The Whole Child Podcast
Changing the Conversation About Education
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Download ASCD's Whole Child Podcast: Changing the Conversation About Education on the first Thursday of every month and listen to archived episodes. The Whole Child Podcast features educators and policymakers from around the globe who share their insights about sound education policies and practices that ensure that all children are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. |
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Current Podcast
School Climate: Developing the Quality and Character of School Life
February 4, 2010
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How can schools develop a positive school climate that fosters teaching, learning, and the development of the whole child? Research and common sense reaffirm that focusing on the social and educational atmosphere is critical to student success, yet many schools and districts do not assess climate or include it in school improvement plans.
In this episode, our guests Jonathan Cohen, president of the Center for Social and Emotional Education (CSEE) and cochair of the National School Climate Council, and Marvin Kreps, director of Curriculum and Instruction for Rhinebeck (N.Y.) Central School District, discuss how school climate standards can help educators and communities improve the quality and character of school life.
Use these resources to support your efforts to create and sustain a positive school climate:
- National School Climate Standards: Benchmarks to promote effective teaching, learning and comprehensive school improvement, National School Climate Council
- The Challenge of Assessing School Climate, Education Leadership, ASCD
- Workbook for Improving School Climate and Closing the Achievement Gap, WestEd
- State Department of Education School Climate-related Policy: A Summary, CSEE
- The School Climate Challenge: Narrowing the Gap Between School Climate Research and School Climate Policy, Practice Guidelines, and Teacher Education Policy, CSEE
- The 12 Dimensions of School Climate Measured, CSEE
- School Climate Research Summary, CSEE
- School Climate Implementation Road Map, CSEE
Are educators talking about the importance of school climate and its impact on learning and teaching? Do we need national school climate standards? Share your thoughts on the Whole Child Blog.
About the Host
Your host, Molly McCloskey, serves as managing director for Whole Child Programs at ASCD and directs multiple components of the ASCD Whole Child Initiative, a multiyear, cross-organizational program, including member and nonmember outreach and engagement, ASCD'S Healthy School Communities Program, and development of capacity-building resources and services. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Catholic University of America and a master's of education degree in school counseling from the University of Maryland and has worked at every level of education from preK through graduate school.
Since joining ASCD, Molly has presented across the United States, Canada, and Germany and has written and been interviewed about school reform, whole child education, and First Amendment issues in the Miami Herald, USA Today, Edutopia, and the Chicago Tribune. She serves on the advisory boards for the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools and the Coalition of Community Schools and on the steering committee of United Voices for Education.
Archived Episodes
Access archived episodes anytime here at www.wholechildeducation.org.
Meeting Students Where They Are: Preparing Them for What's Next (January 7, 2010)
Each student brings a unique set of interests, needs, strengths, and circumstances to school and teachers often struggle to connect with students, especially those facing the greatest challenges. Yet research and common sense tell us that educators positively impact student learning and achievement when they connect their students' lives outside of school to their learning and the larger school community...
Rural Education: Challenges and Opportunities (December 3, 2009)
In December's Whole Child Podcast, we learned more about how we can work at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure that each rural student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Rural schools are very diverse—ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically—and often face a complex set of challenges. In the United States, about 15–20 percent of the rural population lives in poverty, which is 5 percent more than in urban areas. Not only is the rural poverty rate growing, but it has exceeded the urban rates since the 1960s...
Supporting Students to Succeed: Keeping Kids from Checking Out and Dropping Out
(November 5, 2009)
How and why do schools and communities succeed when they focus on supporting students? Creating personalized learning environments where students are supported by qualified, caring adults is crucial to keeping kids from checking out and dropping out. Research and common sense reaffirm that not only educators, but communities must invest in supporting students to stay in school because we all pay the price when students drop out...
Engaging Stakeholders Through Community Conversations (October 1, 2009)
In the October Whole Child Podcast, we explored how schools and communities are using community conversations to ensure that schools and communities are working together to support the whole child. Our guests shared how community conversations have increased the understanding of the whole child approach to learning, improved decision making that is informed by community input, and created a shared commitment to pursue recommendations that focus on the whole child ...
