Research Projects: Relationship-Oriented Scholastic Practices
Towards Radical Inclusion: Implementation Guidance from Three School Districts Where Exclusion is Rare for Students of All Backgrounds
Sean Darling-Hammond, Cindy Le, Aukeem Ballard, Althea Busto Ito, Alejandra Cabral, Demetrius Esclovon
Exclusionary discipline is harmful and more often experienced by Black students. While alternative practices can curb overall exclusionary discipline rates, they often fail to reduce rates among Black students. We identified school districts where exclusion is rare both in aggregate and for Black students, then leveraged semi-structured interviews to identify the practices they use and ascertain how they implement these practices. Districts implemented multiple relationship-oriented practices in synergistic ways; cultivated a culture of expansive empathy; communicated and collaborated proactively with educators and parents to avoid backlash; leveraged disciplinary frameworks that prioritized inclusion; made sweeping down payments and serial investments to ensure educator mastery; approached incidents of misbehavior as teachable moments; and expressed clear and unequivocal commitments to sustained implementation.
Implementation Science Guided, Trauma-Informed: The TIP-PPEE Framework for Harmonizing Hearts and Minds
Ekene Azuka, Leslie Martinez, Stephanie Guinosso, Frank C. Worrell, Sean Darling-Hammond
* Under review at School Psychology Review
Growing awareness of the prevalence and educational impacts of trauma has propelled scholars, school leaders, and school psychologists to investigate preventative, reactionary, and corrective measures. Trauma-informed practices (TIPs) offer a pathway for reducing the harmful effects of trauma and promoting community-wide psychological wellbeing. However, current literature reveals substantial inconsistencies in the application of TIPs, perhaps stemming from a lack of guidance regarding how to implement TIPs strategically, sustainably, and with fidelity. Implementation science has guided effective and efficient implementation of varied K-12 practices, but has rarely been applied to TIPs. In this paper, we synthesize theory and research on TIPs, identify common implementation barriers, and explore how implementation science can be marshalled to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of TIPs. We introduce TIP-PPEE, a new framework for implementing TIPs in a manner guided by implementation science—and provide a case example of this approach applied to restorative practices.
SPOT Check: Reviewing Student Perspectives Over Time to Track Progress and Identify Priorities
Kurt Klaus, Elaina Lee, Sean Darling-Hammond, John Anagnost
Effective education policy requires an evidence-based understanding of students' lived realities. Leveraging twelve years of California Healthy Kids Survey data (2013–2025) from a panel of 1,263 schools, this study provides a longitudinal exploration of student perspectives. We uncover a striking dichotomy in school climates: while self-reported school violence plummeted by up to 44.6%—reflecting the success of statewide transitions toward restorative justice—students simultaneously reported persistent declines in school connectedness, meaningful participation, and caring relationships. Crucially, these relational burdens are not borne equally. Disaggregated analyses expose stark disparities, with Black and Hispanic students reporting significantly lower relational support, and Mixed Race youth experiencing acute post-pandemic spikes in victimization. Ultimately, while past reforms have created physically safer schools, these findings underscore an urgent need for targeted, equity-focused investments in relationship-building practices to close racial divides and foster holistic student thriving.
Unpacking the Mismatch: Understanding Disparities in Early Social-Emotional Learning Practices Between Home and School for Chinese Immigrant Families
Xueqin Lin, Katie Nguyen, Josie ingram, Sean Darling-Hammond
* Funded by a grant by the AAPI Data Project
Effective social-emotional learning (SEL) requires culturally responsive, family-engaged practices. Yet, dominant SEL frameworks often center White, middle-class norms, generating a profound cultural mismatch for marginalized communities. Grounded in the cultural mismatch theory of inequality, this multi-stage qualitative study explores disparities in early SEL practices between educators and Chinese immigrant families in California. Through interviews and blended focus groups with 12 elementary teachers and 24 Chinese immigrant parents, we investigate divergent definitions, priorities, and applications of SEL. By centering a community disproportionately impacted by pandemic-era discrimination, this research illuminates the mechanisms driving the home-school divide. Ultimately, we identify actionable, co-developed strategies to bridge these cultural gaps, underscoring the urgent need for culturally responsive SEL interventions to dismantle systemic barriers and foster holistic thriving for Asian American youth.
Youth Helping Youth Reduce Substance Use
Stephanie Guinosso, Brian Villa, Sean Darling-Hammond
*Funded by Elevate Youth California
Human-Centered Design(HCD) is a creative approach to problem-solving that centers people’s experiences, wants, and needs using a process of iterative development and rapid prototyping to build products, services, policies, or systems that are tailored to the needs and desires of end users. Led by ETR (Education, Training, and Research Associates), this approach was adapted and implemented with youth, aiming to build youth capacity to design solutions for their most pressing health challenges. This project describes the community consultative process and resulting framework that integrated trauma-informed and positive youth development principles into human-centered design along with key insights and lessons learned from a pilot project to address youth substance use in California.
Trauma-Informed, Racially Affirming School Practices: The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Multi-School Professional Learning Institute
Stephanie Guinosso, Ekene Azuka, Sean Darling-Hammond, Joyce Dorado
Trauma and chronic stress are public health issues that affect all members of a school community. While most forms of trauma occur across class lines, the chronic stressors of poverty and the trauma of community violence disproportionately affect under-resourced neighborhoods, which, because of historical and institutional racism, are often communities of color. This, combined with the traumatizing effects of implicit and explicit bias, contribute to inequity and disproportionality in punitive and exclusionary disciplinary measures, resulting in a synergistically toxic effect on black and brown students. Schools represent a natural system to both prevent and reduce the adverse effects of trauma and more effectively engage students in the learning process, yet teachers often face uncertainty about how to best meet the needs of students exposed to trauma. Drawing upon the HEARTS (Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools) approach, this project examines the feasibility and acceptability of a multi-year Professional Learning Institute to advance trauma-informed and racially affirming practices among middle schools in California.
