Did You Know?

In a study of 17,000 adults, 28 percent had been abused physically as a child and 27 percent had a drug-addicted or alcoholic family member.

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Bouncing Back

What happens when a ball is suspended in the air and then dropped? It bounces, of course, but it does not return to the same height from which it was dropped. With each progressive bounce, it continues to get lower and lower. In a recent interview, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, described this physical phenomenon and how it applies to the diminishing resilience of soldiers that have been redeployed. It is easy to see how this analogy also works for students who face multiple obstacles to learning.

Shinseki had recently spoken to a group of veterans attending college about how the stress of their experience makes it challenging to concentrate on schoolwork, sleep well at night, and succeed overall. While most of our students are not returning from war, many have experienced challenges or tragedies large and small that impact their performance in school. Our ability to support students through these experiences not only expedites their recovery process but also strengthens their ability to deal with the next challenge while succeeding in school. When we fail to support students, we often leave them ill equipped to meet the challenges of school in addition to their basic physiological and psychological needs.

As we continue to examine how we can support students to keep them from checking out and dropping out, we must recognize the need to look beyond grades to identify struggling students. One school committed to educating the whole child hung photos of each student on the wall at a meeting and asked staff to put their name under the student(s) with whom they had a personal connection. Staff then worked toward connecting each student who did not already have an adult connection to at least one adult in the building. What are you doing to ensure that the children in your school are connected to at least one adult? Do you have the resources necessary to identify and support struggling students?

» Visit www.wholechildeducation.org to find great resources—research, tools, and other information—to develop your understanding of and ability to support students' developmental needs. If you haven't already, be sure to download this month's Whole Child Podcast to hear our guests share research and practices that support students to keep them from checking out and dropping out. When we educate whole children, we help them to interpret and respond to the challenges they face, thereby preparing them for future challenges.

Bill References "Whole Child Approach"

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) recently introduced legislation, cosponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), aimed at preventing chronic truancy, particularly during the middle school years.

The Student Attendance Success Act of 2009 (S. 1708) authorizes funds to states for competitive, three-year grants to school districts for activities to improve academic achievement by keeping students in school. It also provides funds to establish a National Resource Center on Positive Youth Development and School Success to serve as a font of information, training, and research aimed at thwarting students' risky behavior and enhancing their academic performance. This resource center would be required to "conduct and publish research on the relationship between a whole child approach to youth development and school success, including academic achievement and retention of the teaching force."

» Learn more about S. 1708, and encourage your senators to support this legislation.

“Truancy is often referred to as the 'Kindergarten of Crime' because it's an early risk factor for many other kinds of trouble including criminal behavior ... the research shows and my own experience as county attorney shows that truancy problems typically develop in the lower grades, especially middle school, roughly grades 5 through 9.”

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