Social, Emotional, & Behavioral Learning: Key Terms & Relevance to Trauma-Informed Support

To support all students socially, emotionally, and behaviorally in a trauma-informed way, educators should be aware of several key elements that shape these supports:

  • A positive school climate promotes safety, connection, and a supportive environment
  • Student belonging is essential for engagement and well-being
  • Staff knowledge of behavior support principles helps build transformative, compassionate, and student-centered practice
  • Avoiding assumptions and implicit bias is necessary for behavior support rooted in educational justice and equity

School Climate

School climate is a broad concept that describes the overall atmosphere experienced by members of a school community, including students, staff, and families. It is often grouped into categories or components, each of which should be considered when designing comprehensive systems of behavioral health support.15  In a positive school climate:

RREI Demonstration Site Finding: Student-Staff Connections Prevent Most Interfering Behaviors

Demonstration site staff consistently report the value of students experiencing authentic relationships and caring from multiple school staff. Importantly, this cannot be provided by a single dedicated staff (such as an assigned paraeducator) alone. Students are most successful when they experience belonging as a member of the school and classroom community. One school leader shared, “When students trust they have a connection with staff, they feel safe enough to ask for help when they need it.”

  1. The community feels a sense of safety from both physical and emotional harm. Schools and classrooms promote well-being through clear rules that are equitably enforced, a secure environment, and preparation for various emergency situations. When students feel safe from bullying, harassment, and other factors, they are less likely to experience emotional crises, engage in risky behaviors,16  and to misinterpret their experiences.17
  2. Relationships between members of the community are built on mutual respect, and involve supportive, caring interactions that foster positive connections. Students feel connected to peers and adults, diverse cultures and languages are represented and affirmed, and all members of the school community have ways to participate in it. When staff feel respected and supported by leadership, they are more likely to respond to a crisis effectively.18,19  When students have trusting relationships with staff, the likelihood of behavior referrals decreases.20 
  3. Both the physical and cultural elements of the school environment support student learning and well-being. Students with disabilities are included as full members of the school community. Physical surroundings are clean, comfortable, and accessible. Staff, students, and families feel valued and have feelings of belonging within the school. When classroom environments represent student interests and encourage participation, they foster responsibility and reinforce prosocial behaviors.21
  4. Teaching practices support students’ academic learning and development as community contributors. Students see themselves represented in curriculum, educators feel confident in their lesson delivery, staff are included in lesson creation, and families feel connected to their students’ learning. When students feel engaged in their learning, the likelihood of interfering behaviors decreases.

School Climate Assessment Resources

The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments keeps an updated list of school climate surveys in their Survey Compendium, many of which are free to use. In addition, the National Center for School Safety offers a “how to” guide on Cultivating a Supportive School Climate. This resource offers a step-by-step approach to assessing and subsequently improving school climate needs through initiatives and policies.

Student Belonging 

Students feel a sense of belonging when they are present, invited, welcomed, known, accepted, involved, supported, heard, befriended, and needed at school.22  When students experience belonging at school, their behavior, academic achievement, motivation for learning, and long-term outcomes improve across the board.23  While many variables contribute to a student’s sense of belonging, research shows that teacher support is the largest factor.24  This is particularly important for student populations who have experienced a history of segregation and exclusion, such as students with disabilities, Black students, and indigenous students. 

Student belonging is essential to cultivate for safe and effective schools. In WestEd’s resource “Reimagining School Safety: A Guide for Schools and Communities,” the authors described the importance of centering relational elements, including student belonging, in school safety work:

“[The] tendency to shape and control is deeply embedded in the design of safety and discipline policies and practices in educational settings, resulting in the creation of exclusionary forms of discipline, the placement of physical barriers around spaces of learning, and the increasing use of law enforcement on campuses to discipline and punish students….Shifting the paradigm for how everyone in school communities views, defines, and achieves safety is not so much about creating something new as much as reconnecting with fundamental principles of being human. Through this shift, the paradigm of safety is not about exclusion but about belonging—not a pushing out but a folding in.”25

ABCs of Behavior

Antecedent

A behavior’s antecedent is a condition that usually occurs before an individual student begins engaging in a particular interfering behavior. An antecedent can involve:

  • Something specific that happens to the student before the behavior (e.g., being teased by a peer, working in small groups, being startled by a loud sound), and/or
  • Something specific that does not happen to the student before the behavior (e.g., raising their hand and not being called on, long transition times, a parent is delayed at pickup)

Behavior

Behavior can be defined as “an observable and measurable individual action.” In evidence-based positive behavior support and social emotional learning practices, the behaviors of focus are often prosocial behaviors. These are behaviors that are used in a variety of healthy skills, including navigating relationships, engaging in learning, taking on challenges, and managing emotions. 

