Trauma-informed teaching and school leadership

(a) Partnership grants Section 202 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a) is amended— (1) in subsection (b)(6)— (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (H) through (K) as subparagraphs (I) through (L), respectively; and (B) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the following: (H) how the partnership will prepare general education and special education teachers and, as applicable, early childhood educators, to support positive learning outcomes and social and emotional development for students— (i) who have experienced trauma (including students who are involved in the foster care or juvenile justice system or runaway or homeless youth); and (ii) in alternative education settings in which high populations of youth with trauma exposure may learn (including settings for correctional education, juvenile justice, pregnant, expecting, and parenting students, or youth who have re-entered school after a period of absence due to dropping out);; (2) in subsection (d)(1)(A)(i)— (A) in subclause (II), by striking and after the semicolon; (B) by redesignating subclause (III) as subclause (IV); and (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the following: (III) such teachers and, as applicable, early childhood educators, to adopt evidence-based approaches for— (aa) improving behavior (such as positive behavior interventions and supports and restorative justice practices); (bb) supporting social and emotional learning; (cc) mitigating the effects of trauma; (dd) improving the learning environment in the school; (ee) preventing secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout; and (ff) alternatives to punitive discipline practices, including suspensions, expulsions, corporal punishment, referrals to law enforcement, and other actions that remove students from the learning environment; and; and (3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following: (7) Trauma-informed and resilience-focused practice and work in alternative education settings Developing the teaching skills of prospective and, as applicable, new, early childhood educators and elementary school and secondary school teachers to adopt evidence-based trauma-informed and resilience-focused teaching strategies— (A) to— (i) recognize the signs of trauma and its impact on learning; (ii) maximize student engagement and promote the social and emotional development of students; (iii) implement alternative practices to suspension and expulsion that do not remove students from the learning environment; and (iv) engage with other school personnel, including administrators and nonteaching staff, to foster a shared understanding of the items described in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii); and (B) including programs training teachers and, as applicable, early childhood educators to work with students— (i) with exposure to traumatic events (including students involved in the foster care or juvenile justice system or runaway and homeless youth); and (ii) in alternative academic settings for youth unable to participate in a traditional public school program in which high populations of students with trauma exposure may learn (such as students involved in the foster care or juvenile justice system, pregnant, expecting, and parenting students, runaway and homeless students, students exposed to family violence or trafficking, and other youth who have re-entered school after a period of absence due to dropping out).. (b) Administrative provisions Section 203(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022b(b)(2)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking and after the semicolon; (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking the period at the end and inserting; and; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (C) to eligible partnerships that have a high-quality proposal for trauma-informed and resilience-focused training programs for general education and special education teachers and, as applicable, early childhood educators.. (c) Grants for the development of leadership programs Section 202(f)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a(f)(1)(B)) is amended— (1) in clause (v), by striking and after the semicolon; (2) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and inserting; and; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (vii) identify students who have experienced trauma and connect those students with appropriate school-based or community-based interventions and services..