More than two-thirds of children report at least one traumatic event by age 16, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Closer to home, a 2016 study by the US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 40% of children in Illinois between the ages of 0-17 have gone through at least one adverse childhood experience, such as child abuse or neglect or exposure to domestic violence.

This means classrooms across the state and country are filled with students who have experienced physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, witnessed or experienced community, school, or domestic violence, suddenly or violently lost a loved one, or suffered neglect, among other traumas.

Childhood trauma is nothing new—but the response to it is, says Catherine Corr, associate professor in Special Education (SPED).

“Over the past five years, trauma-informed practices have been more and more on educators’ minds,” Corr says. Part of that increased focus, she says, is pandemic-related.

“What we’ve seen since we’ve come back from the pandemic is teachers really struggling with how to support kids in the classroom,” she says. “It’s important for teachers to be that source of support, for schools to be a safe place for students to learn and develop.”

Two New Trauma-Related Programs

Responding to the need to help teachers effectively respond to trauma, the College of Education has created two new online programs that are debuting this fall: a Master of Education in Trauma-Informed Practice and Pedagogy and a Graduate Certificate in Trauma-Informed Education.

“The new master’s program coincides nicely with things happening in the state around needing more professional development and training around trauma,” Corr says, referring to Illinois House Bill 342, passed last August. The public act requires teacher institutes to provide instruction and in-service training on trauma-informed practices. It also called for the establishment of a committee—of which both Corr and Lynn Burdick, director of Trauma-Informed Education in Curriculum and Instruction (C&I), are members—to make recommendations to the Illinois State Board of Education to change the professional educator licensure requirements and renewal requirements  to include trauma-informed education.

“I was excited to see legislation of this nature because it directly affects the lived experience of students and teachers in the classroom,” says Jill Donnel, executive director of the Council on Teacher Education. “The challenges and issues affecting educators and students today are complicated and nuanced, and this sort of legislation gets at the heart of adequately supporting learners and teachers in practical, measurable ways that can move us forward in creating classroom cultures of acceptance, belonging, and support.”

Preparing Teachers to Implement Trauma-Informed Practice

The online master’s program in C&I with a concentration in Trauma-Informed Practice and Pedagogy will introduce students to the impacts and causes of trauma in children from K-12, help participants recognize the signs of trauma, and equip them to use equity-centered trauma-informed practices.

The 32-credit hour program, Burdick explains, is a joint effort between C&I and SPED. Half the classes are in C&I, and the other half are in SPED. “It’s the first collaborative degree between SPED and C&I,” she notes.

In the program, students will take four required courses that specifically address issues surrounding trauma. Additional elective courses also focus on trauma, such as addressing the broader systemic causes of trauma, the impacts of trauma on students and teachers, and the role educators and education play in responding to trauma.

The Trauma-Informed Education Graduate Certificate will help students identify and implement trauma-informed practices in education settings. Students who complete the 12–14-hour program can apply their course credits toward a future master's or doctorate program.

The new offerings will only strengthen Education at Illinois’ standing in online master’s programs. U.S. News & World Report currently ranks the College as #7 overall for online master’s programs in education.

Timely and Cutting-Edge

Two years ago, Corr and Burdick applied  for funding through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Investment for Growth Program to create an online master’s program in trauma-informed education.

“Those funds are meant for folks who are doing innovative, cutting-edge work, and I can’t think of a better project that represents that than this,” Corr says. “It really shows our university’s dedication to innovative research that can impact the world in a timely way—and it shows the College’s dedication to teacher preparation.”

It's timely, Corr says, because “it’s hard to be a teacher right now. The College is on the cutting edge in doing everything we can to recruit and sustain the teacher workforce. That includes rethinking some of our programs and practices. And it helps to have a very supportive dean in Dean Mouza.”

“Ahead of the Curve”

Burdick is right at home with the topic of trauma-informed education; she wrote her dissertation on it. “We did research on integrating trauma-informed practice into preservice teacher preparation before the state required it,” Burdick says. “There are very few studies out there talking about integration prior to practice. I toot our horn in our efforts to do this. It’s collaborative, it’s impressive, and it's what the state is looking for right now—and we already have a model to build from. We’re ahead of the curve.”

Donnel agrees. “The work that Catherine and Lynn have done and the work they will do with UIUC teacher candidates is leading the state’s educators towards lasting change—change that positively affects the curricula, the instructional strategies, and the culture of the classrooms in which they serve.”

Providing Much-Needed Resources

The College is in the midst of recruiting students for both the master’s program and the certificate of specialization.

“We’re very excited about it,” Corr says of the two new options the College is offering. “We want to help teachers and soon-to-be teachers really understand the impacts of trauma and think about how they can create safe and inclusive environments. We want people to know that trauma is an important piece in education, and there are some great resources out there for teachers to pursue.”

Learn more and apply to our online program options for Trauma-Informed Education.