Journal article
Trauma-informed education: Bridging science and policy
Educational Psychology for Policy and Practice
10/01/2026
DOI: 10.1037/e3p0000020
Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences, chronic stress, poverty, and systemic racism shape children’s neurobiological development, behavior, and capacity to learn in ways that educational policy has yet to reckon with fully. Despite growing legislative attention to trauma-informed approaches in education, the conceptual frameworks driving policy remain anchored to individual-deficit models that obscure the structural and ecological conditions in which trauma is produced, sustained, and responded to. This article argues that educational psychology, as a field, is well positioned to substantially advance both the science and the policy of trauma-informed schooling, but only if it moves beyond intraindividual frameworks toward structurally grounded theories of adversity, safety, and learning. Drawing on the neurobiology of trauma, the social and structural determinants of health, the emerging science of psychological safety, and the evolving legislative landscape governing school safety and student well-being, we identify three interconnected domains in which policy and research are misaligned: (a) the conceptualization of trauma in federal, state, and local education policy; (b) the design and evaluation of educator preparation and professional learning; and (c) school discipline practices and their differential impact across race and socioeconomic status. For each domain, we articulate research questions that educational psychologists are uniquely positioned to pursue. The article further examines how structural determinants, including racialized poverty, funding inequity, and weathering effects, function as upstream drivers of adversity that educational policy must confront if trauma-informed approaches are to fulfill their transformative potential. Finally, we offer recommendations to support the study and implementation of a science-grounded, trauma-informed framework.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Trauma-informed education: Bridging science and policy
- Creators
- Franci Crepeau-HobsonTammy HughesEnedina García VázquezDavid Hulac
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Educational Psychology for Policy and Practice
- DOI
- 10.1037/e3p0000020
- ISSN
- 3067-3011
- eISSN
- 3067-3011
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 10/01/2026
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Quantitative Foundations
- Record Identifier
- 9985242767302771
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