Acknowledgments

Many individuals and organizations have supported the development of the Whole Child Policy Toolkit. From the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), Jennifer DePaoli served as lead author and manager of the toolkit, alongside co-authors Sara Plasencia, Stephen Kostyo, and Tara Kini. Linda Darling-Hammond advised and provided critical feedback throughout the creation of the toolkit. 

The authors are grateful for the content expertise provided by LPI colleagues: Aneesha Badrinarayan, Mike Griffith, Laura Hernández, Anna Maier, Hanna Melnick, Naomi Ondrasek, Ryan Saunders, Abby Schachner, Steve Wojcikiewicz, and Julie Woods. We thank Erin Chase, Julia Clunn, Amber Hu, Aaron Reeves, Mandy Rodrigues, Priscilla Saralegui-Torres, and Julie Serven for their significant roles in the creation, design, and development of the toolkit and the entire Communications Team for its support in disseminating it. We also thank former LPI colleagues Jessica Cardichon and Natalie Truong for their contributions to the toolkit.

The toolkit benefited from the insights and expertise of our Whole Child Policy Table partners who graciously reviewed drafts, identified resources and state policy examples, and provided strategic advice throughout its development:

  • Anne Bowles 
    Program Director, Student-Centered Learning
    Council of Chief State School Officers
  • Kathleen Airhart
    Program Director, Special Education Outcomes
    Council of Chief State School Officers
  • Megan Blanco
    Director of Safe and Healthy Schools
    National Association of State Boards of Education
  • Robert Hull
    Former President and CEO
    National Association of State Boards of Education
  • Ashley Wallace
    Associate Director, Education
    National Conference of State Legislatures
  • Autumn Rivera
    Policy Analyst, Education
    National Conference of State Legislatures
  • Seth Gerson
    Program Director, K–12 Education
    National Governors Association
  • Catherine Van Ness
    Senior Policy Analyst, K–12 Education
    National Governors Association
  • Dan Gilbert
    Senior Program Manager
    Afterschool Alliance
  • Linda Dusenbury
    Senior Research Scientist
    CASEL
  • Matt Atwell
    Senior Researcher
    CIVIC
  • Matt Weyer
    Senior Policy Analyst
    Education Commission of the States
  • Samantha Kobbah
    Policy Associate
    EducationCounsel
  • Bethany Little
    Principal
    EducationCounsel
  • Scott Palmer
    Managing Partner and Co-Founder
    EducationCounsel
  • Merita Irby
    Co-Founder
    Forum for Youth Investment
  • Mary Ellen Wiggins
    Director of Policy and Research
    Forum for Youth Investment
  • Hal Smith
    Senior Vice President for Education, Youth Development, and Health
    National Urban League
 

We would also like to thank the late Roger Weissberg, who was a champion of the Whole Child Policy Table from the very beginning and who provided invaluable input and support on the toolkit.

The authors thank the SoLD Alliance for its partnership and ongoing commitment to translating the science of learning and development into practices and policies that can support equitable school transformation. We would also like to thank our former SoLD Alliance colleagues, Jamie Fasteau and Joaquin Tamayo, for their contributions to the toolkit. We are also grateful for the Educator Preparation Laboratory (EdPrepLab) initiative and its work to strengthen educator preparation that is grounded in the science of learning and development.

We are grateful for the time invested by the following individuals and organizations who reviewed the toolkit and provided their expertise:

  • Nancy Duchesneau
    Senior P–12 Research Associate
    The Education Trust
  • Eric Duncan
    Senior P–12 Data and Policy Analyst – Educator Diversity
    The Education Trust
  • Carrie Gillespie
    Senior P–12 Research Associate
    The Education Trust
  • Sarah Mehrotra
    P–12 Data and Policy Analyst
    The Education Trust
  • Kayla Patrick
    Senior P–12 Policy Analyst
    The Education Trust
  • Zahava Sadler
    Special Assistant for State Funding and Policy
    The Education Trust
  • Terra Wallin
    Associate Director for P–12 Accountability and Special Projects
    The Education Trust
  • Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds
    Vice President, Policy
    Excel in Ed
  • Matt Robinson
    Associate Policy Director, Innovation
    Excel in Ed
  • Dr. Pamela Cantor
    Founder and Senior Science Advisor
    Turnaround for Children
  • Brigid Ahern
    President and CEO
    Turnaround for Children
  • Katie Brackenridge
    Partnership Director
    Turnaround for Children
  • Nora Gomperts
    Chief of Staff and Vice President, Strategy and Operations
    Turnaround for Children
  • Elizabeth Tijerina
    Manager, Leadership and Special Projects
    Turnaround for Children
     
Funding for the Whole Child Policy Toolkit was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Harmony and Inspire at National University, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pure Edge, Inc., and the Wallace Foundation. Core operating support for the Learning Policy Institute is provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Raikes Foundation, Sandler Foundation, and MacKenzie Scott. We are grateful to them for their generous support. The ideas voiced here are those of the authors and not those of our funders.
 

The appropriate citation for this report is: Learning Policy Institute. (2022). Whole Child Policy Toolkit. https://doi.org/10.54300/785.225

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

This report was originally published in May 2022. 

 
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