By Joan E. Schmidt
5/17/05 -- I like a challenge. So when I selected a theme for my year at the helm of NSBA, I opted for the most daunting of topics: “educating the whole child.”
I made this choice knowing full well that the national focus right now is on raising test scores in reading and mathematics, that schools are under intense pressure to measure up or face the consequences, and that funding shortages have become endemic to the public schools.
This is a difficult time to be a school board member. But it is precisely during the tough times that we must stand firm in our commitment to excellence and equity in public education. And if we are serious about educating all of the children, we had better not settle for merely raising test scores.
From the beginning, our nation’s public schools have been called to prepare students for life in a democratic society. This call has demanded that students reach a high level of proficiency in reading and math. And it has required that schools honor and preserve our heritage by teaching and modeling such traditional virtues as civility, volunteerism, and a sense of working for the common good.
But life in the 21st century presents additional challenges, and today’s students must be prepared for a lifetime of learning. Technological advances are transforming the workplace, and recently created jobs are becoming obsolete overnight. Meanwhile, a burgeoning supply of information is calling for a heightened ability to discern what is meaningful and relevant.
Discoveries in the medical field are leading to increasingly difficult choices, as physicians and patients become partners in health care decisions. And scientific advances are raising complex ethical issues as they challenge traditional beliefs about human life and the world as we know it.
Somehow, in this bewildering panoply of change, we must not lose sight of the need for citizens with empathy for their fellow human beings and a deep hunger for justice.
Our nation is focused on educating every child to unprecedented levels. The No Child Left Behind Act, with its mandate for annual testing in mathematics and reading, has elevated the status of these subjects and placed pressure on schools to raise test scores or face serious consequences.
The most serious consequence, however, may well be an unintended one: the narrowing of the curriculum. This amounts to a form of triage in which other academic programs are cut back in an effort to raise test scores while conserving scarce resources.
Funding has been withdrawn from music programs, despite research showing that music instruction improves literacy, builds brain connections that strengthen mathematical reasoning, and improves critical thinking skills.
Funding has been withdrawn from health programs, despite research showing that children who are physically and emotionally healthy learn better and achieve more.
Meanwhile, there is an ongoing need for early childhood programs to address the disparate needs of children who are entering our public schools.
If we are committed to meaningful education reform for the 21st century, we must stand firmly in support of a full, rich curriculum that addresses the needs of the whole child. This is a moral imperative with no room for compromise.
Educating the whole child is a high calling, and it cannot be achieved by the schools working alone. This initiative requires full participation by the larger community with collaboration that looks beyond differences, asks the right questions, focuses on the common ground, and develops strategies that transcend the agendas of any individual or group.
The world of the future demands a new vision for education -- one that is rooted in a shared obligation to educate the whole child. We dare not settle for less.