Trauma-Skilled Practices, Executive Functioning, and Measures of Giftedness

Three Takeaways from NHSA’s Science of Learning Series

In the first few years of life, children’s brains are developing at an astounding pace, making connections and building the foundation that will set them up for life-long learning. In Head Start, we know how critical this period of development is to prepare children for success in school and in life. Recently, the National Head Start Association (NHSA) held a series of webinars — the NHSA Brain Blasts — to educate the Head Start community on the science of learning.

The three-part series, moderated by NHSA’s Senior Director of Effective Practice, Dr. Bernadine Futrell, brought together renowned experts to discuss three topics related to the science of learning. We began with a session on trauma-skilled practices with Dr. Ray McNulty, former Vermont education commissioner. The second webinar welcomed Ellen Galinsky, author of Mind in the Making, and the Chief Science Officer with the Bezos Family Foundation for a conversation on supporting the intentional and transparent development of executive function, and how Head Start families can use Vroom tools to support this development. In the final webinar Dr. Jack Naglieri, author of the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, the Cognitive Assessment System, Autism Spectrum Rating Scale, Devereux Student Strength Assessment, and the Comprehensive Executive Function Inventory discussed measures of giftedness and how we can best assess, and thereby best support, early learners.

Three Takeaways from NHSA’s Brain Blast

1. It is the little things that define us. In his remarks, Ray McNulty shared that when considering the impact of trauma, it is the perception and psychological impact that is more important than the incident or source of the trauma. Therefore, it is imperative to approach interactions with others through a trauma-skilled perspective, one that prioritizes deep care and concern about how the small interactions before and after traumatic experiences can create pathways for long term success for the individual.
2. Positive relationships with caring adults are essential for brain development. Ellen Galinsky reminds us that relationships are core to our brain development, which is a fact of life hidden in plain sight. Executive function skills are attention-regulation abilities that we are able to develop through natural interactions with others. Now that we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with limited social contact, those human interactions and connections must be more purposeful.
3. Gifted identification is a social justice issue. According to Dr. Naglieri, 848,400 is the approximate number of students who should have been identified as gifted and did not receive that designation this year. His research points to inadequate measures for identifying giftedness in creating this disparity. Giftedness, a measure of general ability, is often determined by a measure of knowledge. This approach leads to the under-identification of children in gifted programs. According to Naglieri, giftedness, as a measure of general ability, is about being able to understand relationships among things, ideas, physical things, conceptional ideas, numbers, math, and words.

The Brain Blast webinars were a part of the National Head Start Associations’ efforts to share information about young children and executive function, through funding from the Bezos Family Foundation. To access free resources on Mind in the Making and Vroom, visit NHSA’s website.