Trauma-Informed Resources for Educators
For more information, resources or to connect with the ACE Resource Network directly, please enter in your email address below.
In partnership with PACEs Connection, we are honored to offer a curated collection of video and print resources to help educators learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences and the associated impacts on students and school communities.
This collection of materials represents the current best practices and concepts essential for educators to continually develop more trauma-responsive and healing centered practices in their educational environments. They are practical and concrete resources to support educators in their role in schools.
For support regarding these resources, please contact Joy Thomas at joy@ACEResourceNetwork.org.
Why trauma responsive schools?
A video that discusses the impact of stress on students and teachers, and it explains how creating a safe, secure environment is critical to allowing students to reach their full potential. – By Dr. Bruce Perry
A video that explains why social-emotional learning (SEL) and a trauma-responsive mindset for all educators is necessary. – By Dovetail Learning
A video that reminds educators how important and critical their role is in the life of a child.
– By Rita Pierson
Print Resources
Burnout vs. Compassion Fatigue
A simple one-pager that defines what educators may feel while dealing with the needs of students and families. – By Resilient Retreat
Key Terms | Trauma Informed Oregon
A resource that clarifies language and definitions of trauma so that educators can share a common language for effective, clear communication related to trauma and adversity.– By Trauma-Informed Oregon
Report: Trauma-Informed Schools
A national report that gives an overview of trauma-informed school principles, examples, and positive outcomes – By Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice
Childhood Trauma and Adversity: 101
A summary of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) for general education. It also explains the importance of self-awareness and hope.
– By ACE Resource Network
A video about how ongoing, severe stress and adversity in early childhood is connected to chronic disease in adults. – By Harvard University Center on the Developing Child
A video that gives a basic introduction and overview of how trauma and chronic stress affects our nervous system. – By The Trauma Foundation
A video that explains ACEs and how the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and household challenges has real, tangible effects on the development of children and adults’ brains and bodies.– By Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
A video library that explores polyvagal theory and the body’s desire to seek safety. – By Polyvagal Institute
Print Resources
Infographic: 6 Guiding Principles To A Trauma-Informed Approach | CDC
An infographic outlining 6 principles of trauma-informed care. – By the Center for Disease Control & Prevention
SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach | SAMHSA
A comprehensive manual that introduces concepts of trauma and offers a framework for becoming a trauma-informed organization, system, or service sector. Provides a definition of trauma and a trauma-informed approach.– By Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges
A book for an entire staff or any educator that integrates knowledge from mental health, neuroscience, and child development fields to address behavioral challenges with students. It provides practical, step-by-step suggestions that educators really want. – By Dr. Mona Delahookem
Resilience and Healing
A video message to educators during COVID about the science of prevention. – By Dr. Burke Harris and the Association of California School Administrators
A message of hope for resilience regarding early childhood adversity. – By ACE Resource Network
A video that explains resilience as a continuum. We are all resilient, and individuals can use skills to become more resilient. – By Dovetail Learning
A video about ‘Neuroception’, the process by which our autonomic nervous system detects threat, safety, and risk in our environment, all outside of our conscious awareness. – By Space Between Counseling Services
A video that answers the questions, “What are Protective Patterns? How do they serve us and limit us?” The We Are Resilient approach distinguishes six Protective Patterns we all learned early in life in order to feel safe. – By Dovetail Learning
A video on the science of resilience. Resilience can help us understand why some children do well despite serious adversity. Resilience is a combination of protective factors that enable people to adapt in the face of serious hardship, and is essential to ensuring that children who experience adversity can still become healthy, productive citizens. – By Harvard University Center on the Developing Child
Print Resources
Practical Skills for Resilient Educators | Dovetail Learning
A book that highlights research-based skills for educator resilience. This open-educational resource is free and has specific ways to build your resilience. – By Dovetail Learning
Compassion Resilience Toolkit
A digital toolkit to help professionals and caregivers maintain well-being and compassion in their work. Includes best practices related to positive psychology, compassion fatigue, organizational psychology, trauma, and equity.– By The WISE Initiative for Stigma Elimination
The Compassion Fatigue Workbook
A workbook for educators to understand their own warning signs of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, an essential skill for teacher retention and sustainable school culture. – By Françiose Mathieu
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others
An excerpt from the book Trauma Stewardship that explores the idea of trauma exposure and bearing witness to others experiencing trauma and the effects on those exposed.– By Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk
Creating Trauma Responsive Healing Centered Classrooms
A video about how a trauma-informed approach ensures that students feel safe, supported, and nurtured—to improve their chances of academic success. – By Edutopia
A comprehensive professional development platform with multiple video modules to be accessed with print resource support.– By Wisconsin Department of Instruction TSS Online Professional Development System
A video playlist about sustained and well-integrated social and emotional learning (SEL), engagement of students, and improved achievement. Explore classroom practices that make up the most effective SEL programs. – By Edutopia
Print Resources
Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom
A book that will help you cultivate a trauma-sensitive learning environment for students across all content areas, grade levels, and educational settings. Each chapter includes questions and exercises to encourage reflection and extension of the ideas in this book. – By Kristin Souers and Pete Hall
Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline
A book that addresses the need for co-regulatory and relational touch point practices by adults with students. It shares brain aligned, preventive, and relational discipline protocols by reaching for sustainable behavioral changes through brain state awareness rather than compliance and obedience. – By Dr. Lori L. Desautels
The Regulated Classroom
A classroom approach that equips educators with core practices and sensory tools to cultivate a felt sense of safety. Resources include a guidebook, educator self-care toolkit, and on demand training resources. – By Emily Daniels
5 Strategies for developing a school-wide culture of healing
An article that summarizes Dr. Shawn Ginwright’s work regarding 5 strategies for developing a school-wide culture of healing.
