Needs of ‘Whole Child’ May Factor in ESEA Renewal is the title of an article that appeared in Ed Week today. It reported on a Senate Hearing:

And at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee last week, lawmakers agreed that the idea of educating “the whole child” encompasses a wide range of support services, which advocates are hoping could be reflected in the rewrite of the ESEA.

Those include dental and mental health, as well as programs aimed at providing prekindergarten and library services, summer and after-school enrichment, mentoring, college counseling, and increased parent and community involvement. The whole-child concept can also refer to making sure schools attend to students’ nonacademic interests, through programs such as the arts and physical education.

That’s great news, though the sense I get from the article is that the speakers’ perspective on the issue was more of providing these kinds of services “to” instead of engaging “with” parents and others to identify the best ways to get these kinds of services provided.