Whole Child Resources - Transforming Schools: Superintendent’s Initiatives (CA Dept of Education) (2024)

Select a link to display the Whole Child resources for that subject or select the Expand All link to display all the resources. To effectively address the needs of the whole child, schools should collaborate with families, caretakers, and community agencies to deliver integrated services that promote improved access to health and learning supports, high expectations, and a positive school climate – all of which are necessary for students to thrive in the twenty-first century.

SAFE - Students learn in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe.

Resource	Description
Safe Schools	Provides training, resources and technical assistance to establish a school/community environment which is physically and emotionally safe, well disciplined, and conducive to learning.
Safe and Supportive Schools	Supports statewide measurement of conditions for learning (school climate) and targeted programmatic interventions to improve those conditions.
Anti-bullying	Publications and resources, including community-based organizations, for educators, parents, and community members with tools for recognizing bullying behavior and approaches for determining how to respond.
Restorative Justice	Resources and case studies that demonstrate how to bring restorative justice to a school or classroom.
Crisis Response	Resources to assist school districts with the ongoing concerns of the mental health aspects of crisis planning and crisis response.
Safe Havens	Information about immigration laws and ways to be prepared in case a student or family member is deported.
School Safety Planning Resources	Information intended to help schools identify elements and resources important in improving school climate and safety.
Health and Safety	Information on indoor air quality, lead, asbestos, electromagnetic fields, safe walking routes to school, disaster preparedness, pesticides, and pipelines.
School Facilities Best Practices and Resources	Best practices fact sheets and resources that support the school facilities planning, design, and implementation process.
School Facilities Research Topic Sheets	Research, topic sheets, and bibliographies that support the vision and guiding principles throughout the school facilities planning, design, and implementation process.
Disaster Response - Child Nutrition Programs	Steps that state agencies, school food authorities, institutions, and sponsors participating in the child nutrition programs can take when responding to state or federally declared disasters in affected communities.

See Also

About Us - MOT Charter SchoolMOT Charter School in Middletown, DECharter school statistics for all 50 states6 Tips for Teaching Students With Autism | Teach For America

ENGAGED - Students are actively engaged in learning and are connected to the school and broader community.

Resource	Description
Behavioral Intervention Strategies and Supports	Provides resources and tools that replace punitive discipline practices, such as out-of-school suspension and expulsion, by focusing on correcting students’ behavior and making communities and schools safer.
Positive Behavioral Support	Provides information about essential aspects of implementing and maintaining systemic approaches in multi-tiered systems of support that address school-wide behavioral issues.
Universal Design for Learning	Provides framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.
California Inclusion and Behavior Consultation (CIBC)	Delivers technical support to early care and education programs and builds the capacity of program staff to respond effectively to children with special needs or challenging behaviors.
Intervention Central	Resources for Behavioral Intervention, Defusing, Challenging students, and more.
Engagement Professional Development Model	Resources that help educators understand and make use of current research on student-centered approaches to teaching and learning.
California Afterschool Network	Provides tools and resources necessary to build high-quality out-of-school time programs that support success for all children and youth.

SUPPORTED - Students have access to personalized learning and are supported by qualified and caring adults.

Resource	Description
Social Emotional Learning	Resources to help students develop a range of skills they need for school and life. These include establishing positive relationships, making responsible decisions, and managing emotions.
English Learner Roadmap	Guide to assist local educational agencies to implement California's 21st century college-and-career-ready standards, curriculum, instruction programs, and assessments.
Foster Youth Services	Provides support services to foster children who suffer the traumatic effects of displacement from family and schools and multiple placements in foster care.
Homeless Education Web site	Provides information and resources for homeless children and youths and their right to enroll, attend, participate fully, and succeed in school.
American Indian students	Program information for local educational agencies, Indian tribes and organizations, and other entities about meeting the unique academic, cultural, and linguistic needs of American Indian students.
Migrant Education Programs and Services	Provides information on statewide programs and services coordinated by California's Migrant Education Program.
Dyslexia Guidelines (PDF)	Provides guidelines is to assist regular education teachers, special education teachers, and parents in identifying, assessing, and supporting students with dyslexia.
First Five	Programs that educate parents, grandparents, caregivers, and teachers about the critical role they play during a child’s first five years.

CHALLENGED - Students are challenged academically, prepared for college or further study and for employment and participation in a global enviornment.

Resource	Description
Khan Academy	Offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside the classroom.
California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI)	Works to ensure that all 6th-12th grade students have access to a systematic baseline of guidance and support as they plan, prepare, and pay for post-secondary education and training.
Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)	Places academically average students in advanced classes and provides them with an elective class that prepares them to succeed in rigorous curricula, enter mainstream activities in school, and increase their opportunities to enroll in four-year colleges.
Partnership for 21st Century Learning	Defines and illustrates the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in work, life, and citizenship, as well as the support systems necessary for 21st century learning outcomes.
Advanced Placement (AP)	Description of the AP test program developed by College Board.
Career Technical Education	A program of study that involves a multiyear sequence of courses that integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to provide students with a pathway to postsecondary education and careers.

HEALTHY - Students enter school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.

Resource	Description
Mental Health	Provides strategies, resources, and training in psychological and mental health issues, including coping with tragedy, crisis intervention and prevention, school psychology and suicide prevention.
Trauma Informed Schools	Provides resources that: Educate about the problem of childhood trauma but most importantly on the solutions that exist; Advance programs and practices that help to make schools, homes, and communities safer for children and youth; and Help grow leadership in various fields (e.g., education, health, community, and justice).
Youth Suicide Prevention	Resources to help school districts address the need for youth suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention, including a model youth suicide prevention policy for local educational agencies (LEAs).
Smarter Lunchrooms	Provides schools with the knowledge, motivation, and resources needed to build a lunchroom environment that makes healthy food choices the easy choice, bringing evidence from the fields of economics, marketing, and psychology into the school cafeteria.
California Project Lean	Resources that educate audiences on nutrition and physical activity issues and help groups to take action to implement strategies that will improve nutrition and physical activity environments.
Comprehensive Tobacco-Free School Policy Toolkit	Provides additional resources for tobacco-use prevention, intervention, and cessation.
Tobacco Prevention Toolkit: modules for and tobacco and nicotine education	This Toolkit provides educational modules for schools focused on e-cigarettes, vapes, and nicotine addiction.

See Also

What is an MOT? | The AA

California's Multi-Tiered System of Support (CA MTSS) Resources

These resources provide a framework that aligns academic, behavioral, and social-emotional learning in a fully integrated system of support for the benefit of all students. MTSS offers a guide to systematic change through intentional design and redesign of services and supports to identify and match to the needs of all students.

• CA MTSS Resources
• CA Scale-Up MTSS Statewide Initiative
  

Symposium Serving the Whole Child

This Serving the Whole Learner Symposium archived video identifies challenges and uncovers solutions.Training materials for the Serving the Whole Learner Symposium are available for download. The symposium is presented in partnership with the California Department of Education and the California Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Coalition, and sponsored by a grant funded by the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovative Lab Network.

Return to LCFF/Whole Child Resource Map