Preparing for H1N1 (September 10, 2009)
Our September Whole Child Podcast featured guests that shed light on the opportunities and challenges of coordinating school responses to a potential H1N1 outbreak...
Partnering to Transform the Conditions of Learning: Families and Educators Together
(August 13, 2009)
While research and common sense tell us that families are a powerful influence on children's attitudes about learning and their success in school, we also know that educators and families often struggle to find meaningful ways to partner together. In light of what we know and what we're committed to, how can we strategically transform family involvement in schools?
Data: What We Don't Know May Hurt Us
(July 17, 2009)
Collecting and interpreting data is essential to creating and sustaining meaningful school improvement and without it, we may not be able to address the obstacles that stand in the way of educating the whole child. This episode of the Whole Child Podcast featured an expert panel recorded live at the Healthy Schools Communities Conference. Panelists and audience members shared varied and concrete examples and strategies for using data to drive meaningful school improvement...
Schools + Communities = Success for the Whole Child (June 4, 2009)
In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, we learn how schools and communities can partner together to meet the needs of the whole child. We know that children grow physically, socially, emotionally, ethically, expressively, and intellectually within networks of families, schools, neighborhoods, communities, and our larger society. And we know schools alone can't meet the needs of each child. So why not bring everyone to the table?
Supporting Student Voice for Meaningful Change (May 7, 2009)
On the May 2009 Whole Child Podcast: Changing the Conversation About Education, we'll explore how adults and children can work together to solve social or environmental problems, from school reform to global warming...
Understanding the Education Stimulus Package (April 16, 2009)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package, provides approximately $100 billion specifically for education programs. While the intent of the package is to stimulate the economy, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has indicated that he'd like education reform to be a major goal of this unprecedented federal investment. This special edition of the Whole Child Podcast will outline the stimulus plan for education...
Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners (April 9, 2009)
Over the past 15 years, school districts across the United States have experienced explosive growth in the immigrant population. The increased enrollment has strained the resources of schools—whether they've had experience with English language learners or not. And as school districts struggle to find additional funding and resources to support this diverse group, they also have to contend with the fact that English language learners fall behind in standardized tests and many are more socioeconomically disadvantaged than their peers...
Closing the Believing, Doing Gap (March 15, 2009)
This episode of the Whole Child Podcast was recorded live at ASCD's Annual Conference on March 14, 2009. Host Molly McCloskey tasked the two guests with providing advice on how to close the "believing, doing gap." In other words, how do we move from believing all children need to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, to actually making that happen?
How Urban Schools Work Beyond the Boundaries of Social and Economic Conditions
(February 5, 2009)
In this month's Whole Child Podcast, we hear from three experts about the struggles and strategies of urban school districts and how they are working to meet the needs of the whole child...
Education and the New Administration
(January 8, 2009)
President-Elect Barack Obama and his Education Secretary nominee, Arne Duncan, face a host of education issues, with the rewrite of NCLB at the top of the list. Complicating matters are the severe budget deficits that are forcing dramatic cuts in education programs and services. In this episode of the Whole Child Podcast, three guests will address what the Obama administration can do to support our public schools and secure our children's future in these uncertain times...
Beyond the Test Bubble: Accountability, Expectations, and Planning (December 4, 2008)
How can we hold schools accountable, while ensuring that students receive a rich education, graduate from high school, and are prepared for the challenges of the 21st century? This month on the whole child podcast, we hear from three experts...Developing Students' Global Understanding (November 6, 2008)
In our increasingly interconnected global society and economy, it's imperative that students understand the world we live in. Three leaders in international education joined us for the second episode of "The Whole Child: Changing the Conversation About Education"...
Join the Conversation (October 2, 2008)
The premiere episode featured segments on public opinion of public schools, community engagement in education, and creating healthy schools. In particular, we addressed...