As trauma-sensitive schools (TSS) have become increasingly common in the United States over the last several years, scholars disagree on the prevailing model of TSS with some specifically noting how this model is void of mention of the ways that schools have historically and continue to perpetuate racial trauma. As schools continue to work on…

We posit that Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) serves as a way to label, punish, and surveil students, which is antithetical to trauma-informed education. We put existing critiques of PBIS in conversation with literature on trauma-informed education, critical analyses rooted in social justice and draw on our experiences as…

Principal Wilson is a first-year leader of a virtual high school. Following four years as an assistant principal in the brick-and-mortar school, she encounters unanticipated leadership challenges and policy dilemmas. Although discipline issues are nearly nonexistent, remote testing presents an ethical challenge. Moreover, she discovers that…

Anti-blackness precludes Black people from being viewed as rights-bearing individuals and justifies the degradation of Black people, Black history, and Black culture. In this conceptual article, we suggest that (1) anti-blackness is trauma-inducing, (2) schools are often the first sites where Black students encounter anti-blackness and subsequent…

Black boys have been dying by suicide at an increasing rate. Although the reasons for this increase are unknown, suicide in Black boys is likely influenced by multiple, intersecting risk factors, including historical and ongoing trauma. Schools can serve as an important mechanism of support for Black boys; however, without intentional antiracist…

The 2022 Legislature directed the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to create an advisory workgroup with specific participants to report back on topics related to student isolation and seclusion. This legislative report provides a background on the workgroup, history of isolation and restraint, current practices in the state of…

Annually, the Department of Education (Department) collects data from school districts across the state on disciplinary infractions and their consequences. These data are analyzed in a state-level report developed by the Department for the Governor and the Legislature to fulfill the requirements of the "Public School Safety Law N.J.S.A."…