Why Students Underachieve: What Educators and Parents Can Do about It

(Paperback)

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Description

Here is a timely response to the research findings of the last decade. Why Students Underachieve: What Educators and Parents Can Do about It focuses on the need to understand how prevalent trauma is in the lives of our students and how it impacts the brain, subsequent learning, and behavior. This book also details what educators can do not only to prevent further harm to our students, but also to intervene in ways that give them a promising future.

Why Students Underachieve:
Discusses the problem in education as it relates to trauma and children
Explains how trauma has a specific impact on the brain and nervous system and how this impact is related to both learning and common behavior problems
Presents interventions for students who have been traumatized
Details concrete tools that can be readily used in classrooms and school offices to promote success across academic and behavioral domains
Suggests ways to prevent traumatization in the event of a crisis at school or in the community

A critique of current crisis intervention practices, as well as an alternative approach, is also presented.

Reviews

Why Students Underachieve gives school psychologists, counselors, and therapists viable options and considerations when working with children experiencing trauma. Melrose seamlessly integrates cutting edge research with practice. I could not imagine teaching a course in crisis intervention without this text. -- Alberto Restori Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, California State University, Northridge
Using clear explanation, example, and remedy, Dr. Melrose steers us all towards better understanding and supporting the unbalanced individual. -- Susan Mumper, resource specialist teacher, and adapted physical educator
Dr. Melrose's reader-friendly book offers a hopeful alternative to the formulaic and often ineffectual anger management curriculum employed in our schools. Her work is a bold and innovative 'must read' for anyone who is serious about interrupting the tired cycle that leaves many of our young people traveling aimlessly through their lives without options. -- Kathryn Goria, MA, OTR, occupational therapist and behavior specialist
She's not just talking about big, catastrophic events like the Columbine shootings or Hurricane Katrina, but about common events that occur in the lives of children. * Reference and Research Book News *
Dr. Melrose's excellent, insightful guide to effective understanding of troubled and troubling students is the book I've waited years to read and recommend to teachers and school support personnel! Her description of the students and their acting out of their traumas is so authentic one can almost hear their cries for help, but Dr. Melrose doesn't stop there. She suggests innovative, creative, natural interventions that teachers and school support personnel can effect to truly assist the traumatized student to regain the equilibrium and regulation necessary to once again function in harmony with her/his environment. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. -- Judith A. McBride, Ph.D., school psychologist and adjunct faculty, Department of Educational Psychology, California State University at Long Beach

Author Bio

Dr. Regalena Melrose is a credentialed school psychologist and licensed clinical psychologist with 13 years of experience working in schools. She is also a practicing trauma specialist and lecturer.