Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 3:00 p.m. eastern time
Register now!

Discover the the interventions that reverse negativity, promote positive attitudes, increase participation, and build student confidence to persevere through challenges.

Connect with Willis on ASCD EDge and on her website, RADTeach.com. Watch her archived webinars below:

Post written by Muriel Rand, a professor of early childhood education at New Jersey City University. She began her career as a preschool teacher in central New Jersey and now teaches graduate- and undergraduate-level courses in classroom management, working with families, action research, and early literacy education. Connect with Rand on the ASCD EDge® social network and on her blog, The Positive Classroom.

“Ignore him—he just wants attention!” How many times have you heard a teacher say something like this? Attention-seeking behavior has a bad reputation in our schools, and it can often lead to difficult classroom management challenges. Yet Maslow, the often-forgotten humanistic psychologist, has helped us understand that seeking attention is a way of getting our love and belongingness needs met. The need for human interaction and affection is so strong that it is a kind of hunger—the more children lack these interactions, the harder they will try to get them. And any interactions, even negative ones, are better than none.

Some children, because of a lack of social-emotional skills and competence, are hard to interact with. They might talk back or whine. They may be pushy and demanding. They may lack manners, or constantly put others down. Naturally, teachers and other children begin to avoid them or push them away. This reduces their chance to learn social and emotional skills, and thus begins a downward negative cycle. The result can be children who use challenging behaviors to achieve social interaction.

Notice what the consequences are when children act out inappropriately. Often the teacher gets close, touching the child (especially young children) by holding an arm, physically removing the child from the area, or even picking the child up. Often the teacher is at eye level, in very close proximity, and is usually filled with strong emotions. In a way, the typical reprimand of a misbehaving child is intimate: close, physical, and emotionally intense. Often children with frequent misbehavior are sent to a vice principal, center director, or other disciplinarian, where they get additional one-on-one attention in a more peaceful environment. In any case, the typical result of attention-seeking behavior is, not surprisingly, attention!

So wouldn’t it make sense to ignore these behaviors to stop reinforcing them? Well, yes, but only if you increase the amount of positive attention the child gets at other times. The child is hungry for a relationship with you, which can be difficult to develop if you are angry and frustrated with the child. It’s natural (but unprofessional) to ignore him instead. (Which is why he is using challenging behavior that is hard to ignore). What to do?

• Schedule time to spend with the child. Sit next to him at snack time or invite him to read to you one-on-one. Greet him warmly when he arrives and spend an extra minute or two talking with him at the beginning and end of the day.
• Directly teach the child how to get your positive attention through modeling and practice. Make a list (or chart) with photos that can help the child remember these new skills. You can do this in a small group if you have other children who would benefit.
• Plan ways he can interact with other children in a successful way. Pair him with a child who has excellent social skills for buddy activities.
• Rather than trying positive reinforcement with praise or other tangibles like stickers, instead think of providing rich interactions. Remember he’s hungry, so he needs healthy “meals” of interactions, not “junk food” like quick praise.
• Have honest, authentic interactions. Find out more about his likes, habits, fears, and hopes. Think about connecting.
• Give it time. As his hunger for relationship is fed, you should see a reduction in the attention-seeking behaviors, but it can take a while to change deeply engrained behaviors. Show him that he can get your attention more effectively with positive behaviors!

What other suggestions do you have for creating better relationships with children who are difficult to interact with? Please share in the comments!

Join ASCD Managing Director of the Whole Child Initiative Molly McCloskey in conversation with ASCD author and Rutgers University professor Maurice J. Elias. McCloskey will share information about specific initiatives and examples of how a whole child approach ensures that each child, in each community, is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

Monday, February 27, 2012, 12:00 p.m. eastern time
Call in to 1-800-868-1123 and use code 70187505

The teleseminar is part of a series of monthly meetings of the Improving School Climate for Academic and Life Success project at Rutgers, designed to support social-emotional character development (SECD) and antibullying initiatives in schools. The format allows you to call in and listen (only), though you can e-mail questions during the teleseminar to mjeru@aol.com. On the other hand, it’s very convenient and you can listen in the car, in the office, at home, or while shopping. We will also post the audio of the teleseminar here on the Whole Child Blog within a few days of completion.

