like to stretch and grow in their job. Think about bringing volunteers from all over the district together two or three times a year for a special program that will not only interest them as volunteers but also as parents.
• Create a friendly, welcome environment. Volunteers who are comfortable and feel they are part of the school team will keep coming back. Make your volunteers feel included and valued by assigning a staff or veteran volunteer to be a “buddy” for new volunteers, making sure they feel comfortable in the staff room and/or providing volunteers with their own workroom.
• Evaluate your volunteer program. Ask teachers and volunteers how they feel about the program. Is the training adequate? Do the volunteers feel a sense of responsibility toward the program? Is there proper communication between teachers and volunteers? This information can help you improve and build your program.
• Build rapport. Recognize and acknowledge volunteers when you see them in the building. Establish a warm rapport with them. Ask their advice and impressions. Listen to their concerns.
• Celebrate and recognize. Recognition is an easy way to keep volunteers coming back and call attention to opportunities for other potential volunteers. Be alert to opportunities to share volunteer stories with your local newspaper and highlight volunteer work in your school or district newsletters and social media channels. Be sure to ask volunteers if it is OK to share their photo and name online.
• Express your appreciation. Recognize volunteers in the fall and spring with tea, breakfast or a staff- prepared luncheon. Give them lapel pins, special coffee mugs or student art. Honor them at a school assembly with student performances and certificates of appreciation. Write their spouses notes thanking them for sharing their partners with your school. Ask the local newspaper to sponsor a page listing the names of all the volunteers in your school. Write letters to volunteers’ employers, thanking them for their indirect support and requesting future cooperation.

Contributed by Marcia Latta, communications consultant

Tips for local responses to national stories

The phone rings. It’s a reporter calling.

“What do you think about … (whatever is the controversial education topic du jour)?”

Depending on where you work and the curiosity of your area journalists, this may or may not be a common occurrence. In either case, it’s worth being prepared.

Know your elevator pitch

In the business world, there’s the elevator pitch: What to say when you’re on an elevator and someone asks what you do. Mine starts, “I’m a storyteller, with a particular interest in … .”

In a similar vein, an elevator pitch is like the sticky notes you’ve put on a computer, with common responses for emails or phone calls.

Your goal is to take advantage of an opportunity instead of sounding silly.

For example, one of the worst things you can say to a journalist is, “I don’t know anything about that. Let me check.” Imagine that soundbite showing up in National Newspaper or on National Television Network as,

“So-and-so of the Hunky Dory School District said she/ he didn’t know anything about the federal curriculum restrictions (or whatever).”

Your answer was honest, which is good, but came across as being out-of-touch, which is bad. Prepare your sticky notes to remind you: “Good question. Thanks for calling (or emailing) to ask about that. I want to get you to the right person, so tell me a little more about what you’re specifically looking for.”

You’ll get a sense of whether the reporter needs someone to explain the issue in layperson’s terms, is knowledgeable on the subject and wants to dig into it or just needs someone to give a quick comment. Don’t ask the reporter’s intentions that way, however; that would be demeaning.

Ask whatever questions are needed to clarify the reporter’s request. Would the reporter like you to gather the information and call or email her or him or prefer to talk to so-and-so? Always ask for the reporter’s deadline. That gives you a deadline and signals you’re sensitive to the reporter’s needs.

Another option is to briefly put the reporter on hold, contact the district source, explain the journalist’s query and connect them or arrange a time for them to connect.

But we’re not affected!

If you’re absolutely sure the news item does not affect your school or district, say so. For example, “The proposed law applies to districts with more than 6,000 students. We have 720, so we don’t expect it to affect us.”

Just be certain you’re correct. Otherwise, you’ll sound silly.

Strengthen your brand and your relationships

News stories, regardless of the focus, are opportunities to build your district brand, get people talking about you in a good way and strengthen relationships with reporters. You can convert potentially negative news into positive news if your district answers questions honestly, thoughtfully and graciously.

Learn not to think of journalists as distractions, inconveniences or problems. Your subconscious feelings can come across in your responses.

To journalists, you want your district to be known as the go-to place — educators who are smart, readily available and conversant on education issues.

