Student Changes in Growth Mindset, Social Awareness, and Supportive Relationship Perception in a Trauma-Sensitive School During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Trauma-sensitive practices in schools are necessary to address the widespread prevalence of childhood adversity and its impact on cognitive, social, and emotional development. Trauma-sensitive schools integrate social and emotional learning to create safe, supportive, and equitable learning environments for all students. With the COVID-19 pandemic amplifying existing experiences of adversity and potentially creating new experiences of trauma, schools face the challenge of strengthening existing trauma-sensitive practices to build resilience and mitigate the impact of trauma on students. Consideration of student perceptions is one aspect of enhancing trauma-sensitive educational practice delivery. This study examines changes in key elements of social and emotional learning (i.e., student growth mindset, social awareness, and perceptions of supportive relationships) at West Elementary, a trauma-sensitive school, during Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Fall 2021, using data from the Panorama Social-Emotional Learning survey. This study also explores changes among students receiving special education services, English language learners (ELLs), gender, race/ethnicity category, and virtual attendance status. Analyses found that gender may influence students' development in social awareness, while other demographic factors, such as receiving virtual instruction and special education services, did not show significant impact. These findings provide insight into improving trauma-sensitive practices and social and emotional learning in education. Keywords: trauma-sensitive schools, COVID-19 pandemic, resilience, social and emotional learning,