Several national organizations have offered frameworks and resources for planning for the reopening school buildings closed due to COVID-19. Policymakers and practitioners will need a shared understanding of the common whole child terms and phrases as they plan and work to mobilize student supports. This resource provides definitions for key terms along with an analysis of the inclusion of these terms in the various reopening guidance documents.

This article uses a relational developmental systems framework, known as Development Systems Theories to synthesize knowledge on the role of relationships and key micro and macro contexts in supporting—or undermining—the development of children and youth. By using a variety of correlational, longitudinal, and causal studies; multiple sources were triangulated to reach the conclusions drawn.

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of knowledge about how children develop into whole individuals, how they become learners, and how contextual factors nourish or hinder their development. This article shows how a developmental system theories approach provides a framework for viewing the effects of multiple factors within micro- and macro-environments on the shaping of how children learn, change, and grow throughout their development.

Human development can be influenced by a myriad of factors that include individual, biological, contextual, cultural, and historical factors. By synthesizing research across multiple disciples, it is possible to develop new approaches aimed at solving chronic learning and social problems experienced by children and youth.