QTurn was founded to advance the mission of socio-emotional skill equity. We believe that socio-emotional skills form the foundation for all other types of learning in childhood—and that every child deserves a real opportunity to develop these skills, no matter their background or prior experiences.
Children and staff exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) often carry a heightened sensitivity to stress that disrupts their capacity to learn and engage. When triggered into a reactive mind-body state, their learning potential can narrow sharply—and this effect doesn’t simply vanish when the environment becomes supportive.
Recovery from reactivity can take minutes, hours, days, or even years. Without deliberate and sustained support to help children return to emotionally regulated states, developmental settings may unintentionally reinforce inequities.
This challenge cuts both ways:
- First, children who remain in reactive states without support are denied access to the full developmental potential of their learning environment.
- Second, in settings where a significant number of children are reactive (e.g., 10% or more), the needs of those children—if unmet—can interfere with the optimal learning of others.
These are the two core forms of socio-emotional inequity that QTurn was created to address.
Our work focuses on:
Defining Quality Practice
Defining quality practice through a trauma-informed lens—especially practices that actively support children in recovering from reactivity and re-entering what we call ‘broaden-and-build’ states where growth becomes possible.
Advancing New Approaches
Advancing new approaches to measurement and evaluation, moving beyond traditional linear, correlational, and psychometric models that often miss the deeper story of children’s experience.
QTurn’s theory, tools, and technical assistance are all built from this foundation. We aim to support systems and settings that truly see children—especially those who are hurting—and create the conditions for them to thrive.
This mission is personal. QTurn founder Charles Smith grew up in reactive states shaped by poverty and exploitation. His life’s work is devoted to building systems that recognize and respond to children’s suffering—not by managing behavior, but by restoring possibility.
Visit Our Team to learn more.