Earn graduate credits leading to a certificate in trauma and learning.

What: Join us this summer for a week-long virtual institute! Take a three-credit graduate course, attend a keynote speaker, network with educators, and share ideas!

When: July 14 – 19, 2024
Sunday | Keynote Kickoff | July 14th, 5pm–7pm EST 
Monday - Friday | Institute | July 15th – July 19th, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. EST

The institute timeframe is comprised of online synchronous Zoom sessions, small group work, cross-convening connections, and asynchronous working time. Specific schedules for each course will be available on Blackboard 2-4 weeks before the start date. Please log onto Blackboard at that time to review the schedule, pre-readings, and details to access the Sunday evening keynote.

Who: Educators who are interested in the impact of trauma on learning. Because the institute is virtual, we encourage educators from near and far to join us.

How much: With generous funding from the Oak Foundation and Lesley University, the cost to attend the summer institute is the same as our spring/fall course offerings: $500 per person.

Registration: Your input counts! We are gathering information on those interested in attending a trauma in learning course this summer. 

Please provide your input before April 5, 2024. Courses with high interest will be scheduled, and registration details will be available before the end of April.

Please complete our course interest form by clicking the green “Open Form” button.

Please check back in April for live registration, or email spedcenter@lesley.edu with any questions.

Course Desciptions

*Courses for the Certificate of Completion (course 1 through course 4) must be taken one at a time, and in sequence. For example, if you took course 1 in the spring, you’re eligible to join for course 2 this summer.

*Participants may sign up for Course 5 any time after completing course 2. Course 5 does not count toward the Certificate of Completion (courses 1 – 4), and does not substitute for any course within the series. 

  • This first course of the certificate examines the impact of traumatic experience on student learning (academic, social, and emotional) and provides a structured approach to individual and school wide interventions. The biological, environmental, and sociocultural aspects of traumatic experience will be presented, and participants will analyze the effects of their work with students impacted by trauma on their own well-being (secondary trauma)

    Full participation is required in order to take a course and earn three-graduate credits.

  • The second course of the series explores how trauma affects self-regulation, social skills and a child’s sense of health and wellbeing, along with interfering with more traditional academic skills that require language, memory, and executive function. This course will address ways to promote these non-academic and academic competencies for students impacted by trauma, including which competencies can be incorporated into the learning flow (as they benefit all children) and which are best taught with an individual support plan.

    Full participation is required in order to take a course and earn three-graduate credits.

  • This third course is designed to expand knowledge of trauma, its impacts, and the process for building trauma sensitive environments through examination of the underlying change theory, processes, and tools needed to establish trauma sensitivity. Participants demonstrate their understanding by either developing a plan for guiding the creation of a trauma-sensitive school or conducting research grounded in trauma-informed inquiry.

    Full participation is required in order to take a course and earn three-graduate credits.

  • In this last course of the certificate series, students demonstrate their understanding of the attributes of trauma-sensitivity by working together to design and conduct research that assesses the outcomes of efforts to improve trauma-sensitivity in classrooms, schools, or other learning environments

    Full participation is required in order to take a course and earn three-graduate credits.

  • This course is best taken after you have a general understanding of the impact of trauma on learning. Participants will explore the intersection of race, equity, and trauma in hope of creating safe, supportive, and trauma sensitive environments. Educators working with students who experience systemic racism and inequities have additional Adverse Childhood Experiences, raising their risk for related learning impacts. Participants will study impacts of systemic racism, implicit biases, and micro-aggressions, to develop action plans and support whole school inclusive communities for every child to connect and thrive.

    Full participation is required in order to take a course and earn three-graduate credits.

Course Offerings with Registration Links 

LIfTS offers a sequence of courses that explore how to develop safe, supportive, and trauma-sensitive environments that make it possible for all students to learn. Learn the importance of connections—providing equitable opportunities for success requires not just individual supports but a community-wide understanding. 

Earn a Trauma and Learning Certificate by completing the first four courses. 

Participants must take the courses in sequence. Limit one course per term. 
Each hybrid course contains both asynchronous online coursework and synchronous Zoom meeting sessions. 

  • This course examines the impact of traumatic experience on student learning (both academic and social/emotional) and provides a structured approach to individual and school wide interventions. The biological, environmental, and sociocultural aspects of traumatic experience will be presented, and participants will analyze the effects of their work with students impacted by trauma on their own well being (secondary trauma).

  • Trauma affects self regulation, social skills and a child’s sense of health and well being, along with interfering with more traditional academic skills that require language, memory and executive function. This course will address ways to promote these non-academic and academic competencies for students impacted by trauma, including which competencies can be incorporated into the learning flow (as they benefit all children) and which are best taught with an individual support plan. (Prerequisite: Course 1)

  • This course is designed to expand knowledge of trauma, its impacts, and the process for building trauma sensitive environments through examination of the underlying change theory, processes, and tools needed to establish trauma sensitivity. Participants demonstrate their understanding by either developing a plan for guiding the creation of a trauma-sensitive school or conducting research grounded in trauma-informed inquiry. (Prerequisites: Courses 1 & 2)

  • Students demonstrate their understanding of the attributes of trauma-sensitivity by working together to design and conduct research that assesses the outcomes of efforts to improve trauma-sensitivity in classrooms, schools, or other learning environments. (Prerequsites: Courses 1, 2, & 3)

  • This course is about understanding the intersectionality of systemic racism and trauma by focusing on the impacts of implicit bias and micro-aggressions on our students, staff, and school culture/climate. This understanding invites action, on both a school/classroom wide and personal educator practice basis. Addressing these factors in an open and transparent manner is central to creating safe and supportive trauma-sensitive schools for all our students. (Prerequisites: Courses 1 & 2)

Cost

Generous funding from Lesley University and the Oak Foundation reduces tuition for each 3-credit graduate trauma course to $500. Once registered, please review your course on Blackboard (courses may appear out of order).

Issues with accessing Blackboard? Email IT@lesley.edu or call IT at 617.349.8770. 

Questions? Need to drop? Contact spedcenter@lesley.edu before the course begins—no refunds for withdrawals. 

NOTE: If you are currently enrolled in a Lesley University undergraduate or graduate degree-granting program, please speak to your advisor about registration. 

Fall 2023 Term:  10/30/23 – 12/22/23 

Course 1: An Overview 
Zoom: Thursdays, 4 pm-7 pm EST – 11/2, 11/16, 11/30, 12/14, 12/21
Register: Fall 2023 LEDUC 5256 92RES

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Course 2: Classroom and Student Supports 
Zoom: Thursdays, 4 pm-7 pm EST – 11/2, 11/16, 11/30, 12/14, 12/21
Register:
Fall 2023 LEDUC 5257 92RES

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Course 3: Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools 
Zoom:
Thursdays, 4 pm-7 pm EST – 11/2, 11/16, 11/30, 12/14, 12/21
Register:
Fall 2023 LEDUC 5258 92RES

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Course 4: Action Research and Seminar 
Zoom: Tuesdays, 4:30 pm-7:30 pm EST – 10/31, 11/14, 11/28, 12/12, 12/19
Register:
Fall 2023 LEDUC 5259 92RES

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Course 5: Racism, Equity, and Trauma 
Zoom: Mondays, 4:30 pm-7:30 pm EST – 10/30, 11/13, 11/27, 12/11, 12/18
Register:
Fall 2023 LEDUC 5260 92RES