In the Rutgers University Center for Applied Psychology, Elias serves as director of Social-Emotional Learning Lab and is the academic director of the Civic Engagement and Service Education Partnerships program. He is also the coordinator of the Expert Advisory Group to the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention and writes an Edutopia blog on SECD for the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Post submitted by Paula Mirk, MEd. Mirk has worked at whole child partner the Institute for Global Ethics (IGE) since 1996 and currently oversees the IGE education department’s many initiatives, including the Ethical Literacy expanding community of schools.

The subject of ethics is a great opportunity to explore learning without the burden of standardized tests because (so far) the topic is considered a difficult one to measure in discrete bubbles on an answer sheet. So, this dimension of our schools and curriculum is relatively safe from the assessment wag-or-dog controversy other subjects present. Take advantage of this opportunity! In any class, in any subject, teachers can feel free to explore their students’ values-based reasoning skills without worrying about “covering the material.” The more teachers do so, the more they will find that such exploration deepens understanding and contributes to content, rather than slowing things down or feeling like an indulgent add-on.

Use these basics to examine any topic in your curriculum: honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, and compassion. These themes can safely be labeled as universal. The Institute for Global Ethics has been testing the thinking of diverse groups around the world for more than 20 years, with increasing evidence that these are common operating principles we share as human beings. These themes provide all sorts of opportunities for critical thinking—thinking that is not confined to “the humanities,” but must make up the lens for viewing any terrain in which decisions are made. Train your students to think that way: you can simply ask them such questions as “Does this topic have anything to do with our core values? If so, how so?” or “How does the study of this topic contribute to the future of our world?” Amazing intellectual opportunities emerge from these broad frames.

Introduce ethics concepts that can be applied to multiple themes. Self-regulation, moral perimeter, and right vs. right decision making are just three of many concepts and conceptual frameworks that abound in the realm of ethics.

Although traditional assessments are unusual in the realm of ethics, intellectual accountability should always be expected. Students should be accountable for the ideas they promote, positions they take, and reasoning they put forward. Teachers must communicate that these standards exist, even if the subject of ethics is not on the standardized test. Some guidelines:

• Every statement should include the “why” for the “what.” In other words, students should be trained to present their moral reasoning in any assertion. It’s not enough to say “That experiment in science is irresponsible” or “That character in literature is acting dishonestly.” Each assertion must have reasoning linked to it:
  • “That experiment is irresponsible because it could jeopardize many people’s health.”
  • “That character in literature is acting dishonestly because he chose not to tell the truth when he had the opportunity.”
• Any assertion should welcome and survive scrutiny. In other words, students should be trained to counter one moral angle with another, with an earnest goal of arriving at deeper knowledge and understanding. “Yes, but …” should be an expectation—and again, counter arguments must be based on “why,” not just “what.”
• Each student should participate, but not in the same way. Although some students are not as verbal as others, all students should be expected to engage in reasoning, and communicating that reasoning in some form. For less verbal students, artwork that is later explained, index cards at tables for writing instead of speaking, and even thumbs up or thumbs down is a start toward accountability in reasoning.
• Concepts should be applied, and should be applied accurately. Expect students to use terms like “relativism,” and clearly express how such a concept contributes to their point.

Of course, teachers modeling the same standards in their own decision making will go a long way toward helping students develop these habits. And an assessment of your own teaching practices always helps increase student ownership. As for feedback from your students, especially relating to habits like including “why” for every “what,” backing up your reasoning, clearly building on your students’ skills, and finding various ways for students with multiple learning styles to participate are all effective methods.

Watch the archived presentation below, download the handouts (PDF), and listen to Frey and other guests talk about assessment on the Whole Child Podcast.

Frey is a professor of literacy in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University, and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego, Calif. Before moving to San Diego, she was a special-education teacher in the Broward County (Fla.) Public School. Her research interests include reading and literacy, assessment, intervention, and curriculum design, and with her coauthor Doug Fisher, she has published several books with ASCD, including Checking for Understanding and her latest work, The Formative Assessment Action Plan. Connect with Frey on her website, Fisher & Frey: Literacy for Life and follow her on Twitter @NancyFrey.

Explore forthcoming and archived ASCD webinars.

Another component of balanced assessment systems is coherence. Coherent assessment systems (PDF) are composed of multiple, coordinated, and valid measures that reflect significant learning goals and provide accurate information for intended purposes. When we think of how assessments serve student, classroom, school, and district goals, we can ask ourselves

• Are the assessment tasks aligned with significant learning goals? Fair and free from bias? Accessible for all students?
• Does the interpretation of student responses to the task yield accurate inferences about student learning? Does the interpretation support the intended purpose?
• Does performance on the assessment reflect important capability? Does it transfer to other settings or applications beyond the assessment?