Some school teams use the term “behavior” solely to refer to interfering behavior. An interfering behavior is a behavior that interferes with the student’s learning, interactions with others, or other activities. When a student engages in interfering behavior, a school team can support them by teaching new alternative behaviors. However, school staff should keep in mind that behavior is influenced by factors such as culture and disability; therefore, it is important to ensure a behavior is actually interfering before seeking to change it. For instance, an autistic student may use rocking and finger twirling as stimming behaviors that support them in paying attention and participating during class. As this behavior does not interfere with learning, it would not be appropriate for a school team to discourage this behavior.

Effective school teams are typically more focused on teaching strategies that support students in learning skills, and less focused on reducing interfering behaviors. Skills to consider teaching include, but are not limited to, those related to social interaction, communication, self-regulation, and problem-solving. In most cases, when students are taught effective ways to get their needs met, they will no longer use interfering behavior to do so. 

For more about selecting alternative skills to teach students, refer to Section 4.

RREI Demonstration Site Finding: Teach Student Voice and Skills, Not Compliance

Staff at RREI demonstration sites have identified the need for school teams to move away from a traditional emphasis on student compliance to adult directives, and toward a focus on student voice. Their ongoing learnings in this area include:

  • Many student interfering behaviors are prevented by enhancing communication support, and embedding communication opportunities into interactions and environments. 
  • School staff should be mindful that a rigid emphasis on student compliance with all adult directions can put students at greater risk of victimization by adults. This risk is greater for students with disabilities.
  • All students should be taught how to communicate what they need, including ways to say “no” and ask others to leave them alone. This builds all students’ skills for self-advocacy and consent communication.
  • Students can still be expected to do things they don’t prefer at school – however, the teaching focus should be on skills to meet those necessary demands (e.g., self-regulation, self-advocacy, choice-making, and problem-solving) rather than compliance.

Consequence

In behavioral terms, a consequence is any outcome that immediately follows a given behavior. Importantly, the term “consequence” is not limited only to corrective responses or punishment given to students by adults. A consequence can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral for the person experiencing it. The following are common consequences that may naturally follow different behaviors in school settings:

  • Delaying or avoiding a task
  • Receiving a compliment or positive affirmation from an adult or peer
  • Making others laugh
  • Taking a break to do something relaxing
  • Being reprimanded
  • Being expected to engage in a particular activity

School teams can learn many things about a student’s patterns of interfering behavior by observing the behavior’s consequence(s). This can also support school teams in understanding how a student’s particular interfering behavior is being inadvertently reinforced or punished. For more, refer to “Reinforcement and Punishment” below.

Reinforcement and Punishment

Most behaviors are learned unconsciously by experiencing their consequences (outcomes) repeatedly – whether those consequences are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral for the person experiencing them. Over time, each person develops a skillset of behaviors which have efficiently met that individual’s needs for safety, connection with others, and access to enjoyable activities and things. Similarly, each person also develops a set of behaviors which have resulted in unpleasant outcomes and which they are unlikely to use. Once school teams understand a student’s individual patterns of behavior, including their experiences of reinforcement and punishment, they are better able to compassionately anticipate their needs and support positive behavior learning. 

Reinforcement

Reinforcement has happened when two things are both true about a behavior: 

  1. The behavior was immediately followed by an outcome for the person, and
  2. The behavior is increasing (or continuing at the same level) over time

When both of those things are true, the outcome in question is functioning as reinforcement for the behavior that preceded it. Teams must be able to identify whether the behavior is increasing/continuing over time. If a student repeatedly engages in a behavior that interferes with learning, the school team can conclude that the behavior is being reinforced. However, it may take careful observation to determine the reinforcer. 

A misconception about reinforcement is that it is synonymous with the term “reward.” Most forms of reinforcement occur naturally as part of instruction and/or social interactions at school. When an interfering problem behavior is increasing or continuing to occur, it is always connected to some form of reinforcement that follows it, even if that reinforcement was not planned.

Understanding Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement occurs when something the student enjoys/prefers is provided after a behavior, and that behavior then increases or stays the same in the future. For example, when Gina makes a joke and her friends laugh, and over time the behavior of joking increases, the team might hypothesize that laughter from her friends is positively reinforcing that behavior. 

Negative reinforcement occurs when something the student dislikes is taken away after a behavior, and that behavior then increases or stays the same in the future. For example, if Max throws school supplies at a classmate during reading and is immediately sent out into the hall, and over time Max's throwing behavior increases, the team might conclude that sending Max out into the hall (and away from reading work) negatively reinforced that behavior. 

Understanding the definition of reinforcement allows teams to quickly learn about the root cause of a student’s behavior. To do this, teams can use the following steps:

  1. Confirm whether the behavior is increasing/maintain over time
  2. If it is, observe the outcome that follows the behavior, as this is likely the reinforcer

In the example above, Max’s teacher likely believed she was providing a correction for his behavior, not reinforcement. However, since Max’s team has observed that his interfering behaviors are increasing, they can confidently conclude that the outcome following his behavior (being sent into the hall) is actually working as reinforcement for this behavior instead. Knowing this can help Max’s team explore the underlying needs contributing to this pattern of behavior so they can provide him with the support he needs.

