Volume 6, Issue 3 | May 2026 | | | |
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Your Monthly News
& Updates
| | Beyond the Screen, Behind the Behavior | | |
Young people today are learning in classrooms amidst rapid technological, social, and cultural change. Our first article explores what it means to teach through a trauma-informed lens, shifting the central question from "What is wrong with this student?" to "What has this student been through?" From breathing exercises to restorative practices, it offers a compelling case for why safety is not a prerequisite to learning, it is the learning.
Our second article zooms out to the UAE, where a national push for digital innovation has collided with a quieter crisis: students who are physically present but mentally elsewhere. It examines how parents, educators, schools, and government policy must work in concert to address digital distraction and why the answer is neither to ban technology outright nor to look the other way.
Finally, we turn to artificial intelligence – the force reshaping K–12 education faster than most schools can respond. The research is nuanced: AI can personalize learning and reduce barriers, but used as a shortcut, it may erode the very cognitive skills schools are working hardest to build. What matters most is not whether students use AI, but whether educators teach them to use it well.
Taken together, these three articles point toward the same truth: the conditions that make learning possible – safety, presence, and genuine cognitive engagement – don't happen by accident. They require intentional, human-centered choices at every level of a school community.
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When Emotions Shape Learning
Viviana McKenney, PsyD, CEI Intern, Psychological Associate, and Trauma-Informed Clinician
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A student freezes when called on.
Another becomes withdrawn after a correction.
A teacher senses tension flowing through the room.
Such moments are not defiance or withdrawal—they are nervous systems responding to a perceived threat.
Trauma-informed education begins with a simple truth: learning cannot occur without safety. Rooted in an understanding of how adverse experiences affect brain development and behavior, trauma-informed education shifts the focus from "What is wrong with this student?" to "What has this student been through?" Stress and anxiety are common in school settings, and rather than responding to these behaviors with punishment alone, trauma-informed educators work to understand their root causes, recognizing that dysregulation, withdrawal, or defiance are often survival responses, not character flaws. What matters most is not whether these emotions arise, but how adults respond when they do.
Neuroscience Supports a Trauma-Informed Approach
Neuroscience research shows that chronic stress floods the brain with cortisol, which impairs attention, executive functioning, and working memory (Chukwuma Nwikwe, 2025). On the other hand, classrooms that are emotionally supportive of their students help promote academic success (Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007; Osher et al., 2020). Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs also show that when schools use a trauma-informed approach, students increase their emotional management, improve their grades, and behave better in class (Durlak et al., 2011)...
Read more.
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Buzzing Classrooms, Silent Minds: Addressing Distraction in UAE Schools
Renuka Raole, CEI Intern
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The United Arab Emirates has positioned itself as a pioneer in educational innovation, investing heavily in smart learning systems and artificial intelligence. These investments align with national objectives like the UAE Centennial 2071, which identifies educational innovation as a core pillar (U.AE, 2025). These programs aim to equip students for a future driven by creativity and innovation through deeper integration of digital learning in education.
However, as technology becomes more intertwined with education, it has also weakened students' ability to concentrate and stay on task (Nabung, 2024). This challenge, widely referred to as digital distraction, has increasingly disrupted students' ability to engage meaningfully in classroom settings. Educators across the nation report that constant notifications and short-form social media content have significantly interfered with learning. Addressing this reality requires more than isolated fixes. It demands a coordinated effort across four key pillars: Parents, Educators, Government, and Schools. Together, these stakeholders play a pivotal role in shaping learning environments that harness technology's full potential...
Read more.
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AI Is Changing How Students Learn—Are We Keeping Up?
Meghan Wenzel, CEI Co-editor
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Artificial intelligence has arrived in K-12 classrooms, whether schools are ready or not. Students are using AI tools to draft essays, solve math problems, and answer questions they might once have Googled or sat with long enough to figure out on their own. For educators trying to make sense of it all, the research is complicated – both the optimists and the skeptics have a point.
What’s becoming clear is that the impact of AI on student learning depends heavily on how it’s used. Used thoughtfully, with educator guidance, AI can personalize learning, reduce barriers, and even deepen thinking. Used as a shortcut, which is how many students currently use it, it may quietly erode the cognitive skills that schools are desperately trying to build...
Read more.
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Teaching Students How to Make Better Decisions
Ivy McDaniels, Guest Author
Students make thousands of decisions each day, about how they learn, how they interact with others, and how they respond to challenges. Yet students rarely receive direct instruction in how to make decisions.
Decision Education seeks to address this gap.
The Alliance for Decision Education (the Alliance) is a national nonprofit and field builder with the mission of improving lives by empowering students with essential skills and dispositions for making better decisions. Founded in 2014 and supported by experts in decision science and related fields—including several Nobel laureates—the Alliance works with educators, policymakers, researchers, and partners to help bring Decision Education into classrooms across the country.
Decision Education is the teaching and learning of skillful judgment formation and decision-making. It is an interdisciplinary approach that empowers students to gain agency by developing skills and dispositions that help them learn how to think, not what to think.
To support this work in schools, the Alliance developed the four K–12 Learning Domains of Decision Education:
- Thinking Probabilistically
- Valuing and Applying Rationality
- Structuring Decisions
- Recognizing and Resisting Cognitive Biases
Together, these domains provide a framework for helping students build durable skills that can support learning, relationships, and life beyond school.
