Trauma-Informed Foundation
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4884. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, 2014. library.samhsa.gov
National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Creating, Supporting, and Sustaining Trauma-Informed Schools: A System Framework. NCTSN, 2017. nctsn.org
U.S. Department of Education, National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments. Trauma-Sensitive Schools Training Package. safesupportivelearning.ed.gov
Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children. Helping Traumatized Children Learn. traumasensitiveschools.org
National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators. nctsn.org
Treatment and Services Adaptation Center. Resiliency, Hope and Wellness in Schools. traumaawareschools.org
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. “Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 14, no. 4, 1998, pp. 245–258.
Foundational ACE study documenting associations between adverse childhood experiences and later health outcomes. It does not support inferring an individual student’s ACE history from behavior.
Venet, Alex Shevrin. Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education. W. W. Norton, 2021. ISBN 978-0393714739.
Figley, Charles R., ed. Compassion Fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat the Traumatized. Brunner/Mazel, 1995.
Stamm, B. H. The Concise ProQOL Manual, 2nd ed. proqol.org
National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Secondary Traumatic Stress Core Competencies for Trauma-Informed Support and Supervision. nctsn.org
Vermont-specific
Vermont Department of Mental Health. Trauma and Schools. mentalhealth.vermont.gov
Vermont Agency of Education. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Early MTSS. education.vermont.gov
Vermont integrates trauma-informed and mental-health practice directly into its PBIS and Early MTSS frameworks.
De-escalation and the Acting-Out Cycle
Colvin, Geoffrey, and George Sugai. Managing Escalating Behavior. Behavior Associates, 1989.
Colvin, Geoffrey, and Terrance M. Scott. Managing the Cycle of Acting-Out Behavior in the Classroom, 2nd ed. Corwin, 2014. ISBN 978-1483374369.
Carr, Edward G., et al. “Positive Behavior Support: Evolution of an Applied Science.” Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, vol. 4, no. 1, 2002, pp. 4–16.
Long, Nicholas, Mary Wood, and Frank Fecser. Life Space Crisis Intervention. lsci.org
Goffman, Erving. “On Face-Work.” In Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. Anchor, 1967 (originally 1955).
Restorative Practice
Wachtel, Ted. “Defining Restorative.” International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2016. iirp.edu
Wachtel, Ted, and Paul McCold. “Restorative Justice in Everyday Life: Beyond the Formal Ritual.” In Strang, H., & Braithwaite, J., eds., Restorative Justice and Civil Society. Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 114–129.
Costello, Bob, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel. The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians and Administrators, 2nd ed. IIRP, 2019. ISBN 978-1934355435.
The restorative questions, affective statements, circles, and school implementation guidance. One source for the restorative questions adapted into plain language in this handbook.
Braithwaite, John. Crime, Shame and Reintegration. Cambridge University Press, 1989. DOI 10.1017/CBO9780511804618.
Zehr, Howard. The Little Book of Restorative Justice: Revised and Updated. Good Books, 2015. ISBN 978-1680990447.
Pranis, Kay. The Little Book of Circle Processes: A New/Old Approach to Peacemaking. Good Books, 2005.
Boyes-Watson, Carolyn, and Kay Pranis. Heart of Hope: A Guide for Using Peacemaking Circles. Center for Restorative Justice, Suffolk University, 2010.
Boyes-Watson, Carolyn, and Kay Pranis. Circle Forward: Building a Restorative School Community. Living Justice Press, 2015.
Vaandering, Dorothy. Revised relationship window scholarship on power dynamics in restorative justice.
a critical, power-aware examination of the Social Discipline Window.
Augustine, Catherine H., et al. Can Restorative Practices Improve School Climate and Curb Suspensions? RAND Corporation, RR-2840-DOJ, 2018.
a large randomized evaluation of schoolwide restorative practice in Pittsburgh: suspension outcomes and teacher-rated climate improved, while academic outcomes did not improve and declined for some middle-grade students.
PBIS, Praise, and the Relationship Ratio
Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. “What Is PBIS?” U.S. Department of Education technical assistance center. pbis.org
VT PBIS. Behavioral Supports. pbisvermont.org
a Vermont PBIS practice benchmark for positive-to-corrective feedback. The handbook treats it as local guidance and a reflection prompt, not a universal research threshold.
Caldarella, Paul, Ross A. A. Larsen, Leslie Williams, Howard P. Wills, and Joseph H. Wehby. “Teacher Praise-to-Reprimand Ratios: Behavioral Response of Students at Risk for EBD Compared with Typically Developing Peers.” Education and Treatment of Children, vol. 42, no. 4, 2019, pp. 447–468.
