Character education with a plus

Linda McKay. The Education Digest. Ann Arbor: Dec 2002. Vol. 68, Iss. 4; pg. 45, 6 pgs

Abstract (Summary)

McKay offers a step-by-step approach that helps schools build consensus about what character traits
to teach. The approach involves, among other things, experiential learning and adult role models.

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Copyright Prakken Publications, Inc. Dec 2002

CONSIDER the following events: "High School Students Set Five Ethical Expectations for Their
School," "Youth Summits Focus on Good Character and Responsible Behavior," and "Career Day at
High School Brings Community Peopie to the School to Share Their Perspectives on Careers,
Training, and Workplace Ethics." These three examples of character education, led by students and
supported by principals and building staff, present a united effort in character education.

School districts have made these examples possible through their participation in CHARACTERplus, a
program for the Cooperating School Districts, a nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri. The
program was created in 1988 to unite the school, the home, and the community as partners in
charactereducation-- with the school as the cornerstone of that partnership. CHARACTFRplus is
based on a belief that students' character is shaped by the lessons they learn from the world that
surrounds them. Therefore, the character of our children must be the responsibility of us all.

24-Hour Job

But how do you involve the whole school community? How does- a community implement character
education 24 hours a day? The answer came in 1988 when Sandy McDonnell, their Chief Executive
Officer of McDonnell Douglas, issued an invitation to school districts in the St. Louis community to
explore how to support character education in schools. Seven school districts answered that first
invitation; today, CHARACTERplus involves school districts from Missouri and Illinois, reaching 450
schools, 20,000 teachers, and 400,000 students.

Its mission is to advance the cause and illustrate the importance of character education and to sustain
its impact on the lives of educators and students. This is done by: designing, promoting, and facilitating
the processes and best practices that foster the success of character education; developing
community support and resources to sustain character education; and continuously evaluating and
monitoring the impact of the program's effectiveness and services.

After more than a decade of working effectively with diverse communities, CHARACTERplus has
developed a step-by-step approach that helps schools build consensus about what values or character
traits to teach and which resources to use. Using this process, each school develops a character
education curriculum and program that meets its community's unique needs.

For character education to take root, all of the steps which are indicated here are needed, but they do
not have to be carried out sequentially. Individually, each of the steps is good; collectively, they form a
powerful bond that can transform a school community, especially when students themselves are part
of the process.

The program is rooted in 13 years of field-based experience and is based on 10 principles essential to
the development and implementation of school-based character education initiatives.
1. Community partidpation. Educators, parents, students, and members of the community invest
themselves in a consensusbuilding process to discover common ground that is essential for long-term
success. Together, they develop a plan to implement a character education process in their
community.

2. Character education policy.

Character education is a part of the district's philosophy, goals, or mission statement, including a
formal, written policy adopted by the school board. In this way, it becomes a part of the leadership of
the school and community. The district policy also should be affirmed and supported at the building
and classroom levels.

3. Identified and defined character traits. Parents, teachers, and community representatives agree on
which character traits to emphasize and what definitions to use. Developing consensus on the
definitions Is key, and the early involvement of students enriches the process. Once the traits are
defined, they should be made highly visible throughout the school and community.

4. Integrated curriculum. Character education is an integral part of the curriculum at all grade levels.
Character traits are connected to classroom lessons so that students see how a trait might figure into'a
story, be part of a science experiment, or affect them personally. These traits are a part of the
instruction of the day, in every class and every subject.

5. Experiential learning. Students are given many opportunities to experience character traits, see
them in action, and feel them, rather than just talk about them. Communitybased, real-world
experiences that illustrate character traits are included in the curriculum. Service learning, cooperative
learning, and peer mentoring can be an important part of this approach. Ample time is also allowed for
discussion and reflection.

6. Evaluation. The CHARACTERplus initiative-including the implementation process, program

activities, and impact on students-is evaluated regularly to determine if it is achieving the anticipated
results and to validate that the processes and structures being implemented are working. Evaluation
data are used to improve the program.

7. Adult role models. Students "learn what they live," so it is important that all adults in the school
community who interact with students on a daily basis demonstrate positive character traits at home,
school, and in the community. Adults need to reflect and focus on important character traits and how to
model them systematically and intentionally. If adults do not model the behavior they teach, the entire
program will fail.

8. Staff development. Significant time and resources are allocated for staff development activities so
staff members can create and implement character education on an ongoing basis. Time for
discussion and understanding of both the process and the resources, as well as for creation of
curriculum and lesson plans, Is an important part of training activities.

9. Student leadership. Students are involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of all
aspects of the program. They participate in ageappropriate activities and are encouraged to connect
character education to their learning, decision making, and personal goals as the process is integrated
across the school curriculum.

10. Sustaining the Progam.

The character education program is sustained and renewed through implementation of the first nine
essential elements, with particular attention to a high level of commitment from the top; adequate
funding; support for the district coordinator staff; high-- quality and ongoing professional development;
and a networking and support system for teachers who are implementing the program.
The total combination and interaction of these 10 elements are essential in order for the
CHARACTERplus process to be effective. When the community unites around these l0essentials, then
CHARACTERplus becomes the life of the school. In the words of Jon Marshall, evaluator for the
program from the State University of West Georgia, "It becomes how we do business in our schools."

An excellent example of this can be found in the Putnam County R-1 School District, in Unionville,
Missouri. Several staff members, including Jeff Butler, a middle-level and high-school teacher, decided
to connect character education to geography. To accomplish this, Jeff directed students in his advisory
period to write and e-mail a letter explaining their district's character education program.

