Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years) including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction
Brain break: a break from whatever students are focusing on; can help reduce stress, anxiety and frustration and improve attention, self-regulation and productivity
Burnout: a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment
Complex trauma: exposure to multiple traumatic events, which are often of an invasive and interpersonal nature with wide-ranging and long-term effects
Expanded ACEs: includes additional community-related factors (i.e.,discrimination, peer victimization, community violence, neighborhood safety, and exposure to trauma experiences outside of the home) to the conceptualization of the ACES
Externalizing behaviors: behaviors that are expressed against others and are marked by aggression, impulsivity, disruptiveness and defiance; behaviors that are more likely to be noticed by teachers (e.g., talking out, non-compliance, out-of-seat behavior, and fighting)
Internalizing behaviors: self-focused expressions of distress and marked by social withdrawal, anxiety, and fearfulness; behaviors that are not readily visible and difficult to recognize and address (e.g., feels misunderstood, feels worried, complains of feeling sick, etc.)
Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS): a comprehensive framework that helps educators provide academic and behavioral strategies for students with various needs; relies on the philosophy that preventing problems is more effective, for more students, than treating them as they arise
Peace corner: a private, designated, and calming space in the classroom where students can take a break and re-establish their readiness to learn
Peace room: a room with a designated staff member trained in mindfulness and counseling practices
Psychological First Aid (PFA): an evidence-informed intervention model to assist students, families, school personnel, and school partners in the immediate aftermath of an emergency
Self-care: any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health and protect our well-being and happiness
Self-regulation: represents a variety of skills that involve the ability to regulate cognition, behavior, and emotion
Tier 1: serves as the foundation for behavior and academics; schools provide these universal trauma-responsive supports to all students in all settings
Tier 2: provides targeted support to students who are nonresponsive to Tier 1 universal supports and help students develop the skills they need to benefit core programs at the school
Tier 3: serves students who continue to struggle despite Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction and supports; provides the most intensive, individualized supports
Trauma: any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, dissociation, confusion, or other disruptive feelings intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning
Trauma-responsive schools: promote (a) feelings of physical, social, and emotional safety in students; (b) a shared understanding among staff about the impact of trauma and adversity on students; (c) positive and culturally responsive discipline policies and practices; (d) access to comprehensive school mental and behavioral health services; and (e) effective community collaboration
Universal screening: the systematic assessment of all students in a given population in order to identify students who are at risk for behavioral, emotional, or related difficulties