A Randomized Controlled Trial of Trauma-awareness Training for Early Childhood Educators

Background. To increase school readiness, Pre-K programs for low-income children must be responsive to the role of trauma in the lives of children, families, and staff. In 2017-2018, the School District of Philadelphia\'s (SDP) Office of Early Childhood Education will help Pre-K teachers support children\'s social-emotional and behavioral health, which is essential for early learning, by offering teachers a professional development course called Enhancing Trauma Awareness (ETA). Purpose. To determine whether teachers who take ETA will have: 1) better work functioning; 2) more trusting work relationships; and 3) better health. Population. Pre-K classroom teachers (n=128) working in centers under SDP auspice that serve exclusively low-income (≤300 % of poverty) children. Intervention. A 12-week professional development course-Enhancing Trauma Awareness-will delivered by Lakeside Global Institute in 6 group sessions, with 16 teachers per group and each session lasting 2.5 hours. Design. Consenting teachers will be randomly assigned by classroom (lead teacher and/or assistant teacher) to receive the ETA course in either fall 2017 (intervention groups) or spring 2018 (wait-list control groups). Data collection and analysis. An external evaluation team (Temple University) will administer a confidential, online survey to all 128 teachers in fall 2017 (before fall course), winter 2017 (after fall course), and spring 2018 (after spring course). Teacher-children relationship quality will be the a priori primary outcome, and secondary outcomes will be assessed across the domains of work functioning, trust, and health.