Building Blocks for Learning

Building Blocks for Learning is a framework for comprehensive student development created by Turnaround for Children, a nonprofit that helps accelerate student development and academic achievement in schools facing adversity. The framework focuses on the inter- and intrapersonal skills and mindsets children need to succeed in school, college, and life.

View All Term Definitions

Breakdown by Domain

Domain Key

Cognitive

Emotion

Social

Values

Perspectives

Identity

Cognitive 18%
Emotion 12%
Social 26%
Values 26%
Perspectives 3%
Identity 15%

Key Features

Context & Culture

Notes that race, gender, and other aspects of identity impact whether certain skills and mindsets are perceived as positive or negative attributes
Calls for more research around the impact of age, gender, and race on the acquisition, application, and perception of skills and mindsets
Discusses the importance of social contexts and the impact of relationships on child development
Calls for more research on how to teach skills and mindsets in schools and afterschool, mentoring, and alternative education programs

Developmental Perspective

Organizes skills into a research-based developmental hierarchy: building blocks at the bottom of the pyramid represent foundational skills that support higher-order skills at the top of the pyramid
Includes some information about which skills should be built in early childhood but does not consistently provide age ranges for every building block

Associated Outcomes

Notes that all skills have strong evidence of impact on academic achievement

Available Resources

Support Materials

Provides an informational video on the framework
Offers supplemental videos on brain development and the science of adversity

Programs & Strategies

No programs or strategies provided

Measurement Tools

Discusses problems with the type of self-reports commonly used to measure skills and calls for more behavior-based measures
No tools provided

Key Publications

Stafford-Brizard, K. B. (2016). Building blocks for learning: A framework for comprehensive student development. Retrieved from: http://www.turnaroundusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Turnaround-for-Children-Building-Blocks-for-Learningx-2.pdf

Turnaround for Children

Non-profit

To help stakeholders in the areas of policy, practice, and research build a more comprehensive approach to student development by supporting the skills and mindsets that students need to succeed in school and beyond

Over the past 16 years, Turnaround for Children has partnered with 100+ schools to provide educators with knowledge and tools to help students succeed