Nurturing Positive Beliefs About Students, Jobs and Selves: ROCK Survey Results

OUSD educators participating in a ROCK Professional Learning Community (PLC)

​Since 2017, through the Resilient Oakland Communities and Kids (ROCK) initiative, Oakland Starting Smart and Strong (OSSS) has been building knowledge about resilience, trauma and its impact on children, and self-care for educators. Examples of ROCK supports for early childhood educators include: in person and virtual trainings, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), educator coaching, yoga, and self care resources.

A survey of OUSD early childhood educators conducted by OSSS in 2022 has revealed the positive impact of these ROCK supports, with survey respondents reporting widespread use of many trauma-responsive classroom strategies. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish and Cantonese, and 43 educators representing 68% of OUSD’s early childhood sites participated.

​​Notably, educators who participated in PLC sessions held substantially more positive beliefs about their students, jobs and themselves compared to those who did not attend a PLC. ROCK PLCs offer educators an opportunity to delve deeper into trauma-informed resilience and self-care strategies, through intensive collaboration and exchange of knowledge and best practices.

Additional key takeaways from the survey include:

• 70% of respondents have been teaching and caring for children 0-5 for eleven years or more, bringing a depth of experience and expertise to their sites.
• Educators throughout OUSD ECE are using a variety of trauma-informed strategies to support children in their classrooms. 
• Respondents expressed very positive feelings around self-efficacy at work, responses to problem behavior and symptoms, and underlying causes of problem behavior and symptoms. 

Please read Nurturing Positive Beliefs About Students, Jobs and Selves, our survey results summary, and email us your thoughts and questions at info@oaklandsmartandstrong.org. OSSS will be releasing a report this summer describing the evolution of ROCK over the years, including practical resources for educators and school leaders to both launch and continue the program at desired sites - stay tuned!