Educating the Whole Child

This blog series explores research, policy, and practices to support students' healthy growth and development.

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Blog

Jump-Starting the Future for Students Living in Deep Poverty

Peter W. Cookson, Jr.,

Linda Darling-Hammond

May 25 2022
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More than 5 million children in the United States are living in deep poverty, but their economic circumstances do not have to determine their life chances. By leveraging three key strategies—funding adequacy and equity, community schools and partnerships, and a whole child teaching and learning culture—schools and school systems can mitigate the impact of poverty on student success and well-being.

Topics Equitable Resources and Access, Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design
Blog

Communicating the “Learning” in Social-Emotional Learning

Sheldon Berman,

Linda Darling-Hammond

Nov 08 2021
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Polarizing and inaccurate framing of social and emotional learning (SEL) has caused concern for some parents. The authors examine a Fordham survey that sheds light on why and discuss how to help parents understand that SEL and academics are inextricably connected and not an either/or choice.

Topic Deeper Learning
Blog

Better, Broader Learning: California Education Policymakers Prioritize Bolder Expanded Learning Opportunities

Linda Darling-Hammond,

Karen Pittman,

Jennifer Peck

Jul 16 2021
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The convergence of disruption, innovation, empowerment, and new funding offers an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine how we "do school." This includes expanding access and broadening the scope of summer learning and before- and after-school opportunities to be more responsive to students and families and offer creative, project-based learning and enrichment activities that build skills, expand horizons, and lead to a wide range of positive student outcomes.

Topics Equitable Resources and Access, Deeper Learning, COVID-19
Blog

Supporting Newcomers Through a Community School Model

Amber Hu

Jun 29 2021
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Oakland International High School is a sanctuary for recently arrived immigrant students, preparing them academically and linguistically for their new lives in the United States. Through its community school infrastructure, commitment to supporting the whole child, and explicit focus on English language acquisition and preparation for college, the school is raising expectations and expanding opportunities for its students.

Topics Deeper Learning, Equitable Resources and Access, Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design
Blog

Shared Learning to Advance Racially Just Schools

Roberta C. Furger

Jun 25 2021
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Through an innovative learning initiative that includes in-person school site visits and virtual learning sessions, engaged community leaders, parents, students, advocates, and others are building their capacity to advance evidence-based and equitable practices that promote authentic learning, foster relationships of trust and respect, and chip away at structural inequities that undermine opportunities for historically marginalized students.

Topics Deeper Learning, Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design
Blog

To Provide High-Quality Early Learning, California Must Invest in Its Early Learning Assessment System

Cathy Yun

May 05 2021
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High-quality early childhood experiences depend upon ongoing formative assessments. High-quality assessments enable teachers to monitor each student’s changing skills and competencies and to tailor instruction to reinforce children’s strengths and support individualized growth. Aggregated assessment data can also be used to identify system-level patterns, strengths, and gaps that can inform equitable resource allocation and investments in early childhood and elementary programs and initiatives.

Topics Early Childhood Learning, Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment
Blog

How to Help All Students Feel Safe to Be Themselves

Naomi Ondrasek,

Lisa Flook

Jan 23 2020
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A positive school climate can be an effective counter to harassment, bullying, and other forms of social identity threat that many students experience. This blog explores how strong, trust-based relationships and other “whole child” strategies can facilitate a student’s sense of belonging. This improves learning, development, and wellness among students, especially for those who are harassed or marginalized because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or sexual identity.

Topics Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design, Deeper Learning
Blog

How One Elementary School Integrates Social-Emotional Skills in the Classroom

Hanna Melnick,

Lorea Martinez

Sep 18 2019
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"Brain breaks" and other tools and strategies to promote students’ awareness of their emotions and help them to learn important self-regulation skills are part of Lakewood Elementary School’s comprehensive approach to integrating social and emotional learning alongside academic instruction. Throughout the school year, and especially in the first six weeks of school, teachers spend time directly teaching social-emotional skills using separate lessons. These strategies are then reinforced throughout the day and year.

Topics Deeper Learning, Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, Educator Quality: Professional Learning
Blog

Four Ways Schools Can Support the Whole Child

Lisa Flook

Sep 05 2019
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Both students' learning and their overall health and well-being are improved when schools adopt "whole child" supports and practices. Multi-disciplinary research identifies four main ingredients of school success that allow us to care for and nurture the potential in all children: a positive school climate, productive instructional strategies, social-emotional development, and individualized supports. In this post, LPI Senior Researcher Lisa Flook identifies the steps schools and school systems can take to foster students’ social and emotional well-being.

Topics Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design, Deeper Learning

Santa Fe cityscape with the Bataan Memorial Building in foreground and mountains in the background

Report

Improving Education the New Mexico Way: An Evidence-Based Approach

Dec 01 2020

In New Mexico, children and young people who face barriers to school success from poverty and marginalization are the norm, not the exception. A year-long study from LPI is designed to provide New Mexico policymakers, stakeholders, leaders, and other interested parties a research perspective on the challenges facing education in the state and to identify evidence-based policies that could build a high-quality, equitable system.

Report

Sustainable Strategies for Funding Teacher Residencies: Lessons From California

Nov 12 2020

High-quality teacher residencies have the potential to address workforce challenges, including teacher shortages, underprepared educators, and, when adequately funded, workforce diversity. In 2018-19, California provided seed funding to jump-start or scale such programs. Recognizing that state funding may not always be reliable, programs are also working toward greater financial sustainability. This report examines the current state of teacher residencies in California and strategies these programs use to sustain funding, particularly in the wake of COVID-19.

Report

Elementary School Principals' Professional Learning: Current Status and Future Needs

Oct 27 2020

Research has found that high-quality professional learning opportunities for principals can build leadership capacity. This study reports on findings from a survey of elementary school principals on access to high-quality professional learning. The survey showed that, while most had access to professional development, far fewer were able to participate in authentic learning opportunities addressing deeper learning, student well-being, and equity.

Educating the Whole Child

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