Rather than introducing a separate program, Decision Education can often be integrated into existing subjects, advisory programs, or classroom discussions.
Free Resources for Educators
The Alliance offers a range of free professional learning resources designed to help educators learn about Decision Education and begin integrating these ideas into classroom practice.
Intro to Decision Education Course: The Alliance’s self-paced introductory course provides a foundation in the principles of Decision Education and introduces the four K–12 Learning Domains. Educators explore core ideas such as thinking probabilistically, recognizing cognitive biases, and cultivating dispositions like active open-mindedness and intellectual humility.
Teaching Resources: The Alliance’s Teaching Resources page offers classroom-ready lesson plans and activities for grades K–12. Educators can filter resources by Learning Domain to find materials that help you integrate Decision Education concepts into core and other content areas. Here, you can find lesson plans on diverse topics, such as: decision-making during the Cuban missile crisis, understanding group decision-making dynamics, and seeing problems as opportunities, and more.
Professional Learning Opportunities: For schools and educators interested in deeper engagement, the Alliance also offers workshops, webinars, and the Decision Education Teacher Fellowship. The Fellowship brings together educators from across the country to explore Decision Education, collaborate with peers, and share classroom practices.
Opportunities for Collaboration
The Alliance partners with schools, districts, charter management organizations, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations interested in expanding access to Decision Education.
Collaboration can include:
- Curriculum integration support to embed Decision Education skills and dispositions into existing subjects or advisory programs
- Professional learning experiences tailored to school or district priorities
- Participation in the Decision Education Incubator, which supports schools piloting innovative instructional models
- Engagement in the Decision Education Teacher Fellowship community
- Research partnerships that contribute to the growing evidence base for Decision Education
Whether schools are just beginning to explore Decision Education or are looking to deepen existing efforts, these partnerships aim to help educators empower students through instruction in decision-making.
To learn more, visit alliancefordecisioneducation.org.
Christine Mason serves as an advocate for the Alliance for Decision Making.
| Leading with Compassion:
A CEI Spotlight Series | |
As part of our bi-monthly eNews, we are excited to launch Leading with Compassion, a recurring feature highlighting members of the CEI community who are advancing trauma-informed practice, research, and heart-centered leadership across schools and systems.
CEI’s impact is powered by the dedication, innovation, and service of our Fellows, staff, advisors, and partners. Each edition, we will celebrate individuals whose work exemplifies our commitment to compassionate leadership and whole-child well-being.
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This month, we celebrate Melanie Johnson
A note from Melanie:
As Co-Director of the Indigenizing the Compassionate School Leadership Approach (ICSL), this work is deeply personal to me as a member of the Sac & Fox Nation, working in my own community and across Oklahoma. I have seen both the strength our children carry and the challenges they face when systems are not built with them in mind. My mother taught me resilience, humor, and the importance of never giving up—values I bring into this work each day. Through ICSL, my hope is to help create school environments where Native students feel seen, valued, and rooted in who they are, where culture is not an add-on but a foundation, and where healing and learning go hand in hand. Partnering with CEI allows us to bring compassionate leadership and culturally grounded practices together in a way that truly reflects and uplifts our communities.
| Upcoming Events and Announcements | | |
Applications Now Open for CEI's Transformative Leadership Team
To apply: Submit a resume and statement explaining 1) a problem area of focus and 2) why you might be an ideal candidate for this leadership team.
Deadline for Application: June 1
For further information, contact: Dr. Christine Mason (chrismason@edimprovement.org).
CEI’s pilot program will provide support for an initial group of 10 educational leaders to guide them in developing Transformative Leadership skills based on the book by Drs. Renee Owen and Christine Mason (Becoming a Transformative Leader from the Inside Out: A Guide for Educators). We are seeking leaders currently working in or with schools throughout the US. For this program, we will meet virtually to guide team members in the use and implementation of our S-CCATE instrument and developing the strengths of teams of educators and students in schools. Team members committing to our 6-month program will be acknowledged in CEI publications and given priority status in opportunities to collaborate with CEI in our related work on compassionate school leadership. Areas of particular interest to us: early childhood, adolescence, vulnerable populations, marginalized groups, and schools either facing extraordinary challenges or where leaders are implementing mindfulness, meditation, or yoga.
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Indigenize the Compassionate School Leadership Academy
We’re honored to begin the launch of our next project, Indigenize the Compassionate School Leadership Academy for Native students in Oklahoma. In partnership with the Sac and Fox Nation & Black Hawk Health Center, we’re centering Indigenous leadership to address trauma, substance use, and suicide prevention.
Learn more here
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S-CCATE 2025-2026 Validation Study
Take the new S-CCATE here at:
https://www.s-ccate.org/ValidationSurvey
Or, learn more first at: https://www.s-ccate.org/
Deadline May 21st
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You are also invited to join the HeartMind Community to receive discounts on publications and workshops, networking opportunities, and special offers for virtual consultations and additional resources from the Center for Educational Improvement.
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CEI, a 501 c 3 non-profit has delivered free, monthly or bimonthly eNewsletters to over 12,000 annual subscribers since 2009. As we enter a new phase of growth, your tax-deductible support will help us keep providing resources on Heart Centered Learning®, trauma-responsive practices, Cultivating Happiness, and school wellness.
| | | | Editors: Lauren Kiesel and Meghan Wenzel | | | | |
