Alliance Launches Campaign to Broaden Education
Reform
The Alliance for the Education of the Whole Child (the
Alliance), a "coalition of more than 45 education
and civil rights organizations,” has launched
the Campaign for the Education of the Whole Child with
a report detailing their commitment to changing the
course of school reform in Massachusetts. The report
puts forward nine areas, such as school desegregation
and children’s social services, in which the state
must improve its policies in order to create a system
of education that will “maximize the educational
opportunities provided to all of our children so that
all may flourish and reach their true potential.”
The Campaign is part of a growing tide of education
reform focused nationally on ensuring that students
receive all the support necessary to become capable,
well-rounded members of society and participants in
the economy.
The Report
The Alliance’s report begins with its statement
of purpose, which emphasizes a shift from high-stakes
testing to more thorough, “authentic” indicators
of accountability and demands the full funding of a
high-quality education for every Massachusetts student,
including interventions for those struggling to keep
up.
This purpose pervades the report, which identifies
nine areas in which the state must improve in order
to provide a high-quality education for the “whole
child.” These areas include tailoring of school
improvement efforts to the needs of individual schools;
improving assessments to monitor the development of
the whole child and to provide feedback that can aide
instruction; and funding that is sufficient to enable
well-implemented reforms.
State School Board and Local Control
These improvements are also tied to the reform of the
state school board, which the Alliance argues should
be more diverse, representative, and knowledgeable about
education in order to spearhead comprehensive and successful
initiatives. The school board’s commitment to
public education, and faith in educators and administrators,
will be essential to the Alliance’s desire that,
“Local control and involvement must be the cornerstone
of education reform solutions, as local efforts work
in tandem with targeted and appropriate state intervention.
State take-over should be used solely as a last resort.”
Desegregation, Social Services, and Programs for
“At-Risk” Students
The report goes on to advocate dramatic improvements
to programs in English as a second language, vocational
education, and education for students with disabilities.
It also emphasizes the need to renew efforts to desegregate
public schools, and calls for an improved child social
services system that can work in concert with schools
to ensure every child is ready and able to learn. As
the report states, “The Legislature should prioritize
public housing, access to health care, public safety,
and access to social services along with education.
By providing students with necessary social services,
the state will foster greater educational gains than
by improving education alone.”
The Alliance’s report, the cornerstone of the
newly launched campaign, emphasizes those areas of Massachusetts
education that it says are being neglected in the rush
to meet state standards on math and English tests. As
the report states,
The educational needs of the whole child have been
tragically neglected as a result of our state and
federal governments push toward standardized education.
This report is a call to action to reverse this dangerous
trend of relentless testing and standardization by
supporting our public schools work to maximize the
educational opportunities provided to all of our children
so that all may flourish and reach their true potential.
The Campaign
The 45 groups endorsing the report and participating
in the campaign include the American Civil Liberties
Union of Massachusetts, the Metropolitan Council for
Educational Opportunity (METCO), several branches of
the NAACP, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Their campaign is devoted to the creation of an “education
reform plan that combines additional resources with
a broader focus on the wide range of knowledge, skills
and capacities our children need to succeed.”
The authors stress repeatedly that their report is not
a “policy blueprint,” but rather a starting
point for conversation and action toward reform of Massachusetts
education.
Other Reform Efforts
Even as standardized tests become more prevalent, the
Campaign for the Education of the Whole Child is one
of many efforts to steer school reform away from overly
prescriptive, test-focused changes towards a more holistic
view of child development and education. The Partnership
for America’s Economic Success, for example, is
a newly launched initiative that links economic progress
to investments in child development. Their research
projects will focus on the links between investments
in early childhood education, family support, and community
growth and the increased economic capacity and development
they produce.
The Campaign for Educational Equity, the action arm
of Teachers College, Columbia University, will also
focus its research efforts on a broad range of initiatives
that will develop equity in education, including child
health and the racial and economic integration of public
schools. Though the Alliance for the Education of the
Whole Child’s campaign is focused on reform in
Massachusetts, their commitment mirrors the dedication
of numerous education reform organizations that hope
to stretch educational improvement beyond simple test
score results. As the report states,
Educating the whole child by providing equity and
excellence in public education for every child is
an objective that is absolutely fundamental to the
health and survival of our democracy. It’s time
to take stock of what it will take to achieve this
goal and to take action.
Prepared by Nelly Ward, February 22, 2006
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