Character Matters in Transforming Teaching and

Learning Fay Gore, Section Chief, K-12 Social Studies

Nakisha Floyd, Abstinence Education Consultant, NC Healthy Schools

http://ssnces.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/Character+Education

Why Character Matters“Great learning and superior abilities will be of little value...unless virtue, truth and integrity are added to them.”

Abigail Adams

"Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education"Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Effective character education is not adding a program or set of programs to a school. Rather it is a transformation of the culture and life of the school.”

Dr. Marvin Berkowitz

World in Crisis …Lance Armstrong & Doping Chargers

Jerry Sandusky & Penn State scandal

Sandy Hook & other victims of gun violence

Corrupt Politicians

Wall Street greed

Reality TV

Bullying

Drug & alcohol abuse

Student Preparation

College

Career

Civic Life

Character Education is the Plate!

Common Core

Essential Standards

AccountabilityEvaluations

Parent & Community Involvement

Student Performance

Discipline

Legislation

What is Character Education?

Character education is the deliberate effort to help people understand, care about, and act upon core ethical values. •Intentional and comprehensive

•Integrated throughout every aspect of the school day

•Provides long-term solutions to address moral, ethical, and academic issues i.e. absenteeism, teen pregnancy, gang violence, drug abuse, poor academic performance

Benefits of Character Education

• Brings Schools and Communities together

• Improving school and classroom climate

• Creating safer (Safe & Drug Free) and more caring schools

• Closing the achievement gap

• Academic achievement for all

• Academic integrity

• Professional ethics

• Health and physical education

• Service to others

• Community building and commitment

How can we begin to restore a culture of character, leadership, & service in

schools?

Use a framework for changing school culture

o Legislation

o The 3 c’s: Community, Climate, & Curriculum

o Character Education Partnership’s 11 Principles

Provide students the opportunity to lead and serve

o NCDPI

o Guilford County Schools

o Cotswold Elementary

o National Youth Leadership Council

STUDENT CITIZEN ACT OF 2001

In the fall of 2001, the North Carolina State Legislature passed the Student Citizen Act of 2001 (SL 2001-363).

This Act requires every local board of education to develop and implement character education instruction with input from the local community.

With the passage of this Act, the state of North Carolina has affirmed that the development of character in our children is the cornerstone of education.

Character EducationCharacter Traits (from legislation)

– Courage

– Good judgment

– Integrity

– Kindness

– Perseverance

– Respect

– Responsibility

– Self-discipline

Character EducationOther elements:

1. Respect for school personnel—holding teachers, administrators, and all school

personnel in high esteem and demonstrating in words and deeds that all school personnel

deserve to be treated with courtesy and proper deference.

2. Responsibility for school safety—helping to create a harmonious school atmosphere

that is free from threats, weapons, and violent or disruptive behavior; cultivating an orderly

learning environment in which students and school personnel feel safe and secure; and

encouraging the resolution of conflicts and disagreements through peaceful means including

peer mediation.

What Do Successful NC State Schools Of Character Have?

The Model• Community refers to the process of building consensus and

sustaining community involvement in the shared responsibility of developing character and active citizenship in young people.

• Climate incorporates multiple factors that affect the school environment, such as personal relationships, leadership, discipline, sense of community, safety, civic involvement and democratic leadership.

• Curriculum includes strategies and resource materials for integrating elements of character into the entire school curriculum and for strengthening the civics curriculum. Service learning is suggested as a highly successful strategy for both character and citizenship development.

Service Learning, Health & Other Content Areas

Healthy Lives, Healthy ChoicesEnglish/Language

ArtsSocial

Studies/HistoryForeign

LanguagesThe Arts

Examine how marketing has been used to promote smoking cigarettes and to stop people from smoking

Interview elders to find out how popular diets have changed since their childhoods

Examine how language barriers interfere with healthcare in developing countries and among immigrant populations

Use photography to capture images of community health

Read a book or novel and look at the choice made by the characters that contributed to their well-being

Compare global diets and lifespan

Read recipes in different languages and learn about the food ingredients from various cultures

Create dramatizations of challenging situations with “what would you do?” moments, and include examples of healthy responses

