The Whole Child and the Common Core: Issues to Consider
A new white paper from ASCD looks at four issues to consider when implementing the Common Core State Standards within a whole child approach:
- Integration and alignment: Implementing the Common Core State Standards in isolation from a more comprehensive school improvement approach will have a minimal effect on student achievement. Schools, districts, and states must align their efforts to ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.
- A well-rounded education: Effectively providing challenging, comprehensive curriculum across all content areas is essential for college, career, and civic preparation. Curriculum and instruction in all areas must demonstrate high expectations for students and reflect evidence-based strategies.
- Assessment: Every assessment measures health, safety, engagement, support, and challenge—whether that's the intent of the instrument or not. Schools need to use a balanced approach to assessments to provide reliable, developmentally appropriate information about student learning.
- Sustainability: To ensure long-term success, school policies and practices—from professional development to the school master schedule to community partnerships—must reflect the central effort to ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.
A Whole Child Approach to Education and the Common Core State Standards Initiative is available at www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/policy/CCSS-and-Whole-Child-one-pager.pdf.
Product Spotlight
By John Kendall, Dana Frazee, and Susan Ryan (ASCD book copublished with McREL, 2012)
- How grades 11–12 English language arts content differs from and builds on content in grades 9–10 standards.
- How the four strands throughout the standards are connected and reinforced.
- How the anchor standards establish the frame for preparing students for college and career.
By John Kendall, Kathleen Dempsey, and Amitra Schwols (ASCD book copublished with McREL, 2012)
- How the six conceptual categories throughout the math standards are connected and reinforced.
- How the modeling standards bring math content to life through real-world applications.
- How the mathematical practices standards are an integral part of the Common Core standards.