Join us throughout January as we take a look at how assessments can serve a whole child approach to education and inform—not drive—school improvement efforts. Listen to a two-part Whole Child Podcast series on the meaning, types, and future of assessment, featuring author Nancy Frey, #Edchat founder Tom Whitby, principal Peter DeWitt, researcher Susan Brookhart, Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah Gist, and ASCD Director of Public Policy David Griffith. Read the Whole Child Blog to hear from guest bloggers, and dive deeper into the latest research, reports, and tools on the assessment topic page.

Have you signed up to receive the Whole Child Newsletter? Read this month’s newsletter and visit the archive for more strategies, resources, and tools you can use to help ensure that each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

1. Describe what we mean by “a school where students can thrive.” A thriving school is likely to produce
   • Students who know things, from reading and mathematics, to science and technology, history and social studies, and other cultures and languages.
   • Students who can do things, like engage in performances and interact with technological tools.
   • Students who are healthy individuals, from diet and nutrition to exercise and recreation.
   • Students who play well together in the “sandbox,” working in teams and developing social skills.
   • Students who are resilient psychologically, feel good about themselves, and have self-confidence as they go through their present and future lives.
   • Students who become good citizens, are engaged with their local community, and play a role in our democratic society.
2. Measure the things that a thriving school produces. Tests are not the only way. Educators have a diverse set of tools to find out if schools are achieving their outcomes, including observing classrooms to see if the interaction between teachers and students is positive, supported, and focused on content; using school records documenting teacher turnover, graduation rates, and absenteeism; and surveying teachers, students, and parents on resources and support.
3. Signal to people that we value these things through publication of results, recognition of schools that do better on these measures, and sanctioning of schools that do worse.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Stecher’s research focuses on measuring education quality and evaluating education reforms, with a particular emphasis on assessment and accountability systems. During his 20 years at RAND, he has directed prominent national and state evaluations of No Child Left Behind, Mathematics and Science Systemic Reforms, and Class Size Reduction. His measurement-related expertise includes test development (prototype performance assessments for teacher certification, hands-on science tasks for middle school students), test validation (the quality of portfolio assessments in Vermont and Kentucky and new assessments in Washington), and the use of assessments for school improvement (formative and interim assessments, quality of classroom assessments).

In this column, I’ll take on the real deal of school improvement—for all schools, not just certain kinds. And for all kids. Because it’s not about quick fixes or checking off the instant strategy of the moment. It’s about saying, “Yes, and…”, not “Yes, but…” no matter what our circumstances are. It’s about asking ourselves the best questions.

I’ve been working within ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative for five years or so, and on issues related to a whole child approach to education for nearly 20 years. In that time, I’ve heard all the comments about whole child education being antiassessment and antirigor, and I usually counter with the dangers of academic pity that a whole child approach takes on, the challenged tenet, or (if I’m feeling particularly snarky) a Dr. Phil shout-out along the lines of, “how’s that almighty test focus working for you so far?”

Frequently, I’ll hear something similar to “Well, you can’t assess the whole child.” To that comment, there is really only one response:

You already do. Each time you give any assessment, you do, in fact, assess the whole child. You assess whether or not the child has had breakfast; if the room is too hot; is the content of the assessment interesting or boring, easy or challenging; or if there is a dance on Saturday to which any given student has a date or not. Each time you give an assessment, you do assess whether or not each child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Of course, despite their arguments, most folks know this already, which is why we take pains to make sure kids get a good breakfast and a good night’s sleep during testing times. We take exercise and snack breaks during testing to ensure maximum performance, yet would be pained to do so during “regular” days. And at least one of the assessments being developed to reflect the Common Core State Standards will include computer-adaptive components, which means they will escalate in difficulty based on student success rather than demanding repetition of the same skill ad nauseum as so many current assessments (and homework assignments!) reflect.

So the best question then becomes, do we interpret assessment results in terms of the whole child? Do we ask ourselves what the assessment truly reveals and then design interventions and next steps based on that information? I’ll give a personal example: my daughter Jennifer is good at many things, but testing is not one of them. Finals week is always a challenge in our house, and particularly so during her freshman year in high school when her boyfriend of six months broke up with her by telling another girl to tell Jennifer he didn’t like her anymore. She failed two finals that week and got a D on another. Her grades had nothing to do with the quality of her teachers or the standards of the curriculum or whether or not she had mastered the material. Her grades had everything to do with the kind of broken heart only a 14-year old girl can have. Yet in many schools, failing the final might have resulted in Jennifer needing to go to summer school, repeat the class, or some other sort of supposedly academic intervention based on an assumption that she didn’t understand the material (luckily this was not the case at her school).