About 55 friends and relatives received the Initial e-mail and were asked to forward it to others. In
return, the students asked the recipients of the e-mails to let them know what they thought about
character education. Students were to note, via a classroom map, the geographical locations from
which they received responses.

According to Butler, "It exploded from there. The students received more than 2,300 replies from late
October to the first of January. In just over 60 days, the class heard from people in all 50 states plus
the District of Columbia. People living in 52 other countries replied to their e-mail. In addition, they
heard from major corporations from around the world, all of them stressing the importance of ethics."

Butler and his students were from a district that had been part of a comprehensive staff development
program for character education. Several aspects of the 10 essentials, which they used in Putnam
County, are outlined here:

* Every staff member in the district joined with representatives from the community for a one-day
training period on how to effectively implement character education. Building principals and the
superintendent participated in and fully supported this process.

* The community formed a team to develop a plan for school support and community involvement in
character education. Through a process of group consensus, the team defined and adopted a set of
character traits and their definitions.

* The district adopted a character education mission statement, which is displayed in every building
and district administrative office. Approved by the school board, it reads: "The purpose of the
Character Education Program is to develop a community of leaders who make the ethical choices
necessary to become socially responsible and caring individuals. Our mission is to provide learning
opportunities and role models, in conjunction with parents, patrons, and the community at large, that
encourage the development of positive character traits."

* Once each month, community members are honored at school assemblies for one of the chosen
character traits, and their name and their handprint are placed in the district's "Character Wall of
Fame."

* Each year, seniors are involved in Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace and Society, a program
available through the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

* For the past three years, data from annual surveys of the staff, the students, and the parents went
into individualized building reports which were used to guide planning and practice in the district's
character education process. Across the state of Missouri and southwestern Illinois, urban, suburban,
and rural districts which have been implementing the CHARACTERplus process can share stories
which are similar to the storyof Putnam County. There are stories about communities coming together
with proven training and resources in order to implement character education. There are stories about
changes for teachers, parents, and students that have created a positive climate for learning.

What is really exciting where this character education program is concerned are the positive student
outcomes which have resulted from its use. A three-year summary and evaluation report-which was
conducted for the Missouri Character Education Grant and funded by the U.S. Department of
Education-indicates that schools which have been utilizing the CHARACTERplus character education
program have high implement tion levels of the 10 essentials described earlier.

Multi-Area Success

There are significant positive

gains for students who were in the program. At the high school level, significant growth was found in
student perceptions of such areas as kindness and caring, respect and responsibility, fairness and
honesty, and expectations from the school.

Character expectations which were to be exhibited in the area of "Kindness and Caring" included that
students at the school are nice to each other, that they include everyone, that they make new students
welcome, that they let other students know that they care about them, and that they do not make fun of
others (in the same vein, adults are kind to the students).

Character expectations which were to be exhibited in the area of "Respect and Responsibility"
included that students at the school get along well together, that students at the school work out
problems without fighting, that they respect school property, that they take responsibility for their
actions, that they talk politely, that they respect their teachers, and that they think it is important to be a
good citizen, to attend school every day, and to be on time.

Character expectations which were to be exhibited in the area of "Fairness and Honesty" included that
students at the school treat one another fairly, that they tell the truth, that they help decide on school
rules, that they are fair, and that they follow the rules (again, and in the same vein, adults also treat
students fairly).

Character expectations which were to be exhibited in terms of "Expectations from the School" included
that the school expects everyone to get along, that it expects everyone to be kind and caring, that it
expects everyone to treat each other fairly, that it expects them to obey the rules, and that it expects
them to tell the truth.

Best of all, in terms of the overall achievements of the CHARACTERplus program which has been
discussed here, students in these schools are part of the leadership for character education in their
district, understanding that they are helping to shape the character of their community.

[Author Affiliation]
By Linda McKay From Leadership for Student
Activities

[Author Affiliation]
Linda McKay (mikeli@swbell.net) is the Director of CHARACTERplus, a program for Cooperating School
Districts, a nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a founding member of the Character
Education Partnership in Washington, D.C., and co-authored two of the National Association of Secondary
School Principals' current resources in character education: Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace and
Society and License to Lead. CHARACTERplus this year has received the "What's Right with the Region"
Award from FOCUS St. Louis. Condensed from Leadership for Student Activities, 31 (October 2002), 8-11.
Published by National Association of Secondary School Principals, from which related educational materials
(including the two character-education publications by McKay mentioned above) are available by contacting
NASSP, 1904 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191 (phone: 703-860-0200).

References
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Indexing (document details)

Subjects: Schools, Values, Teaching, Educators

Author(s): Linda McKay
Author Affiliation: By Linda McKay From Leadership for Student Activities

Linda McKay (mikeli@swbell.net) is the Director of

CHARACTERplus, a program for Cooperating School Districts, a
nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a founding
member of the Character Education Partnership in Washington,
D.C., and co-authored two of the National Association of
Secondary School Principals' current resources in character
education: Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace and Society
and License to Lead. CHARACTERplus this year has received
the "What's Right with the Region" Award from FOCUS St. Louis.
Condensed from Leadership for Student Activities, 31 (October
2002), 8-11. Published by National Association of Secondary
School Principals, from which related educational materials
(including the two character-education publications by McKay
mentioned above) are available by contacting NASSP, 1904
Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191 (phone: 703-860-0200).
Document types: Feature
Publication title: The Education Digest. Ann Arbor: Dec 2002. Vol. 68, Iss. 4; pg.
45, 6 pgs
Source type: Periodical
ISSN: 0013127X
ProQuest 265983291
document ID:
Text Word Count 2132
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?
did=265983291&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=68516&RQT=309&VName=PQD