Just as we watch hair styles and wardrobes evolve through generations, so can we see learners evolve. "You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on you. No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he is not the same man" (Graham 1). Following Heraclitus' theory of constant change, as learners evolve, schools evolve to accommodate them, right? Unfortunately, in the United States' public education system this is simply not the case. 

The education system does what it was designed to do. The problem is that it was designed over 100 years ago in a different time, for a different need, in a different world economy, to satisfy a different life style (White 1). In 1647, the first school was formed in Boston, Massachusetts. Legislation decreed that every town of fifty families should have an elementary school and that every town of 100 families should have a Latin school (Applied Research Center 2). Notice the word that defined and designated education when it was founded; family.

In 1817 a petition presented in a Boston Town Meeting called for the establishment of a system of free public primary schools (Applied Research Center 2). At this time, the United States' economy was agriculture based. Between 1820 and 1860, people were forced to move into cities to look for work, as small farms were left for larger plantations and factories (Applied Research Center 3). This period of urbanization and industrialization, manufacturing and factory jobs became the only way for families to survive. In Howard White's article STEM not STEAM, he says that as owners of industry needed a docile and obedient workforce, they looked to public schools to provide it (1).

Urbanization and Industrialization shaped what the Public Education system wanted out of its students. In the same article, White goes into great detail of his comparison between schools and factories. 

"Schools were, and still are structured like the factories they were developed to serve.  They treat education like an assembly line  --  you move from one task (class) to the next  --  day in and day out.  There is little collaboration or interchange between the work done in one department (course) versus the next.  The product (students) are processed, as in a factory, in batches (by year of birth).  The resultant product (graduates) are therefore all from the same mold. Due to this structure, which has not changed much in the last 100+ years  --  change is hard to come by. So is it any wonder that the teachers, who are given the workflow and schedule (curriculum) by the plant managers (the school boards and politicians) with little flexibility and/or authority to change things, are treated like foreman, unionized, and are paid and protected by seniority (tenure)?" (White 1)

This metaphor chillingly illustrates how industrialization's 'input output' mindset shaped the educations system. This constant pressure for output is still present in today's schools. Working in an elementary school, I am able to witness firsthand how much of a student's day is spent taking tests and quizzes, and consequently how much of a teacher's day is spend collecting this 'output' from the students and interpreting the data. 

Not only did industrialization's 'input output' mindset shape how schools were run academically, the family model that the industrial economy allowed for shaped how homes were run. Urbanization is as much a social process as it is an economic process. "It transforms societal organizations, the role of the family, demographic structures, the nature of work, and the way we choose to live and with whom. It also modifies domestic roles and relations within the family, and redefines concepts of individual and social responsibility" (HRMARS 3). 

Due to the industrial based economy, factories "could pay middle-class wages for semi-skilled labor, enabling one parent to focus on bread winning and the other on child development. The division of labor really was characterized by the industrial age and that absolutely translated into how we designed public schools" (Cardinali). This ability to designate one parent for wage earnings and one parent for child rearing was the norm of the industrial age. However, this marital dyad and family structure that the education system was created around is not what we find ourselves in today.

More than 40 percent of births now occur outside marriage, and the American family itself has become far more diverse and varied. "I wouldn't say the Ozzie and Harriet family is headed towards extinction, but it's really a much much smaller slice of American life," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution and researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (Rosegrant 2). Marriage is no longer a given. Research conducted by the Department of Public Affairs and Social Work shows that cohabitating couples cannot keep the same stability as married couples. "Most cohabiting unions are relatively short lived, and sharing of resources within such unions less certain. Calculations of the proportion of women who are married or cohabiting show a smaller decline from 83 percent in 1970 to 70 percent in 2006 for women ages 40 to 44" (Cancian 4).

This growth in unmarried couples creates an increase in children raised in unstable environments. Forty percent of young adults have lived with cohabiting parents (Rosegrant 5). "Fewer than half of young adults reach age 18 in a family headed by their married biological parents. And more than half experience a change in their family structure, such as a mother divorcing or changing partners" (Rosegrant 5). 

This change in family structure has been poverty increasing. As marriage rates have fallen over time, the amount of people living in households that depend on one adult for both earnings and caretaking has skyrocketed (Rosegrant 7). "Single-mother families are about five times as likely to be poor as married-parent families. Although they are less likely to be poor than they were 50 years ago, single parent families are more common, accounting for a larger share of all poor families" (Cancian 3). 

So why does this change in family structure matter in education? Research shows that family instability is challenging for children. ISR sociologist Paula Fomby found that nearly one in five children today lives with a half- or step-sibling at age 4, and doing so raises by 14 percent the chance that the child will act out when they start school. And kids who live with both a step-parent and step- or half-siblings show an almost 30 percent increase in aggressive behavior on entering school. Poverty is just as devastating to a child's ability to learn as an unstable residential status. Dan Cardinali, president of national non-profit Communities in Schools compared dropping off a poor kid at a traditionally designed public school and expecting her to get a complete education to dropping her off at a department store and expecting her to get a week's worth of groceries. Family, economic and school stability are all positively correlated. 

The public education system was created for a world centuries behind the one we find ourselves in today; one that assumes a child's basic needs of clothing, food, shelter and love are being met at home. Because of the current family model of the United States, these needs must be met in the school through a holistic or wraparound education model that employs and values extracurricular staff such as counselors, social workers, nurses, school resource officers, and more.

