Whole Child Education

Health and education affect individuals, society, and the economy and, therefore, must work together whenever possible. Schools are a perfect setting for this collaboration. Schools are one of the most efficient systems for reaching children and youth to provide health services and programs, as approximately 95 percent of all U.S. children and youth attend school. To date, however, integrating health services and programs more deeply into the day-to-day life of schools and students remains a largely untapped tool for raising academic achievement and improving learning. This month, the Whole Child Podcast shares a two-part discussion on the importance of a healthy—safe, secure, and connected—learning environment and how unifying the fields of education and health in the school and community settings can aid the growth, development, and learning of all children.

In the first episode, the panelists look at the benefits of a healthy learning environment from the education perspective. We ask, "Why should education (principals, teachers, and students) be concerned about health?" Listen to the episode below or download it here.

Panelists

• Robert Balfanz, PhD, is a research professor at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University's School of Education, codirector of Talent Development Secondary, and director of the Everyone Graduates Center. He focuses on translating research findings into effective school interventions and has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, early warning systems, chronic absenteeism, school climate, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools.
• Kathleen M. Budge, PhD, is the coordinator of the Leadership Development Program at Boise State University and an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Foundational Studies, where her research and scholarly activity focuses on educational leadership, leadership development, rural education, school improvement, and poverty. She has presented and written frequently on these topics, including coauthoring the award-winning ASCD book Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools.
• Mark Pinder, MEd, is the principal of Milwaukie High School and the winner of the 2013 Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award. Milwaukie High School is in an incorporated city bordering Portland, Oregon, with an enrollment of 1,400 students (9th through 12th grade), of which 60 percent are part of the federal free or reduced lunch program. Twenty-eight percent of the students are Hispanic and 14 percent are English language learners.

The second episode features panelists from the public health sector who take an in-depth look at the new Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, from its rationale, to its objectives, to its potential to develop a collaborative approach to learning and health. We ask, "How can school health teams use this model to start a conversation with educators?" Listen to the episode below or download it here.

Panelists

• Wayne H. Giles, MD, MS, is the director of the Division of Population Health within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He directs research and programmatic activities in arthritis, aging, alcohol, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, disease prevention, school health, and epilepsy.
• Holly Hunt, MA, is the chief of the School Health Branch in the Division of Population Health within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC. The School Health Branch leads chronic disease prevention activities specifically for children and adolescents in schools and focuses on obesity prevention, nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco prevention and control. Hunt leads innovative projects in research application, evaluation, and program and professional development.
• Lloyd J. Kolbe, PhD, is an emeritus professor of applied health science at the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington. He consults for the government, businesses, and industries on public policy research and development to improve the health and education of children and young people. Kolbe served as founding director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health from 1988 to 2003 and then as a professor and associate dean for the Office of Global & Community Health Partnerships at the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington from 2004 to 2010.
• Laura Rooney, MPH, is the manager of the Adolescent Health Program at the Ohio Department of Health and a school health liaison to the Ohio Department of Education regarding policies and programs in schools. She also convenes a state-level school health advisory collaborative to improve health outcomes of school-age children and is a member of Ohio ASCD's Whole Child Planning Committee.

The new WSCC model is the next evolution of the traditional coordinated school health approach. Developed by ASCD and the CDC and launched in spring 2014, the model aims to better align the policies, processes, and practices of education, public health, and school health, and, in doing so, improve learning and health. ASCD and CDC encourage use of the model as a framework for improving students' learning and health in our nation's schools. The model is in the public domain and schools, districts, states, and school health organizations are welcome to use the model in the planning and implementation of coordinated school health initiatives and programs. Go to www.ascd.org/learningandhealth to learn more, request materials, and get started.

This week many schools across the Midwest will flow back into their daily classroom routines and students will start adjusting from the freedom of summer to the structure of study. That means plenty of grab-and-go school breakfasts, packed lunches, coveted afterschool snacks with outdoor recess, and brain breaks in the classroom sure to follow. The school day will soon resume its role as one of the largest influencers in a child's day to embrace and model health and wellness practices.

In interviewing for our film The Whole Child, we discovered that incorporating healthy lifestyle supports into student life directly relates to classroom performance—a healthier student is a student better equipped for learning. But, as we've found, oftentimes there are barriers for students to become fit and focused—mentally and physically—and it becomes the school and the school community's responsibility to step in.

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This week Education International—the world's largest federation of unions, representing 30 million education employees in 170 countries and territories—signed onto the Global School Health Statement developed by ASCD and the International School Health Network.

The Global School Health Statement was developed out of the first Global School Health Symposium, a multi-level, multi-sectorial discussion involving more than 60 leading education, health, and school health experts from across twenty countries held in Thailand in August 2013. Since then it has been introduced at a series of Global School Health Symposia and discussed at a series of key global events.

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Nutrition is essential for student success. Healthy, active, and well-nourished children are more likely to attend school and are more prepared and motivated to learn. Although the primary responsibility of schools is to foster academic achievement, schools have an exceptional opportunity to guide children toward healthier lifestyles by creating a healthy nutrition environment.

The school environment should encourage all students to make healthy eating choices and be physically active throughout the school day. We know schools cannot be responsible for the health and safety of their students at all times (such as when students area at home or out in the community); however, schools can and should ensure that students learn the knowledge and skills needed to make healthy decisions. School leaders can help encourage this by helping students make healthy choices using policies and practices that create a school environment that supports clear expectations for healthy behavior by faculty and staff, as well as students.

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We know that students do better in school when they are emotionally and physically healthy. They miss fewer classes, are less likely to engage in risky or antisocial behavior, concentrate more, and achieve higher test scores. Research shows physical education programs not only improve physical fitness, but they can also benefit students by improving skill development, reinforcing self-discipline, supporting academic achievement, reducing stress, strengthening peer relationships, improving self-confidence and self-esteem, and teaching goal setting.

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To thrive in today's global society, children need personalized support, safe environments, good health, and challenging learning opportunities. Adequately preparing students for their future requires a more comprehensive approach to education that recognizes the crucial in-school factors and out-of-school influences that affect teaching and learning. Such an approach requires the collaboration and shared responsibility of families, schools, communities, and policymakers.

To support conversation, collaboration, and change, ASCD has released Whole Child Snapshots highlighting how well each U.S. state—and the nation—is meeting the comprehensive needs of its children. The snapshots feature data aligned with the five tenets of ASCD's Whole Child Initiative—healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Together, the data provide a fuller picture of child well-being that extends beyond standardized test scores. The snapshots also suggest initial ideas for how communities can make targeted and innovative improvements to support the whole child and help their students become college, career, and citizenship ready. To see each indicator and the full Whole Child Snapshot for each state, visit www.ascd.org/wholechildsnapshots.

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Now is the time to make a difference in the lives of our learners, to propel them into the world as beacons of success and hope. ASCD's 69th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show is two weeks away—it's not too late to participate!

The conference will be held in Los Angeles, California, March 15–17, 2014, and will showcase ideas and best-practice strategies that are driving student achievement and unlock ways to boost teacher and leadership effectiveness. Attendees will choose from more than 350 sessions that will enable them to prepare our world's learners to be creative, critically minded, and compassionate citizens. The conference's general session speakers include education luminaries such as Sir Ken Robinson, Daniel Pink, and Russell Quaglia. The conference is generously supported by sponsors including Microsoft, Adobe, and VINCI.

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