What School Is All About

Restoring the heart and soul of education.

By Valerie Maholmes

Here is a true story I heard recently that brings together pieces of the educational puzzle that are, to my mind, essential to understanding how schools may have gotten off track in their mission to help all students grow and learn, and how they can right themselves again.

After being expelled, 15-year-old Jeremy and his family searched for and finally found a new school that seemed appropriate. Two months later, Jeremy's disruptive behavior at the new school precipitated a comprehensive evaluation that led to his receiving out-of-district services, including psychological services. His parents, unable and unwilling to pay for these services, sued the school district, contending that officials should have known that emotional concerns were at the heart of Jeremy's problems. The district maintained that if it had to pay anything, it should only be the educational costs. During the legal proceedings, the judge concluded that whether or not the district was negligent, the emotional and educational issues were so interrelated that there was no way to determine whether Jeremy would be better served if only educational or psychological services were provided. Therefore, in order for Jeremy to be successful, the district would be responsible for the educational costs, and for costs associated with the emotional treatment as well.

As I listened to this story, I was intrigued by the judge's clear and irrefutable message to the district officials: Education and social- emotional development are inextricably linked. His charge to the district underscored the important message that is generally missing in the discourse on education and education reform. School success and social-emotional development are linked in such a way that it is virtually impossible to isolate the effects of either...