S-CCATE, Stress, Trauma, and COVID-19

Today, as we face large-scale global crises, we all are affected by stress and trauma, with multi-layered impacts of fears, inequities, injustice, trauma, and uncertainty. Adding more compassion to school, as evidenced by recent research on neurobiology, cultures can provide much needed relief to students, families, and educators. Compassionate practices can enhance self-care, well-being, learning, and resiliency. S-CCATE is relevant and easy to use for rating school culture with in-class or remote instruction. For remote learning, please consider “classrooms” to also mean “virtual classrooms” and instruction and communities to refer to "virtual instruction and virtual communities".

Timeline

Letter to the Educators

Key advantages of S-CCATE in comparison to other school climate or culture tools are

Today, schools are bombarded with stress as educators struggle to raise student achievement and address the many, multi-layered impacts of violence, injustice, and trauma faced by so many. We believe, and significant research supports our belief, that adding more compassion to schools can provide much needed relief to students, families, and educators, freeing minds for academic learning. Supporting research can be found in our recent publications; we see a consistent flow of related research, all suggesting that schools can be a crucial component in supporting the well-being of children, youth, and adults.

We thank you for considering S-CCATE. To receive results for your school or district, at least 7 of your staff must have responded to S-CCATE.

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Value

Together, S-CCATE and the S-CCATE Supplement:

• Provide educators with data for items that are based on substantial research on the impact of trauma and stress; the importance of compassionate communities and nurturing adults; and the positive impact of mindfulness.
• Are based on over six years of focus groups and input from school leaders and pilot implementation at three sites.
• Provide baseline information with easy-to-interpret indicators for areas for intervention.
• Render a unique assessment of educators’ perception of their personal knowledge and skills and their perception of student and schoolwide strengths and needs.
• Include factors related to trauma, neuroscience, cultural competence, equity, mindfulness, and school policies.
• Support “teacher empowerment” to guide teachers in deciding upon professional development activities and interventions to support compassionate school cultures.

For School Administrators/Points of Contact

As school administrators, you will be primary contacts for S-CCATE and will have access to a variety of tools for different views and comparisons, including comparison with other schools in your state, district, or nationally. However, individual responses will be held in confidence. S-CCATE can be made easily available to your staff. To get started, please provide us a list of staff with their e-mail addresses and your school and district affiliation. View S-CCATE products and pricing for additional information.

For District Wide Administration of S-CCATE

District wide administration of S-CCATE will not only provide cost savings, but will also provide the ability to compare data across schools and how they compare to the district average. Contact martha.staeheli@yale.edu for information on our sliding scale and cost savings and discounts for districts.

Once you have completed S-CCATE

You can gain access to Basic S-CCATE reports, including graphs and comparative national data, with identification of areas of strength, and recommendations for areas of needs, by completing an order. If you are participating as part of our CSLA program, we will contact you with your results. Optional services are also available to assist you and your school/district in addressing your needs and helping to develop more compassionate school environments. Check out our S-CCATE Suite of Services.