The Whole Child Initiative: Supported

These indicators may serve as a needs assessment, a set of strategic goals and outcomes, a framework for decision making, or the definition of what a whole child approach to education truly requires. In fact, these indicators are among those we consider in the selection process for Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award. However you choose to use them, please share them widely among your stakeholders and involve many voices in soliciting evidence related to their implementation. Although these are largely school-based, a whole child approach to education requires the engagement of the entire community to ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults.

1. Our school personalizes learning, including the flexible use of time and scheduling to meet academic and social goals for each student.

2. Our teachers use a range of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment tasks to monitor student progress, provide timely feedback, and adjust teaching-learning activities to maximize student progress.

3. Our school ensures that adult-student relationships support and encourage each student's academic and personal growth.

4. Each student has access to school counselors and other structured academic, social, and emotional support systems.

5. Our school staff understands and makes curricular, instructional, and school improvement decisions based on child and adolescent development and student performance information.

6. Our school personnel welcome and include all families as partners in their children’s education and significant members of the school community.

7. Our school uses a variety of methods across languages and cultures to communicate with all families and community members about the school's vision, mission, goals, activities and opportunities for students.

8. Our school helps families understand available services, advocate for their children's needs, and support their children’s learning.

9. Every member of our school staff is well qualified and properly credentialed.

10. All adults who interact with students both within the school and through extracurricular, cocurricular, and community-based experiences teach and model prosocial behavior.

Change the conversation about education in your school and community. Download the set of supported indicators (PDF). Join and explore for free, the ASCD Whole Child Network to help you move from a vision for educating the whole child to action that results in successful, well-rounded young people.