ODYSSEYWARE

With the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) looming, Barack Obama and company have been trying to address one of the biggest and most talked about drawbacks in the current version of the law. It seems that everyone agrees that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) places too much emphasis on students’ test scores in core disciplines while ignoring other needs necessary for real learning to take place.

The focus on testing is pushing momentum in the opposite direction, toward “whole child” education. This model not only fills the academic needs of students, but proposes that education should include not only core academics, but the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

In a recent hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, lawmakers heard statements from leaders advocating inclusion of this approach into the newest version of ESEA.

As reported in Education Week, Geoffrey Canada, the president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone, an advocate of holistic education, said schools are no longer just cutting the fat.

They’re cutting the muscle. . . . Are we investing enough in our children in this nation? I think the answer is no. I think there are huge areas of this country where all kids need to be in an early-education [program]. . . . I think that we’ve got to hold people accountable for results, but we also need to be able to pay for realistic investments.

While the theory of whole child education makes sense, the price tag is hard to swallow, especially when budgets are tight and other government programs address the issues of health, social work issues, mentoring, and other components of the whole child model.

The other question that often follows: Where does the job of the school end and the job of the parents and community begin?

While lawmakers review the latest ESEA proposal, it remains to be seen if, and how, this movement will impact education now and in the future.