Introduction
Chapter 1 explains the basic assumption of the book: that school social workers are in a position to provide leadership, knowledge, and skills to create trauma-informed schools and foster resilience in schoolchildren. Trauma-informed schools aim to address students’ dysfunctional academic and behavioral performance driven by affective and physiological arousal. The correlation between high rates of trauma exposure and poor academic performance is established in the scholarly literature, as is the need for trauma-informed schools and communities. However, researchers are now finding negative effects on school outcomes for children who have not directly experienced trauma, but whose classmates have. This means that all children benefit from trauma-informed schools. School social workers are in a prime position to prevent and address trauma, and this book provides current knowledge and concrete skills to guide development of trauma-informed schools, helping students succeed in school.