As brain science each day further confirms, children are not disembodied, unemotional minds. They are complex, affiliated, people who bring personal strengths, dreams and aspirations; physical, social and emotional needs; and the cumulative stress of a host of personal risk factors into the classroom along with their backpacks. The call to recognize and educate the “Whole Child” has grown to be an organized movement of leading education, health, arts, and civic organizations. The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) affects public policy and helps identify state of the art practice in this area. The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) endorses five criteria for whole child education. From its inception Ripple Effects (RE) has used emerging technologies to address the non-academic factors in school success. RE Whole Spectrum Intervention System fully meets each of the ASCD Whole Child Education criteria, as seen in the chart below.
Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle. |
RE includes more than 50 health related tutorials and matches to national health education frameworks. |
Each student learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults. |
RE explicitly addresses school climate issues of personal and emotional safety at school, on individual and group levels with specific tutorials for students and staff and web based assessment of school safety |
Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community. |
RE award-winning, self-regulated, interactive learning system engages students in learning. Specific tutorials strengthen connection to community, and all tutorials include "friends and family" and "sports" transfer training applications. |
Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults. |
RE learning is personalized in terms of both content and process. Students address personal risk factors, in whatever learning modes they prefer. Both student and staff training promote positive constructive relations between adults and students. |
Each graduate is challenged by a well-balanced curriculum and is prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in a global environment. |
Ripple Effects is aligned with curriculum standards for Language Arts and Health, and teaches 21st century work skills through an evidence-based approach to social-emotional learning (SEL) |
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