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Picture this: Sonya, a low-income student at a California high school, receives an acceptance letter from the University of Hawaii. While the tuition is higher than a public university in California, she decides to go to Hawaii, even though it means that both Sonya — not her real name — and her mother would have to take out loans. After two semesters of lackluster grades, Sonya loses her merit-based aid and has a hold on her student account (also known as a bursar’s account ) due to an...

In 1996, right after voters in California banned affirmative action in employment and college admissions, minority student enrollment at two and four-year institutions plummeted. What has happened since though, is pretty remarkable. Of the 2.8 million students attending college in California today, two out of three come from racially and ethnically diverse populations. The most eye-popping increase in enrollment has been among Latinos. They now make up 43 percent of all college students in...

In college, it's hard to learn while you're hungry. That's a message Temple University higher education policy professor Sara Goldrick-Rab has been getting throughout her career. She self-identifies as a "scholar activist." She has advocated for free college, and in 2013 she founded the Wisconsin HOPE Lab , which aims to turn research about low-income students into policies that improve equitable outcomes in post-secondary education. [For more on this story by LAUREL DALRYMPLE, go to...

The bad folks instinctively know more than the good folks.

Dennis Haffron MS Social research techniques are taught in all introductory sociology classes. The technique that I have been using in my classes is a truncated version of the nominal group process. I have recently found that this technique works very well as a trauma sensitive research technique. (I believe that it is another example of ACEs hard science supporting a best practice.) The nominal group process encourages participation, reduces conflict, increases involvement of all...

I propose to review basic ACEs and Trauma Informed responses literature so that adults can understand how ACEs affect them and how they can become part of the solution.

I began feeling pretty out of it when I was 18. I had just started college after moving away from a tight-knit friend group in my hometown and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I’d come back from class, stuff my face with junk while binge-watching Netflix, and consciously try to shut out the world. It felt like I was slogging through mud just trying to get through each day. Despite how I was feeling, when family and friends would call to ask how I was doing, I always responded...

Profiles of statewide and major local ACEs initiatives in the 50 states and the District of Columbia are now available from ACEs Connection. You’ll learn about other states and maybe even a few things about your own. This series is just the start of curating highlights of the most significant initiatives across the country. The next iteration will provide even more details. How to use this series: The invaluable information many of you provided to our ACEs Connection team on what is...

Recently I was reading the news and came across this article - Salisbury University is intentionally restructuring so that their schools of Nursing, Social Work and Health Sciences will become the College of Health and Human Services. What an incredible forward thinking idea of bringing this trio of complimentary areas of study under a shared mission / vision! Here is a bit more - a link to the article is at the bottom of this blog. Salisbury University announced a large strategic...

The shooting in Florida isn’t only a gun regulation issue. It’s a systems change issue. All of our systems have to change their approach to changing behavior — whether it’s criminal, unhealthy or unwanted behavior — from a blame, shame and punishment approach, to one that is based in understanding, nurturing and healing….in other words, ACEs science.

One of my favorite things about meditation is how uncomplicated the practice is. When my life gets hectic or my mind feels overrun with racing thoughts, the simplicity of meditation can be a huge relief. There’s a scientific basis for this feeling: Meditation reduces activity in parts of the brain associated with mind-wandering and unhappiness, according to a 2011 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . When I teach meditation, I try to keep my instructions concise so as...

When Dustin Gordon's high school invited juniors and seniors to meet with recruiters from colleges and universities, a handful of students showed up. A few were serious about the prospect of continuing their educations, he said, "But I think some of them went just to get out of class." In his sparsely settled community in the agricultural countryside of southern Iowa, "there's just no motivation for people to go" to college, says Gordon, who's now a senior at the University of Iowa. "When...