Avoid negative soundbites

In answering a question, don’t include negative statements that a journalist can call for a catchy quotation or sound bite. Avoid saying, “You’re absolutely right. The report says Hunky Dory High School has the lowest test scores in the state. That sounds awful. However, … .”

It’s better to say, “Thank you for the opportunity to tell our story. This is what we have been doing to raise test scores … . The early results show … .”

Instead of “no comment,” which often comes back to bite you, consider: “Thank you for asking. We take reports such as these seriously, and the first thing we do is dig into how the data were collected and analyzed — what was included and what was left out. We’ll take this report at more than face value, dig into it and learn everything we can from the individual pieces of data as well as the overall conclusions.”

Avoid blowing smoke

Watch yourself. There’s a tendency to say,  “Look at what we’ve already done.” Again, it’s better to say: “The data appear to be from two years ago, which is understandable because the state has not released more recent data. However, since then we have … .” Tip: The word “data” is a plural noun, so it typically takes plural verbs: “The data are … .”

Speaking of blowing smoke, in one instance, a communications person was instructed to flirt with a reporter to get a better story. No, no, no! Practically anyone, including journalists, can see through such ploys.

There is no harm, however, in developing relationships with someone: “I hear a dog barking. Is that yours? … No problem. What kind of dog? … Ours is a rescue, too. He’s a poodle, Gregor. It’s funny that you’re calling about the state’s new biology (or maybe, agriculture) curriculum. We don’t know how Gregor got his name, but I wonder whether his first owner named him after the early geneticist Gregor Mendel” (or, if the question is about the district’s ag program) “… named him after Gregor Mendel, who did all those experiments with pea plants in the 1800s.”

That assumes, of course, that the journalist seems open to your anecdote and isn’t in a hurry. Tip: To learn journalists’ techniques for interviewing and building relationships with you, look up Eric Nalder’s Loosening Lips: The Art of the Interview, which can be found online.

Again, you can’t control the news, but you can influence how it is reported. That is why it’s crucial to be gracious and helpful, even if the journalist — as often happens — is calling at the last minute and at the worst possible time of the day for you.

Reporters are human, too. They tend to be nicer toward people who are nicer to them.

It’s frustrating if you simply refer them to your district website for information. That info is easy for you to find — you know what’s there — but it can be baffling to a journalist in a hurry, especially if your website is not as clear and authoritative as you might think. Take a moment to send the reporter PDFs of the information — and explain them — as well as the links.

Know your resources: Many universities have source lists of who’s who on the faculty and in the administration and are experts in specific areas. A similar approach is worthwhile for school districts. You can connect journalists with your experts or encourage your district spokesperson to get info from them.

Consider a reporter who calls about the relevance of standardized tests. Is your superintendent the best person to respond? Or is there another person who has more hands-on experience in that area and is better at explaining standardized testing in everyday terms that will make sense to readers, viewers and listeners? Or, perhaps there are teachers or other district personnel who are particularly knowledgeable and articulate on the topic.

Maybe your district has a policy that the superintendent or another designated person — the communications or public relations professional — should answer media questions. That’s fine. But one of your roles as underlings is to prevent the boss from looking dumb. You want to make sure the spokesperson is fully informed, including the most recent developments.

Prepare yourself: You probably already follow the local or community news. It’s important to stay tuned to the state, regional and national news, at least as far as educational, political and cultural news affecting schools.

Again, it can be unnerving to you and damaging to your district’s reputation to tell a reporter that you are unaware of the news issue he or she is calling about. Spare yourself from that awkwardness by spending a few minutes each morning catching up on the latest news.

You probably have Google Alerts established to notify you of any mention in the news of your school district, key personnel or schools. Add alerts for education topics that interest you.

National news outlets, as well as specialty publications, such as Education Week, have daily emails for which you can sign up. Don’t go overboard, but find ones that work for you. Follow a few organizations or people on social media who post the latest education news.

On my smartphone, I have apps for the Associated Press, Reuters, several other print outlets, TV and radio. As with email newsletters, I scan them as I have time.

One last suggestion: Be proactive. Look for opportunities to highlight your school district.

When a national education story breaks, line up your district’s response. Then contact journalists to let them know your district is available to comment.

If a reporter or news editor is not interested, no problem. Come back to them next time. Story decisions are made for multiple reasons, most of which are out of your control.

