ASCD has announced the public release of the report, The Whole Child in a Fractured World by Harold "Bud" Hodgkinson. ASCD commissioned the paper for use by the Commission on the Whole Child, which held its inaugural meeting last month in Washington, D.C.
Convened by ASCD, the Commission is composed of a group of leading thinkers, researchers, and practitioners from a wide variety of sectors.
ASCD Executive Director Gene R. Carter noted that the Hodgkinson paper is designed to serve as a resource document for the Commission's work. The Commission is charged with recasting the definition of a successful learner from one whose achievement is measured solely by academic tests, to one who is knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically engaged, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling.
The report documents the "splendid isolation of the U.S. educational system (or better yet … educational systems)," providing an overview of the complexity, the challenges, and the flaws in measuring efficacy. For example:
- The U.S. Department of Education contributes only 10 percent of total education spending, but it issues 90 percent of the regulations that schools must follow.
- Many dropouts actually "disappear" from the dropout rosters in the current high stakes high school testing environment.
- The transience of U.S. students results in flawed assessments. According to the report, "the error can be 15 percent in states, and up to 50 percent in individual schools," using the primary testing unit for No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
Hodgkinson, director of the Center for Demographic Policy, Institute for Educational Leadership, proposes five themes for consideration.
- Equity. Who gets access and who doesn't?
- Coordination. Should there be one national standard for student proficiencies, set by the federal government, or a standard for each state? Who decides?
- Knowledge Integration. How can we develop a common vocabulary for education discourse?
- Sequence. In regards to learning and teaching, what should happen to people at what moment in their lives?
- Wholeness. Could schools collaborate with health, school, and community organizations in maximizing potential using a whole child approach?
"ASCD has convened the Commission on the Whole Child, because we believe that the success of each learner can only be achieved through a whole child approach to learning and teaching," said Carter. "Parents, teachers, and the community believe schools should focus on developing students who are academically proficient and physically and emotionally healthy and respectful, responsible, and caring."
"If decisions about education policy and practice started with 'What works for the child?' how would resources—time, space, and human—be arrayed to ensure each child's success?" said Carter. "If the student were truly at the center of the system, would could we achieve?"
Look for more information on the Commission and its work in coming months.
What's your view? How can schools nurture the whole child in an education environment that sometimes seems intent on squeezing out anything that doesn't contribute to the bottom line of test scores? Or does concern for the whole child go hand in hand with all manner of school-improvement efforts? Click on "Comments" below to tell us what you think.
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