Melanie,
You are so right when you say that teachers (and administrators) don't always listen to people who have not "been in the classroom." You are in an incredibly unique position being both a special education director and a parent of children who have experienced trauma. If anyone can get through to the teachers and admin, it should be you.
I think its terribly unfortunate when some school personnel don't want new information, or won't even listen to new information because they discount the source. But I know it happens. We deal with the same issues at our school, and our school is very small compared to most districts. I feel like we have a bit of an easier sell because the staff is smaller in numbers (less people to convince), but even with the smaller school, we still see this happening. And I also know that the teachers really care about their students, so its not that they don't want to do the best they can. This is one of the challenges in implementing trauma informed care practices. The team at our school wants to do the best they can, but if I can't (or if someone can't) break it down into tangible steps that can be used in practice (as opposed to theory), they struggle with how to utilize the information, and then tell me that I don't know what's it like to be working with the students. It's a very valid issue, and one that needs to be solved.
This summer we have a team of teachers working with the restorative justice staff to come up with a step by step tutorial and flow chart... kind of an "If This, Then This" approach. When we come back in the fall, we'll spend time role playing the if/then scenarios that are most common in our school. Hopefully it will help the education staff feel more comfortable with the trauma informed approach.
Thanks for all of the resources you listed as well!! Great information!!
Leisa