ASSESSMENT: Administrators and Policy Makers
Hello Administrators,
K-12 school administrators, especially principals, deal with many operational and cultural challenges. They often mention system-wide pressures, limited resources, and the complex social dynamics in their schools. In 2026 students are much different from those in previous decades. Today’s students:
- Over half of the students sitting in today’s classrooms are victims of adverse childhood experiences, which negatively impact their ability to concentrate.
- COVID 19 school closures took away opportunities for children to learn social and emotional skills. More children than ever before are unable to self-regulate.
- More children spend time on screens and use social media in place of getting outside in the real world and gaining the experiences they need to be socially and emotionally healthy, and to use their cognitive and creative skills to solve problems. Children's experiences with screens are static rather than dynamic. For example, laughing with friends is a different experience from reading LOL or LMAO.
As an educational psychologist I focus on how children learn best, I consider their ages, abilities, and cultural impacts. The following assessment allows us to determine whether your recommended teacher training is based on research backed best teaching practices for todays students.
Questions
On a scale of 1 – 10 with 1 standing for I disagree and 10 standing for I strongly agree
- I spend too much time putting fires out.
- Many teachers report that student disruptions are a primary concern.
- There are too many teachers leaving the profession.
- I am proud of the support my administration provides to teachers.
- I am proud of the support my administration provides to students.
- All teachers, under my administration’s direction, provide research-based teaching practices for students who are victims of adverse childhood experiences.
- All teachers under the direction of my administration provide research backed whole-child teaching strategies.
- All teachers under the direction of my administration provide research based positive youth guidance to our students.
- According to the Nation’s Report Card at least 80% of the students enrolled in schools under my administrative care are proficient in both reading and math.
- I review the empirical research of all curricula, programs, and policies before green lighting them for students.
- I am familiar with ‘best practices’, to support students' emotional wellbeing based on empirical research.
- I am familiar with the best practices, based on research, to flip disruptive behaviors into social and emotional skill building opportunities.
- I am familiar with the needs of the whole-child and the best teaching practices to meet those needs based on empirical research.
Scoring Instructions
If you were unable to score at least an 8 or above on each question, you might be interested in implementing the Big Three:
- Trauma-informed care
- Whole-child teaching
- Positive youth guidance
Dr. Kim’s formula for using homes, schools, and adult-child interactions to: Meet the needs of more than half of the students who are victims of adverse childhood experiences; meet the needs of the whole child; and flip disruptive behaviors into social and emotional skill-building opportunities.
There are two courses on this website that provide detailed instructions for teachers to implement the Big Three.
More Support
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