The Gap this study addresses is not simply the absence of Milwaukee-specific data, though the absence is significant and real. The deeper gap is epistemological: the existing literature on trauma education is predominately outcome focused, measuring the effects of TIE programs on attendance, disciplinary incidents, and standardized test performance ( Berardi & Morton, 2019; Brunzell et al., 2016; Shim & Vent, 20250. This outcome-focused approach, while valuable, cannot answer the question of why implementation succeeds or fails in a specific context. Those outcomes are downstream of the meaning-making process that drives or impedes educator behavior. Prior research has established that trauma-informed practices work when they are implemented correctly. It is not adequately theorized or empirically examined how teachers in high-adversity, resource-constrained, urban schools constrict the professional beliefs, relational capacities, and contextual understandings that make sustained implementation possible.