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Whole Child Approach

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 3 claims (2 for, 1 mixed) · 2 studies (1 review, 1 qualitative), q2–q3 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description

A framework for organizing education around developmental relationships, supportive environments, rich learning, skill and mindset development, and integrated supports, developed from the science of learning and development literature.

Components

  • Five key elements of a whole child approach: The guide enumerates five key elements that constitute a whole child approach: "positive developmental relationships; environments filled with safety and belonging; rich learning experiences and knowledge development; development of skills, habits, and mindsets; and integrated support systems." The fifth element, integrated support systems, is the guide's central focus, operationalized as integrated, school-based systems of care built through cross-sector collaboration. The list is grounded in the science of learning and development literature the guide cites. (Breaking Barriers et al. (2022))
  • Four-domain framework for whole child education: The report organizes its school implications around four major domains that research suggests schools should attend to: supportive environmental conditions, social and emotional learning, productive instructional strategies, and individualized supports. The framework states that "research suggests that schools should attend to four major domains," each elaborated with concrete practices: positive school climate and strong relationships; explicit SEL instruction, infusion, and restorative approaches; meaningful, inquiry-based, collaborative, mastery-oriented instruction with metacognitive opportunities; and integrated services, extended learning, and multi-tiered systems of support. It functions as the report's central explanatory structure linking the science of learning and development to school design. (Darling-Hammond et al. (2018))
  • Framework for Whole Child Education: four principles from the science of learning and development: The report organizes its findings around a synthesis of science-of-learning-and-development research identifying four major principles: supportive environments, productive instructional strategies, social and emotional development, and systems of support. It states that "Supportive environments promote secure attachments and relationships, a sense of safety and belonging, and relational trust" and that the four principles "characterize the practices observed at Gateway Middle School and Gateway High School." The framework is depicted in Figure 1 and mapped to specific Gateway practices in Table 3. (Cook-Harvey et al. (2020))
  • Guiding Principles for Equitable Whole Child Design framework: The report presents an organizing framework, the Guiding Principles for Equitable Whole Child Design, comprising five elements: positive developmental relationships, environments filled with safety and belonging, rich learning experiences and knowledge development, development of skills habits and mindsets, and integrated support systems. It states that "The organizing framework to guide transformation of learning settings for children and adolescents is reflected in the five elements shown in Figure 1.1". Each element is linked to research from developmental and learning science and to structures and practices for changing conditions, adult practice, and student learning. The framework aims at healthy development, learning, and thriving that is transformative, culturally affirming, empowering, and personalized. (Learning Policy Institute et al. (2021))
  • Whole child approach to supporting students experiencing homelessness, grounded in the science of learning and development: The report frames students experiencing homelessness as having interrelated physical, emotional, and academic needs that signal "a need for a whole child approach to supporting them." It holds that "Such an approach is consistent with the science of learning and development, which shows that stability, consistency, trust, and belonging are foundational to effective learning." Under this account, homelessness harms learning through stress, instability, trauma, and school mobility that raise risks to health, social-emotional well-being, engagement, and achievement, so district supports must address nonacademic needs (housing, health, transportation, family stability) alongside academic services. (Levin et al. (2022))
  • Guiding Principles for Equitable Whole Child School Design: A framework, attributed by the report to the Learning Policy Institute and Turnaround for Children, holding that "schools that optimize student learning, development, and well-being are those that integrate structures and practices that instantiate the Guiding Principles for Equitable Whole Child Design." The five principles are positive developmental relationships; environments of safety and belonging; rich learning experiences and knowledge development; development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills, habits, and mindsets; and integrated support systems, all aimed at healthy development, learning, and thriving. The report uses this framework to organize its analysis of whole child practice in three Oakland community schools. (Klevan et al. (2023))
  • A framework of four principles for whole child education derived from the science of learning and development: The report organizes its case around four principles for educational practice drawn from syntheses of neuroscience, cognitive science, and the developmental sciences: (1) environmental conditions supporting positive, trusting relationships, safety, and belonging; (2) intentional development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills, mindsets, and habits, with "supports for behavior should be educative and restorative"; (3) curricular designs and instructional strategies featuring "well-scaffolded instruction and ongoing formative assessment"; and (4) multi-tiered systems of support based on a shared developmental framework. Figure 1 presents these as a Framework for Whole Child Education, and Appendix B maps Bronxdale practices onto the principles. (Ancess et al. (2019))
  • Guiding principles of equitable whole child design: five environmental features schools must provide: The report identifies five features of environments, structures, and practices attuned to students' learning and developmental needs: "positive developmental relationships," "environments filled with safety and belonging," "rich learning experiences that support deep knowledge development," development of social, emotional, and cognitive skills, habits, and mindsets, and "integrated support systems." Figure 1 presents these as the Guiding Principles of Equitable Whole Child Design, framed as transformative, culturally affirming, empowering, and personalized, sourced to the Learning Policy Institute and Turnaround for Children design principles. (Darling-Hammond et al. (2021))

Claims

Key Sources

  • Breaking Barriers, California Alliance of Child and Family Services, Santa Clara County Office of Education, & WestEd. (2022). Supporting California's children through a whole child approach: A field guide for creating integrated, school-based systems of care. https://WestEd.org/permissions
Page metadata
Field Value
type product
id whole-child-approach
title Whole Child Approach
description A framework for organizing education around developmental relationships, supportive environments, rich learning, skill and mindset development, and integrated supports, developed from the science of learning and development literature.
status review
moved_from design/five-key-elements-whole-child-approach
product_kind framework
generated by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — breaking-barriers-2022

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