Beyond the First Response: A Review of Themes, Challenges, and Evidence in K‐12 School Crisis and Disaster Recovery

ABSTRACT Schools are complex institutions, serving critical social and economic functions. Supporting school recovery requires a thorough understanding of schools' needs in the months and years following a crisis event, and the best practices that facilitate their recovery. To that end, in this paper, we review the existing academic and “gray” literature of K‐12 crisis recovery in the United States to assess the current state of knowledge in this area. We identify a dearth of research work focused on school crisis recovery. Within the existing literature, we find general agreement that recovery is an extended process wherein schools face multiple challenges, including the trauma and emotional and psychological consequences of the event for students and staff. There is little consensus on best practices for facilitating and sustaining recovery over time. Based on our review, we identify pathways for future work, including how the variability in perspectives within a school building, district, and community may alter our understanding of the recovery process and examine the hazard context and its impact on recovery. There is also a need for more evaluation work on K‐12 recovery practices.