Carol’s Summary:
In educating k-12 children—and weighing the financial costs for comprehensive services—we need to take the long view. We are preparing students for college, career and life success, which necessitates developing the whole student now—with analytical, creative and emotional/ social skills. . This balance is crucial to student motivation and, ultimately, graduation rates. Our nation’s current drop-out crises threatens economic growth and global competitiveness. Cutting the dropout rate in half would yield $45 billion annually in new federal tax revenues or cost savings, according to a recent report by Columbia University’s Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College. The report also says the achievement gaps in this country are the same as having “a permanent national recession.”
My life’s work and the reason I started LifeBound ten years ago is to address the developmental issues students face at each grade level, 5-12, so that they persist with their educational and career goals. We provide a comprehensive approach to educating children that includes these resources:
o Books to teach healthy habits and self-awareness that lead to real academic gains
o Curriculum that features relevance and rigor activities
o Data assessments so teachers can see the results
o Teacher training on implementing our classroom materials
o Academic coaches training that help educators become leaders and champions of change

We also offer parent programs that help create a culture of learning at home, because regardless of how many services we make available to students, the home remains the primary influence in a child’s life. For more information about LifeBound’s resources, visit www.lifebound.com. I am happy to share these materials, and if you would like to receive review copies of any of our books, call our national toll free # 1.877.737.8510, or email your request to contact@lifebound.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

ARTICLE

Education Week
By Alyson Klein
As Congress gears up for renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, lawmakers and the Obama administration are seeking to address a perennial complaint: that the current version of the law, the No Child Left Behind Act, places too much emphasis on students’ test scores and pays little attention to their health and other needs.

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.

Increasing offerings in such a broad array of programs would almost certainly mean schools would need to increase staffs, said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the committee. But he and other lawmakers acknowledged that might be a tall order in tight budget times.

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