(PS5-D85) Common Elements of Trauma-informed Schools and Attention to Racial Equity: A Scoping Review

Introduction: It is well documented that racial/ethnic minority youth are disproportionately impacted by trauma and its sequelae that interfere with learning, and are subject to inequitable school discipline. These revelations shape national concerns about the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ that entrenches racial disparities in life opportunity, social mobility, health and justice. Given trauma-informed schools (TIS) focus on school discipline reform and the educational and health needs of trauma exposed youth, there is unexamined potential for promoting racial equity in student health, educational attainment, and social mobility. Importantly, TIS evaluation is constrained by definitional and measurement challenges. To ensure that TIS are effective, and are implemented with integrity, it is necessary to investigate what it means for a school to be trauma-informed. This scoping review aimed to characterize TIS through inductive coding methods. From TIS literature, common intervention components, implementation strategies, and their attention to racial equity were distilled. Differences in TIS design and implementation as a function of attention to racial equity were also examined.

Method:  Aim 1. The search was conducted on three major databases (i.e., PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and ERIC) and included peer-reviewed articles from 2010 to 2022. In total, 1,273 articles were identified, of which 30 met the full inclusion criteria. The author and four undergraduate students evaluated the included studies using a coding manual developed by the author, and reported observed code frequencies. Aim 2. To examine associations between racial equity focus and observed TIS components, logistic regression was conducted.

Results: Aim 1. The review identified nine intervention components and implementation strategies as most commonly coded within TIS descriptions: Training Opportunities (90%), Implementation Monitoring (77%), Consultation/Supervision (70%), Partnership Development (67%), Training Content: Impact of Trauma (57%) and Responses to Trauma (57%), Tier 1 Interventions (70%), Tier 2 Interventions (57%), and Tier 3 Interventions (53%). Components least commonly coded were: Language Access (7%), Utilization of Incentives (7%), Historically/Culturally Accurate Curriculum (3%), Legal Authorities on School Grounds (0%), Carceral Structures of Surveillance (0%), Use of Force (0%), and Exclusionary School Discipline (0%). Aim 2. Analyses yielded results of no significance for the relationship between racial equity focus and the frequency of organizational TIS practices (b1 = 1.0795, t = 1.388, p = 0.176), professional development TIS practices (b1 = -0.4773, t = -0.732, p = 0.47), and clinical/educational TIS practices (b1 = 0.0909, t = 0.5907, p = 0.879).

Conclusion: Findings suggest that TIS components related to implementation strategy are most frequently employed. Additionally, findings suggest that components related to racial equity are least frequently employed in TIS design and implementation. Future research will assess expert consensus of the most important/feasible components, towards development of a validated tool that will permit assessment of TIS implementation efforts.