Dick Hughes, whose rescue dog is a poodle named Gregor, is a communications consultant. Contact him at thehughesisms@gmail.com.

Translating for your community’s non-English speakers

As most administrators would tell you, schools are always aiming for successful parent engagement, and for good reason. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “research shows that parent engagement in schools is closely linked to better student behavior, higher academic achievement and enhanced social skills. Parent engagement also makes it less likely that students will engage in smoking or alcohol or drug use.” It also lessens the chances of risky sexual behavior (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/54518).

One thing standing in the way of parent engagement is the language barrier. “As refugees spread out across the U.S., settling in the Southeast, Midwest and many rural areas that, before, were fairly insulated from large immigrant populations, schools are being forced to adapt to a new reality” (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/85256).

That reality is the need for translation services. With more non-English-speaking families moving into rural areas, school district responsibilities can change quickly. This means that schools need to be taking a hard look at whether they are offering enough services to their immigrant families.

For one thing, it’s the law

A failure to communicate effectively with immigrant parents is a violation of their civil rights, considered discrimination based on national origin, which is prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/58143).

Without language services, non-English-speaking parents are considered to be blocked from equal access to school information and resources, leaving the district open to a lawsuit. In addition to being a legal battle that nobody wants, it’s not conducive to student learning, engagement or test scores.

In a non-English speaking household, children often become the de facto translators between their household and the English-speaking world. But for schools, relying on students or other family members to translate information for parents is not acceptable. The law requires that schools provide language assistance to parents, with appropriate, competent and well-trained staff or outside resources.

Non-English-speaking students need translations, too

It isn’t just parents that the district is responsible for helping. Even though the goal is to turn non-English- speaking students into fluent English speakers, in the meantime, they need full access to the educational materials. A 2015 Dear Colleague letter from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and U.S. Department of Justice lays out the state educational agency’s (SEA) responsibilities to English learners (EL) in schools. “Title VI’s prohibition on national origin discrimination requires SEAs and school districts to take ‘affirmative steps’ to address language barriers so that EL students may participate meaningfully in schools’ educational programs” (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/82589).

In legal terms, this means students and families need any material translated that has an effect on their education. In practical terms, it means that schools need to step up their game.

First things first, let’s keep everybody safe

If you’re trying to catch up with your translation services, start with the most urgent area first. Anything involving the safety of students or schools needs to be translated. This means information about immunizations, school rules, who can and cannot drop off or pick up a student and where to safely do so. It also includes the school’s procedures for what to do in case of an active shooter situation.

Generations of parents have been boggled by the black hole that exists somewhere between the classroom and the home that sucks important take-home notices into its depths. This is no less true for non-English- speaking students. What happens when those parents don’t receive notice? Try to create a place where they have access to the most recent materials and make sure they know where to go to access them.

Having materials organized on the school’s website is a good first step, but not all families have access to the internet. In fact, 5 million households with school-age children in the United States do not have internet access. (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/35700). Try to find a place on the school grounds where the materials can be accessed.

It’s not just about language

As important as the language materials are, it’s also important to look at the bigger picture. If you’re dealing with a student or group of students from a nation that’s new to your district, you also need to step back and learn about the culture. It’s likely that aspects of the educational system here are new to these families. For some cultures, parent involvement is unheard of, meaning that a culture clash is bound to happen. For others, classroom behavior such as speaking up and making eye contact with the teacher can seem rude.

In New York state, following new requirements to reach out to non-English-speaking families, facilitators hold daylong events introducing immigrant parents to the intricacies of U.S. schools, including the practice of holding parent-teacher conferences.

The Hollifield Station Elementary PTA in Maryland found an inspired way to bridge the gap. “With the help of district coordinators, they organized an event called American Culture Night. It was so successful that immigrant families are connecting with the school — and getting involved in the PTA” (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/74971).

Events like these can also be used to help parents connect themselves to services throughout the community, such as the library, where they can get internet access.

While offering all of the school’s materials in multiple languages may seem like a huge effort, the reality is these families have a strong desire to support their child’s education and success in their new country and may become an effective member of your parent-teacher community. The more we can help them do that, the better.

Contributed by Megan J. Wilson, Los Angeles-based freelance writer and communications consultant