The Harvard Law School Library staff invites you to attend a book talk and panel discussion in celebration of the recently published Helping Traumatized Children Learn, Volume 2: Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools, published by the Trauma Learning Policy Initiative, a partnership between the Massachusetts Advocates for Children and Harvard Law School.
The book talk panel will include a discussion by co-authors Susan Cole, Michael Gregory, Anne Eisner, and Joel M. Ristuccia.
“Volume 2 of Helping Traumatized Children Learn: Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools, safe, supportive learning environments that benefit all children offers a Guide to a process for creating trauma-sensitive schools and a policy agenda to provide the support schools need to achieve this goal. Grounded in theory and practice in schools and with families, the Guide is intended to be a living document that will grow and change as more schools become trauma sensitive and add their ideas. The policy agenda calls for changes in laws, policies, and funding streams to support schools in this work. Together, the online learning community and the book are designed to complement each other, helping to build a growing and increasingly visible trauma-sensitive learning community.” — TLPI
Susan Cole is Founder and Director, Trauma Learning Policy Initiative and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.
Michael Gregory is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Law School.
At Harvard Law School, Professor Gregory co-teaches the Education Law Clinic with Law Clinic Director Susan Cole, in which law students represent individual families of traumatized children in the special education system and engage in systemic advocacy in education reform at the state level. In conjunction with the clinic, Professor Gregory co-teaches with Ms. Cole the seminars “Education Advocacy and Systemic Change: Children at Risk” and “Legislative Lawyering in Education Law.”
Anne Eisner is Deputy Director of the Trauma Learning Policy Initiative, Massachusetts Advocates for Children.
Joel M. Ristuccia is Consultant for the Trauma Learning Policy Initiative and Adjunct Faculty, Lesley University.
The authors will be joined by panelists including:
Mary E. Curtis, Ph.D., Director, Center for Special Education, Lesley University;
M. Geron Gadd, J.D., (’04), M.T.S. (’01), Senior Staff Attorney, Children at Risk Practice Group, Southern Poverty Law Center ;
Betsy McAlister Groves, LICSW, Founder, Child Witness to Violence Project, Boston Medical Center
Director, Child Advocacy Strand, Human Development and Psychology Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education;
Salvatore Terrasi, Ph.D., Director of Pupil Personnel Services, Brockton Public Schools,
National Adjunct Faculty, Lesley University.
Thursday, April 10, 2014, 12:00 noon.
Harvard Law School, Lewis International Law Center, Room 214A. (Directions).
Sponsored by the Harvard Law School Library.
Free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.
“Helping Traumatized Children Learn marks a major milestone in child advocacy. Based on evidence from brain research, child development, and actual classrooms, here is a road map for parents, schools, administrators, and policy makers that shows concrete and feasible steps for making schools the life raft for children who otherwise may be misunderstood and abandoned by the community.”
MARTHA L. MINOW
Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor
Harvard Law School
“[Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools] is a timely and very much needed book. It provides clear, practical and research- and practice-informed guidance. It addresses three things that should be aligned, but often are not: addressing trauma school-wide, not just individually; monitoring the implementation of trauma-sensitive schools; and creating public policy to ensure that all students, including the many who have experienced traumatic events, succeed.”
DAVID OSHER, Ph.D.
Vice President and AIR Institute Fellow
American Institutes for Research
“[Helping Traumatized Children Learn, Volume 2] shows us that trauma sensitivity is central to the process of creating the safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments that can improve education outcomes for all students. It provides much-needed guidance to policymakers about how to support schools in this effort. The authors articulate a way forward for educators and policymakers to work together to provide safe and supportive schools where all children can learn. Let’s get to work!”
MASSACHUSETTS STATE REPRESENTATIVE RUTH BALSER
