Date of Award
6-19-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Richard Casey
Committee Members
Bronwyn MacFarlane; Robert Williams
Abstract
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as potentially traumatic experiences that occur in a person’s life between birth and age 17. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2024), more than two thirds of children experience at least one traumatic event by the age of 16, and this is likely an underestimate, as this percentage represents only those cases reported. The physical, emotional, and neurological impact of traumatic experiences can be detrimental to a child’s education, often contributing to learning deficits and behavioral issues. School leaders have the responsibility of creating a safe school environment, and it is imperative that they are aware of the impact of childhood trauma and become intentional in receiving and providing the training necessary to benefit staff and students. However, school leadership often lacks the knowledge necessary to create, implement, and sustain a trauma-informed positive education (TIPE) system within a school community that provides training, resources, and support for teachers who teach trauma-affected students. This study focused on the acknowledged needed area of the role of school leadership in implementing a trauma-informed learning environment. Sixteen campus leaders—eight administrators and eight counselors—who received trauma-informed training through the Arkansas Department of Education’s Arkansas THRIVE initiative were interviewed to assess their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities post-training in transforming their campuses into trauma-informed learning environments. The study was developed and implemented through two guiding frameworks—the Four R’s of a trauma-informed approach and the theory of transformational leadership. The findings of this study revealed a number of implications and recommendations for changes in educational policies and practices to best meet the needs of trauma-impacted students by maintaining student dignity and resisting retraumatization when addressing student behavior and academic issues.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Hardin, Shelly, "Perceptions of Trauma-Informed Trained Campus Leadership" (2026). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1198.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1198
