-Trauma affects the brain. It affects the prefrontal cortex (rational thinking), hippocampus (memory, shrinks when exposed to trauma), and amygdala (fight or flight, trauma makes that part of the brain always be "on").

-Understand ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). Can impact both brain development and physical health.

-Use Trauma Informed Practices

• Support students in all aspects, not just the classroom

• Be aware of triggers

• Talk with students about how they deal with stress and anger

• Show compassion, not judgement

• Give students a safe space to share and express their feelings

• Help students develop a "growth" mindset

• Use restorative practices that minimize punitive discipline outcomes.

• Build relationships

• Meet students where they are

• Don't ignore possible "red flags"

• Offer trainings to teachers on trauma informed responses

The practice of segregating or separating gifted and talented students is not just or research based. It leads to segregation by race, class, abilities and language.

Research shows separating isn't necessary

or helpful in supporting high achieving students. Detracking showed positive results, and did not impact students in a negative way. However, it does harms students placed in lower level classes. Pull out and self-contained classrooms did not boost academic achievement for lower performing kids.

One such approach is the schoolwide enrichment model (SEM), which was developed at the University of Connecticut.

SEM is an approach to teaching and learning that draws from the pedagogy of gifted education to enhance opportunities for all students in a given school. Schools using this model typically identify “gifted behaviors,” including above-average academic abilities, creativity, and task commitment, rather than attaching a binary (“gifted”/“not gifted”) label to each student. SEM advises schools to use flexible student groupings that change throughout the course of a year and bring together students with different achievement and interest levels.

The article that districts should create schoolwide enrichment programs, and shift services for gifted-identified children toward a model that favors push-in services in inclusive settings, just as the best practices for special education services encourage.

Other Sources:

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=407cf5d605f0376b70c2b24e7708cf856bd04437

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ965627.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23479299