– By Nimah Gobir of KQED
Emotional Regulation Plans
A series of three developmentally appropriate printable plans for use in early childhood settings through high school levels. The plans are intended to be a collaborative document between school staff, parents, and the student and can be used with any student for emotional regulation goal setting. – By Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
TLPI Publications – Helping Traumatized Children Learn
A report and policy agenda that summarizes research from psychology and neurobiology that documents the impact trauma from exposure to violence can have on children’s learning, behavior and relationships in school. – By Massachusetts Advocates for Children and Harvard Law School
Stop, Start, Continue, Change
A worksheet for a school staff to investigate their current trauma-responsiveness and develop new practices to adopt as a school community. – By Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Creating Trauma Responsive Healing Centered Communities
A video summary of the HOPE Framework – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences. Explores the positive experiences that support children’s growth and development into healthy, resilient adults. – By Tufts Medical Center
A video that defines the common language for evolving school culture around concepts of Safety, Trustworthiness & transparency, Peer support, Collaboration & mutuality, Empowerment & choice, Cultural, historical & gender issues. – By Trauma Informed Oregon
A middle school uses a simple strategy to build deeper connections between teachers and students.– By Edutopia
A video about integrating strengths-based, resilience skills into existing school climate initiatives, including Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) – By Dovetail Learning
A video that identifies ten common misconceptions of trauma informed care in schools – By Trauma Informed Oregon
Print Resources
Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education
A book that asks educators to shift equity to the center as they consider policies and professional development around trauma-informed practices. – By Alex Shervin Venet and W.W. Norton & Company
Education Standards of Practice for Trauma Informed Care
A tool for multilevel teams within educational settings. These guidelines are intended to provide benchmarks for planning and monitoring progress and a means to highlight accomplishments.– By Trauma Informed Oregon
Trauma-informed Design Evaluation Tool for K-12 Schools
A tool intended for use by educators, school administrators, and designers. The evaluation tool guides the user through a self-reflective process focused on school design conditions and how these may raise or lower stress levels of students and staff. – By J. Davis Harte, PhD; Janet Roche, MDS; Christine Cowart, MA; Molly Pierce, MS, OTR/L; Kelsey Jones, MDS candidate
Review Tool for School Policies, Protocols, Procedures & Documents: Examination Using a Trauma-Sensitive School Lens
A review tool for school policies, protocols, procedures & documents. – Adapted by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction
Missouri Model for Trauma-Informed Schools
A high overview for educators that introduces foundational trauma related language and processes to support schools that are interested in beginning the journey to become trauma informed. – By The Missouri Model for Trauma-Informed Schools
School Initiative Acronym Journey Map
A visual teaching tool with accompanying dialogue prompts for use by school and education leadership teams. It is intended to help school communities visualize the similarities, differences, and desired outcomes of common campus support initiatives. – By National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Mental Health (NTAAC)
Building Resilience In Students Impacted By Adverse Childhood Experiences
Nearly half of all children have been exposed to at least one ACE. These students often enter school with behaviors that don’t blend well with the typical school environment. This workbook-style resource shows K-12 educators how to make a whole-school change, where strategies are integrated from curb to classroom. – By Victoria Elaine Romero, Ricky Robertson, Amber Nicole Warner