Abstract
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) reports that up to 40% of students have experienced, or been witness to, traumatic stressors during their lifetime. According to the National Research Counsel Institute of Medicine, “the environment provided by the child’s first caregivers has profound effects on virtually every facet of early development, ranging from the health and integrity of the baby at birth to the child’s readiness to start school at age 5” (2000, p. 219). Not enough parents, teachers, therapists, judges or physicians have adequate knowledge about child development or brain organization and function (Dobson & Perry, 2010; Perry, 2009). This study aimed to build educator awareness of affects of trauma. The secondary purpose of the study was to cause reflection and challenge perspectives regarding where bad / challenging behavior comes from and how it should be dealt with. The project utilized the framework designed by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) (2007), with specific focus on the context, content, and process of high-quality teacher professional development. The aim of this project was to provide professional development for early childhood educators working in the preschool environment. Professional development conducted was concentrated at an Early Childhood Center in an urban, low-income neighborhood in Sacramento, California. The participants included 18 educators who participated in both workshops and coaching. Staff participating included six teachers, seven instructional assistants, one administrator, two operations staff, and two substitutes. For the purposes of this project professional development consisted of two all staff workshops, ongoing coaching over eight months for teaching and operations staff, and hard and soft copy resources. The project outcomes included a number of successes and opportunities for further revision. An optimal setting, with established relationships and content focused specifically on relationships contributed to a forum where educators could reflect on and challenge their perspectives regarding where challenging behavior comes from, which was the secondary purpose of this project. The specific context for this project included many components of high quality professional development. The specific content for this project was based on research, linked to standards for children birth through age five and provided tangible instructional strategies to address identified gaps in a specific demographic of student’s achievement. A key strength of the content for this project was that it was specifically formed to meet identified needs at the individual preschool site and included modeling for teachers within their classroom. The process was implemented within the context where educators will utilize the practices (i.e. at the school site) and included the coaching component found to the 85% more effective that workshops alone (Gulamhussein, 2013). Beyond the school site who participated in professional development, this project has the potential for future use and impact across multiple disciplines.