Whole Child Policy Study Group

• Establish a collaborative forum of state board of education leaders;
• Develop the capacity of these leaders to leverage a whole child policy audit to spark policy changes and identify research-based strategies to improve state policies that affect student success and wellness; and
• Equip these state leaders with press and intergovernmental relations resources to be trusted spokespersons on whole child policymaking.

• Collaboration with peers from around the country during five virtual study group meetings;
• Connection to subject matter experts in the areas of social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health;
• Access to a whole child policy audit tailored to state boards of education;
• Ready-to-use tools to engage with the press and public (e.g., letters to the editor, press releases, social media posts, resolutions); and
• Ongoing technical assistance through curated biweekly newsletters of resources and model policy, rapid response assistance upon request, and optional individual monthly technical assistance calls to walk through questions, challenges, and ideas.

NASBE is proud to have a strong, diverse cadre of state board leaders participating in the study group. Members of the study group include the following: Candice Fifer (Delaware), Christine Benson (Illinois), Claire Batt (Kentucky), Darren Fleischer (District of Columbia), Deanna Townsend-Smith (North Carolina), Elaine Bobrove (New Jersey), Erin Benham (Connecticut), J. Wendell Hall (North Carolina), Janice Mak (Arizona), Jeffrey Van Hulten (Utah), Jenna Ahner (Delaware), Jo Allison Slone (Kentucky), Kathy Busch (Kansas), Lisa Fricke (Nebraska), Lu Young (Kentucky), Max Mickelson (Wyoming), Michael Phillips (Maryland), Nedd Johnson (New Jersey), Pamela L. Davis-Vaught (Virginia), Patricia Rucker (California), and Steve Durham (Colorado).

Study group members will attend five 90-minute virtual meetings in July, September, November, February, and April. Topical prereading and reflection will be distributed to group members at least two weeks prior to each session. Examples of participant leadership in whole child policymaking will be gathered over the course of the project to be highlighted in NASBE publications and national conversations.

Contact Megan Blanco, NASBE’s director of safe and healthy schools, with questions about this project.