Whole Child Education Resources

As districts work to reopen schools in the pandemic and post-pandemic era, how can they support schools in creating high-quality summer learning experiences focused on acceleration rather than remediation? The Accelerating Learning Series kicked off with the panel, “Strategies for Whole Child Summer Learning and Beyond.”

How can districts develop high-quality tutoring and provide individualized supports to accelerate learning? In the second of a five-part webinar series, panelists discussed effective tutoring practices and programs and how to leverage new federal recovery funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to create broad access.

How can districts design new schedules to expand learning time for students and accelerate learning? In the third of a five-part series, panelists discussed reimagining the traditional school day through such strategies as partnerships with community-based organizations and community school approaches. They also discussed how high-quality expanded learning initiatives support students’ development of critical skills, as well as their social and emotional well-being.

Experts share examples of effective student-centered approaches being used in schools, focusing on the social, emotional, and mental health of students. They also discuss mentoring to develop social and emotional learning skills and ways that districts can utilize federal COVID-19 relief funds to meet short-term needs, accelerate learning, and develop relationship-centered schools.

The U.S. Department of Education virtual Professional Learning Series takes an in-depth look at how community schools can transform student learning and outcomes. The series examines programs from across the country, explores ways that community school approaches can further whole child learning, and digs into the ways that pandemic federal relief funding (including American Rescue Plan funds) have been used to support community schools.

In this webinar, experts discussed what whole child design looks like and what it means for broader systems change. Local education leaders provided lessons learned from their whole child design efforts and discussed how state policy can accelerate or impede these efforts.

In this webinar, experts shared actions states can take to foster coherence and alignment around a whole child vision, including assessing statewide needs and assets and building data systems for continuous improvement. State leaders who have taken on this work also described their process to create a whole child vision and share lessons learned.

Policy experts and practitioners discussed what actions states can take to transform learning environments based on the science of learning and development, including creating safe and inclusive, relationship-centered classrooms and schools.

Building adult capacity and expertise for whole child design is a key part of developing effective whole child learning systems. Among the elements of capacity building explored in this webinar were: approaches to building strong teacher preparation systems, providing high-quality mentoring and induction programs and professional development, and supporting staff well-being.

What actions can states take to ensure that resources are invested equitably and efficiently for whole child design? This webinar focused on the strategies and lessons learned from experts and state leaders who have taken on this work.