The National Education Association, an accredited Federal Bureau charged with implementing programs on Title I schools and overseeing their progress, published an article that expresses their respect and acceptance of the Wraparound Education Model, or WEM. They say that their research has concluded that a student cannot be successful in the classroom without having interventions in the school to monitor and improve their health, mental health, and family supports. National Education Association President Dennis Van Roeke eloquently explained the need for the WEM by saying that "teachers and support professionals know that students need to come to school ready and able to learn. Students who have good nutrition, dental and medical services, and counseling programs where necessary are simply going to do better in school."

The wraparound education model looks at the needs of the holistic child, not just the academic child. The use of the WEM is imperative in the fight against the correlation of poverty and low-academic achievement. Schools that implement the WEM work to remove barriers to successful learning such as hunger, emotional support, and family engagement. 

"Now school educators often say 'Hey, we are not in the child development business", but given the shift in socio-economic makeup of the student body, we as a nation need to ask ourselves, 'Then exactly whose business is it?'" (Why Most Students Are Getting the Least Out of School, D. Cardinali). The WEM encourages employment and correct use of extra-curricular staff including but not limited to school guidance counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, and school resource officers. This allows teachers to focus on teaching and removes raising children from their daily job description, but instead hands that duty to trained professionals. 

Communities in Schools, a non-profit that I am proud to work for, is the nation's largest agency that specializes in keeping students in school by providing a caring adult who makes the resources of the community available to the student. Communities in Schools is a prime example of a well-functioning WEM. As a case manager with communities in schools, I keep constant watch over my twelve children. One of the first things that I asses with them is their safety at home. One of my student's teacher voiced her concern that the child was falling asleep multiple days a week during class. However, because of the number of students in her class and all of the administrative tasks that were expected of her, she was unable to look into the matter. After a few phone calls and a home visit it was clear to me that the child was exhausted because at eight years old he was being sexually solicited by his mother in exchange for drugs. Because that school implemented a wraparound education model, someone was there as the student's advocate. Now that that student is living in a residential group foster home and attending regular counseling, he is blossoming academically.  Once safety is covered, I make sure my children are fed and clothed. I work with Harvest Hope Food Bank to pack bags for my children that are on the Back Pack Program to ensure that no child goes hungry over the weekend. How can a student be expected to take a multiplication test first thing Monday morning when the last meal they had was Friday afternoon? I work with the community to keep a well-stocked clothing closet. No student should miss class because they were sent home due to their clothing. Once these more basic needs are established, I dive into my students academics. I meet with their teachers and review their grades to decide what can be done to ensure academic success, which can take place in many different forms such as small group sessions, hiring in class tutors, or even purchasing the student multiplication flashcards to use at home. Most importantly to me, I work with my student emotionally. I tell each child of mine every day, "You are kind, you are smart, you are important." My students all have my cell phone numbers in their agendas and know that if they need me day or night, I am there. I hug my students, and for many of them that is the only hug they receive that week. The public school system was created in an age when all of these things were accomplished at home by two parents. Today, they must be done through the integration of WEM staff like myself.  

Most schools are unable to have a non-profit contracted in such as Communities. Typically a school guidance counselor and a school social worker fulfil the job duties that I have. The most important role of a school guidance counselor is classroom guidance. At Wood Elementary, where I am contracted, the guidance counselor pushes into each classroom once a month and gives a lesson to the children on a range of topics from bullying to body image issues. In high schools these classes can include everything from pregnancy prevention courses to college preparedness. The school social worker's most important hat is the attendance police. In Lexington 2 school district, if a child misses 2 consecutive days a phone call is made home. If the child misses 3 consecutive days then a home visit is scheduled. School social workers understand that a student has a 0% chance of learning what the teacher says if they are not there to hear it. 

School nurses are an essential member in the team that it takes to create a wraparound education system and are worth highlighting. In an article published by the National Association of Nurses in 2011, RN Connie Board stated that "the registered professional school nurse is the leader in the school community to oversee school health policies and programs. The school nurse serves in a pivotal role to provide expertise and oversight for the provision of school health services and promotion of health education. Using clinical knowledge and judgment, the school nurse provides health care to students and staff, performs health screenings and coordinates referrals to the medical home or private healthcare provider. The school nurse serves as a liaison between school personnel, family, community and healthcare providers to advocate for health care and a healthy school environment (Board 2)." This clearly explains the importance of the role of a school nurse in protecting and fostering the wellbeing of students. "A student's health status is directly related to his or her ability to learn.  Children with unmet health needs have a difficult time engaging in the educational process.  The school nurse supports student success by providing health care through assessment, intervention, and follow-up for all children within the school setting. The school nurse addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and social health needs of students and supports their achievement in the learning process (Board 2)." This points to the heart of a wraparound education model  --  serving the student as a whole, so that they can be successful in the classroom. This issue has historically always been imperative, but it is currently at its peak. "The number of children that have a chronic condition has increased dramatically over the past four decades (Perrin, Bloom, & Gortmaker 8).  Chronic conditions such as asthma, anaphylaxis, type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, obesity and mental health concerns may impact the student's ability to be in school and ready to learn (Board)."

It takes a village to educate a student, not just a teacher. A child must have a stable and safe residential environment, food and clothing, medical care, and emotional support before he or she can even begin the task of learning. When our country founded its educational system, children were being reared in two parent homes where one parent was stably employed and the other had the full time job of supporting the child. This equation created successful learners. However, because of the change in family structure of the United States, these supports are not being seen within the home. Instead, they must be met in the school through a team of professionals who utilize a holistic education model. 