Punishment

Punishment has happened when two things are both true about a situation: 

  1. The behavior was immediately followed by an outcome for the person, and
  2. The behavior is decreasing over time

In other words, if a student has stopped engaging in a particular behavior over time (e.g., the student has stopped attending classes), the school team can conclude that the behavior is being punished. As with reinforcement, punishment can occur inadvertently, so staff should look closely at the student’s pattern of behavior over time to determine what might be acting as a punisher. 

Functions of Behavior

The behavior’s function is the type of underlying need that it meets for the individual. There are four functions (i.e., needs) of learned behavior:

  • Escape: The behavior allows the person to delay or avoid doing something they find unpleasant or difficult
  • Attention: The behavior gets an immediate social response from others
  • Tangible: The behavior allows the person to access a specific desired item or activity
  • Sensory/automatic: The behavior helps the person meet a basic physical need

All behavior serves a function, including student behavior that interferes with learning and/or interactions with others. School teams can support students to learn new behaviors that meet the same needs expressed by interfering behavior in ways that support learning and social connection. 

Avoiding Assumptions and Implicit Bias When Describing Behavior

To facilitate effective and equitable behavior support, descriptions of a student’s behavior (including interfering behavior) should be measurable, observable, clearly understandable to an unfamiliar person, free from bias and subjectivity, and culturally and linguistically responsive. The language school staff use about student behavior can directly shape inequitable beliefs and practices. Staff should not use criminalizing language against students, which includes referring to a student as an “offender” or “perpetrator” and describing a student’s behavior support needs using terms for criminal acts (e.g., the student “assaults” others or must be “bribed” to do things). Likewise, it is important for staff to reflect on their behavioral language to determine if and how implicit bias–based on a student’s race, ethnicity, language, gender, disability, or other individual characteristic–is influencing their perceptions of a student’s behavior or motivation.

The table below presents nonexamples of the most common practice errors school staff make in describing individual student behavior in ways that suggest bias and/or create barriers to understanding. It also presents positive examples of how staff can describe the same behaviors in ways that facilitate effective teaming and student support.

Describing Interfering Behavior: Non-Examples and Examples

  • ​​​​​Non-Example “Student takes advantage of others’ willingness to help and refuses to do work that should be easy for him to do.”  
  • Example “When asked to complete group tasks with classmates that involve reading, writing, or spelling, Student may cover his face with his hood or curl up at his table and wait for others to complete the tasks without him.” 
  • Non-Example “Student enjoys intimidating others.”
  • Example “Student may shout at others and/or get in their personal space when she is overwhelmed.”
  • Non-Example “Student has no ability to control his emotions and explodes at the slightest provocation.”
  • Example “During social conflict, Student is learning to take time and space before responding. Currently, he sometimes reacts quickly using verbal threats and insults. These behaviors can be upsetting for others and may limit his social relationships with peers.”
  • Non-Example “Student becomes violent when they are dysregulated.”  
  • Example  “When Student is tired, hungry, or stressed, they may engage in physically aggressive behavior towards classroom objects (e.g., ripping up paper, kicking chairs over, knocking materials off tables).
  • Non-Example “Student is an attention seeker and will do anything for a reaction.”    
  • Example “Student engages in many behaviors that elicit sympathy or surprise from others, including coughing loudly, talking about sickness, or sharing anecdotes about home/family stressors that are upsetting to classmates to hear.”
  • Non-Example “Student is disruptive and defiant.”    
  • Example “During math, Student may engage in behaviors that avoid or delay schoolwork, such as making crude jokes, refusing to work with certain classmates, or making insulting or questioning remarks to the teacher.” 
  • Non-Example “Student frequently assaults staff.” 
  • Example “Student may strike staff (or attempt to do so) or throw objects at/near staff. He is most likely to do this when he is already escalated and then staff repeatedly place additional demands on him.”

15 National School Climate Center (NSCC; n.d.). What is school climate and why is it important?

16 National Center for Safe Supportive Learning (NCSSLE; n.d.). Physical safety.

17 NCSSLE (n.d.). Emotional safety.

18 Paterson, B., Young, J., & Taylor, J. (2019). Compassion fatigue in teachers working with children whose distress may present as behaviour that challenges.

19 Rozmiarek, D., & Crepeau-Hobson. F. (2022). A qualitative examination of compassion fatigue in school psychologists. Contemporary School Psychology, 28, 30-42.

20 NSCC (n.d.). What is school climate and why is it important?  

21 National Center for School Safety (2024). Cultivating a supportive school climate: A “how to” guide.

22 Carter, E. W., & Biggs, E. E. (2021). Creating communities of belonging for students with significant cognitive disabilities (Belonging Series). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, TIES Center. 

23 Kuttner, P. J. (2023). The right to belong in school: A critical, transdisciplinary conceptualization of school belonging. AERA Open, 9. 

24 Allen, K., Kern, M.., Vella-Brodrick, D., Hattie, J., & Waters, L. (2018). What schools need to know about fostering school belonging: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 30, 1–34.

25 WestEd (2022). Reimagining school safety: A guide for schools and communities.