ACE's
- PPT
- Dr. Nadine’s Ted Talk
- Book (free download) Helping Children Succeed
- ACE’s Test-the number is just a starting place, the story is so much more involved
- Information about the executive functionImpacts of chronic stress
- Physiological
- Emotional
- Cognitive
- What can make a difference: one caring adult
- Orphanage story from book Helping Children Succeed:
- But while it is true that behaviors like neglect and abuse can exert a disturbingly powerful influence on children, it is also true that the effect of some detrimental parental behaviors can be diminished or even reversed if those behaviors change. Consider, for instance, an experiment conducted in the 2000s in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the social and economic disruptions of the post-Soviet era resulted in many Russian infants being placed in orphanages. The institutions were far from Dickensian; children were given adequate food and clothing, a clean place to sleep, medical care, even toys. But they were run on a strict, impersonal model, and the staff never interacted with the children in a warm and responsive way. As one report described a typical Russian orphanage of that era, “Eating, changing, and bathing are typically done to the child mechanistically without the smiling, talking, and eye contact that would have been typical between a parent and a child in a family setting.”
- Then a team of Russian and American researchers trained the staff at one particular orphanage, where most children were under the age of two, in a new model of more sensitive caregiving. Staff members were encouraged to use everyday encounters like feeding and bathing as opportunities for warm and responsive interactions. Nothing big — just vocalizations and smiles, the kind of thing most parents do with their own children instinctively. Things changed for the orphans almost immediately. After nine months, they scored substantially better on measures of cognitive ability, social-emotional development, and motor skills. Perhaps most remarkably, the children improved physically as well. Though nothing changed in their diet or the medical care they received, their height, weight, and chest circumference (each of which had been stunted before the reforms) all measurably increased. And the caregivers benefited, too; they grew less depressed and anxious as the orphans they were caring for became healthier and happier. A relatively small change in caregiver behavior made a big difference in the lives of the children and in the emotional climate of the orphanage.
- The St. Petersburg experiment worked because it changed the environment of the babies and children in the orphanage. And again, it is important to note that in the St. Petersburg orphanage, it wasn’t the physical environment that changed. The children didn’t get nicer beds or better food or more stimulating toys. What changed was the way the adults around them behaved toward them. If we want to try to improve the early lives of disadvantaged children today, there is considerable evidence that the best lever we can use is that same powerful environmental element: the behaviors and attitudes of the adults those children encounter every day.
Teacher Incentive Allotment
87 of 100 (B Rating)
Texas Education Agency
Gold Medalist
Dallas Morning News Peoples' Choice
Superior
Texas Charter First Financial Accountability
