By Dr. Laura Bilbro-Berry

Public School Forum of NC

Last month heralded the commencement season for colleges and universities across North Carolina. Within the class of 2025 are graduates who will be the state’s next generation of classroom teachers. These individuals have been trained to design organized and well-planned classrooms while delivering content instruction. These newly minted teachers will likely spend their summer working on academic lesson plans, crafting classroom configurations to maximize learning, and creating behavioral expectations which represent just a few things they learned within their educator preparation program. 

While North Carolina prepared teachers complete a variety of field experiences and student teaching to give them the opportunity for direct student interactions, they will face a new group of students come August. Each student will come to school with previously gained knowledge and unique experiences from school or home. The new teacher must get to know each one and build connections to ensure that their classroom is a place of learning and engagement. 

Some students will walk into the classroom having experienced previous trauma such as losing a parent through death or divorce, food insecurity, or violence within the home. These students may arrive at school having encountered stressful situations that impact their concentration on the day’s lessons. The new teacher’s charge is to guide each student to be engaged such that they can succeed academically and be resilient learners. It’s not an easy task and requires knowledge and training on how best to support students who have faced trauma or toxic stress. New teachers need this information before they open the doors to their own classrooms to welcome students.

Since 2017 he NC Center for Resilience and Learning has been working across the state providing training and ongoing coaching support to schools and educators in over 39 districts on trauma-informed education practices. After conducting initial training on topics such as trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and the brain science behind toxic stress and its impact on students, many educators have expressed that they never received this information in their preparation programs or through ongoing professional development. They often describe how transformative this knowledge can be for their practice with students.

In 2023, the Center established an educator preparation task force comprising faculty and staff from 12 different community colleges, colleges, and universities across North Carolina. The task force aimed to learn what programs were currently doing to implement trauma-informed practices into their coursework and to identify gaps and needs for further improvement. 

A statewide landscape analysis was conducted and revealed that while many individual educator preparation staff and faculty members are informally incorporating trauma-informed content into specific coursework, there are no formal guidelines or best practices shared among preparation programs to enhance and expand these efforts. 

Recognizing this need, the Center, in collaboration with task force members from various educator preparation programs across the state, created a toolkit. This toolkit includes best practice recommendations, key topics linked back to specific state standards, and resources for integrating trauma-informed education content into ongoing coursework. Connecting specific trauma-informed topics with standards is crucial for the successful integration and implementation of trauma-informed work within preparation programs. 

It is hoped that the information and resources within the toolkit will equip faculty to effectively prepare the teacher workforce for the students they will encounter within their classrooms. Stocking the future teacher’s toolbox with knowledge about how adverse childhood experiences and trauma affect the brain, along with practical strategies to help students be resilient learners, will ensure that they can be confident and effective educators on day one. Supportive school relationships and well-structured learning environments are paramount to building successful schools where all children can learn and thrive not only in school, but also in life. 

As a former North Carolina Teacher of the Year and P-16 education leader, Laura Bilbro-Berry is a passionate advocate for children, skilled coalition-builder and policy influencer dedicated to developing people and transforming education. She seeks to drive impactful change across schools and communities.