Assessment is important. We need to know that kids are on the right path for college, career, and citizenship readiness so that they are on the path for long-term success. It’s a crucial component of any whole child approach. But if we want to use assessments to reflect true student mastery of content, we had better make sure that kids are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, or we will likely be assessing something else and, potentially, making inefficient and ineffective decisions based on results that don’t mean what we think they do.

By the way, Jennifer is fine and is a very successful sophomore in college today.

The We the People initiative is the Obama administration’s effort to provide citizens with a new way to petition the administration to take action on a range of important issues facing the United States. If a petition garners 25,000 signatures within 30 days, White House staff reviews it, sends it to the appropriate policy experts, and issues an official response.

Today ASCD is taking advantage of this initiative and petitioning the administration to make whole child education a national priority. We petition the Obama administration to establish a President’s Council on the Whole Child to help students be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, and we urge you to add your voice in support of this holistic and child-centered push for education at the executive office level.

Pending ESEA reauthorization bills in Congress continue the No Child Left Behind Act‘s unfortunate legacy of elevating reading and math test scores above all other core academic subjects and above more comprehensive supports for students. The true measure of student success is much more than just a test score and such success requires support well beyond effective instruction. The demands of the 21st century require a new approach to education to fully prepare our nation’s youth for college, career, and citizenship. A whole child approach to education enhances learning by addressing each student’s social, emotional, physical, and academic needs through the shared contributions of schools, families, communities, and policymakers. A President’s Council on the Whole Child would focus attention on the broad array of factors influencing long-term success rather than short-term achievement.

The White House has a national security council, a council on environmental quality, a council of economic advisors, a council on women and girls, and a council on jobs and competitiveness. Education is just as important as the economy, the environment, or national security. And the president deserves similarly expert counsel to coordinate the education, health, and social service sectors in support of our nation’s youth.

A President’s Council comprising national leaders, state officials, educators, community members, and other experts would facilitate greater collaboration among the education, social, health, and safety agencies that support children and the coordination of programs at all levels to benefit families. Existing White House advisory councils, like the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, are too narrowly focused on individual aspects of a child’s well-being. The Council could serve to inject the whole child approach into a host of issues in which it has heretofore not been a priority, including Race to the Top competition, school turnaround strategies, and No Child Left Behind waivers and reauthorization proposals.

Strategically, a President’s Council on the Whole Child is an efficient way to oversee federal investment in children, streamline government bureaucracy, and limit the federal footprint in state and local affairs. It would strategically consolidate and coordinate the range of programs and services for children that have been assembled in an ad hoc fashion over the decades, facilitating greater collaboration among the education, social, health, and safety agencies that support children. And most importantly, a President’s Council would focus national attention on children and highlight the importance of supporting the whole child as each child learns and grows and fulfills his or her potential.

This is our call to action for all whole child supporters:

• If you think a child’s worth is more than a test score, sign the petition to create a President’s Council on the Whole Child.
• Your signature on the petition sends a message to Washington leaders to focus on what really matters—our children—by asking them to create a President’s Council on the Whole Child.
• If you agree that educators alone can’t support students’ comprehensive needs, sign the petition to create a President’s Council on the Whole Child.
• Join fellow educators asking the President to support the whole child today.
• You know the whole child approach to education works; now, tell the President. Sign ASCD’s petition today.
• To ensure that each child in each classroom is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, we need the support of the President. Ask him to create a council today.
• You know your child is more than a test score. To send this message to Washington leaders, sign the petition to create a President’s Council on the Whole Child.

Sign the petition to create a President’s Council on the Whole Child. We have 30 days to gather 25,000 signatures and then the White House will take the proposal into consideration. Please ask everyone you know who cares about children and the future of education to visit the petition and sign!

Post submitted by Walter McKenzie, a lifelong learner, teacher, leader, and connector. Director of Constituent Services for ASCD, he served 25 years in public education as a classroom teacher, instructional technology coordinator, director of technology, and assistant superintendent for information services. He is internationally known for his work on multiple intelligences and technology and has published various books and articles on the subject. Connect with McKenzie on the ASCD EDge® social network or by e-mail at wmckenzie@ascd.org.