Brophy, Jere. “Teacher Praise: A Functional Analysis.” Review of Educational Research, vol. 51, no. 1, 1981, pp. 5–32.
the purposes and conditions under which teacher praise may be informative or effective; it does not support treating praise as a universal reward formula.
The IRIS Center, Vanderbilt University. Behavior-specific praise. iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu
Cook, Clayton R., Aria Fiat, Madeline Larson, Christopher Daikos, Tal Slemrod, Elizabeth A. Holland, Andrew J. Thayer, and Tyler Renshaw. “Positive Greetings at the Door: Evaluation of a Low-Cost, High-Yield Proactive Classroom Management Strategy.” Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, vol. 20, no. 3, 2018, pp. 149–159. DOI 10.1177/1098300717753831.
Bal, Aydin. “Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Process-Oriented Framework for Systemic Transformation.” Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, vol. 40, no. 2, 2018, pp. 144–174. DOI 10.1080/10714413.2017.1417579.
Covey, Stephen R. “The Emotional Bank Account.” In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Free Press, 1989.
the deposit-and-withdrawal metaphor adapted as the Relationship Bank Account.
Skills, Motivation, and Accountability
Greene, Ross W. Lost at School. Scribner. Collaborative & Proactive Solutions. livesinthebalance.org
Prochaska, James O., and Carlo C. DiClemente. “Stages and Processes of Self-Change of Smoking: Toward an Integrative Model of Change.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 51, no. 3, 1983, pp. 390–395. DOI 10.1037/0022-006X.51.3.390.
distinguish the Consequence Continuum from the transtheoretical Stages of Change model. Teach It Better does not claim an educational adaptation of the smoking-cessation stages.
Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly. Avery, 2012. ISBN 978-1592407330. See also “Shame vs. Guilt,” brenebrown.com, 2013.
accessible practitioner language for distinguishing behavior-focused guilt from identity-focused shame. Tangney, Stuewig, and Mashek provide the stronger research source for the distinction used in the text.
Hicks, Donna. Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict. Yale University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0300163926.
Kohn, Alfie. “Unconditional Teaching.” Educational Leadership, vol. 63, no. 1, 2005. alfiekohn.org
Kohn, Alfie. Punished by Rewards. Houghton Mifflin, 1993. ISBN 978-0395650288.
Presents Kohn’s critique of rewards and punishment as controlling practices. The handbook treats this as a position in an educational debate, not a universal empirical conclusion.
Rogers, Carl. “The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change.” Journal of Consulting Psychology, vol. 21, no. 2, 1957, pp. 95–103.
Clinical source for unconditional positive regard. The handbook uses the person-versus-behavior distinction without treating psychotherapy research as direct evidence for school discipline.
CASEL. The CASEL 5 framework for social and emotional learning. casel.org
Kolb, David A. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall, 1984.
Smith, Dominique, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey. Better Than Carrots or Sticks: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Management. ASCD, 2015.
Culturally Responsive Practice and Discipline Equity
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.” American Educational Research Journal, vol. 32, no. 3, 1995, pp. 465–491. DOI 10.3102/00028312032003465.
Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3rd ed. Teachers College Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0807758762.
Paris, Django, and H. Samy Alim, eds. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World. Teachers College Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0807758335.
Skiba, Russell J., et al. Research on racial disproportionality in school discipline. Indiana University Equity Project.
analysis of racial disproportionality and differential discipline. National administrative data also document persistent disparities by race and disability.
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. “School Climate and Student Discipline Resources: Know the Data.” ed.gov, reviewed January 2025.
persistent discipline disparities affecting Black students, other students of color, and students with disabilities through the Civil Rights Data Collection and IDEA data. Disparity alone does not establish a legal violation, but it warrants examination of policy and practice.
Hammond, Zaretta. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Corwin, 2015.
Prevention and Youth Partnership
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Results from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS): 2025 Findings. Published June 2026.
Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey. healthvermont.gov
Truth Initiative. EX Program (formerly This is Quitting). truthinitiative.org
UP for Learning. upforlearning.org · Outright Vermont. outrightvt.org · Prevent Child Abuse Vermont. pcavt.org
Professional Learning Design
Learning Forward. “Designing Professional Learning That Actually Transforms Practice.” 2025.
Robinson, Sheila B. Designing High-Quality Professional Development Programs: A Playbook. Frontline Education, 2020.
TNTP. Teacher Professional Development Toolbox.