Source: The Complete Guide to Service Learning (Kaye, 2010)

Service Learning, Health & Other Content Areas

Math Physical Education

Computer Science

Find statistics regarding the reaction time of braking in a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and alcohol

Interview athletes for information about how food choices and exercise can build strength and endurance

Research how increased computer use (video games, social networking, etc.) impacts young people’s health

Find out how weather can affect the health of people living with conditions like asthma

Compare health care costs in rural, suburban and urban communities

Use pedometers and chart physical activity of students in a class

Design screen savers with positive messages about healthy choices and distribute to students and the community

Learn what blood pressure is and how to check it

Source: The Complete Guide to Service Learning (Kaye, 2010)

The KEY to a successful school Character Education program is to follow the “The 11 Principles of Effective Character Education”

Each principle outlines criteria that should be considered when developing an effective program.

“The 11 Principles of Effective Character Education” offer the primary guidance for successful implementation and outcomes.

What is quality character education?

Effective character education:

1. Principle 1: Promotes core ethical values.

2. Principle 2: Defines “character” comprehensively to include thinking, feeling, and behavior.

3. Principle 3: Uses a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach.

What does a school with quality character education look like?

4. Principle 4: Creates a caring school community.

5. Principle 5: Provides opportunities for moral action (service learning).

6. Principle 6: Includes a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that meets the needs of all learners (performance character).

7. Principle 7: Fosters students’ self-motivation.

Who should be involved in character education?

8. Principle 8: Engages the school staff as a learning and moral community.

9. Principle 9: Fosters shared moral leadership and long-range support.

10.Principle 10: Engages families and community members as partners.

How are we doing? Where do we go from here?

Assessment should guide the process!

11.Principle 11: Evaluates the character education initiative.

I Am…Character, Leadership and

Service

Title V Abstinence Education and Social Studies Partnership

2012 NCDPI Student Leadership Institute

Title V: Abstinence Education

• $1.7 million federal grant from ACF, USDHHS

• 19 high need counties receive sub-awards

• Students in grades 4, 5 and 6

• NC AEGP project focus

– Mental and Behavioral Health

– Health Services

– Health Education

– Parental and Community Involvement

Social Studies Education• Inherited Character Education in 2009

• Small appropriations from the NC General Assembly

• 115 LEAs plus Charter Schools (8 State Board Districts)

• Students in grades K-12

• Curriculum Focus

– Citizenship Education

– Service Learning

Service LearningService-Learning is a pedagogy that connects meaningful community service experiences with academic learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility. Service-learning goes beyond extracurricular community service because it involves participants in reading, reflection and analysis; provides students an opportunity to develop a personal connection to what they are learning; and creates a context for the application of concepts introduced in the classroom.

Benefits:

•It enhances the educational goals of the curriculum through experiential learning and critical reflection.

•It helps students develop the skills and virtues required for full participation and leadership in their democratic communities.

•It serves the public good by providing a needed service to individuals, organization, schools, or other entities in the community.

…What the Research Says…

Service Learning & 40 Developmental Assets

• External• Community Values Youth

• Youth as Resources

• Service to Others

• Positive Peer Influence

• High Expectations

• Creative Activities

• Youth Programs

Source: http://www.search-institute.org

Service Learning & 40 Developmental Assets

• Planning and Decision Making

• Interpersonal Competence

• Cultural Competence

• Resistance Skills

• Peaceful Conflict Resolution

• Personal Power

• Self-Esteem

• Sense of Purpose

• Positive View of Personal Future

Source: http://www.search-institute.org

• Internal• Achievement Motivation

• Bonding to School

• Homework

• Reading for Pleasure

• Caring

• Equality and Social Justice

• Integrity

• Honesty

• Responsibility

• Restraint

The Benefits of Service Learning

• Civic Responsibility

– Increase awareness of community needs

– Relate to culturally diverse groups

– Feel they can make a difference

• Academic Learning

– Improved grades including test scores

– Improved grade point averages

– Improved problem-solving skills

– Increased interest in academics

– Increased student attendance

Source: Research on k-12 School-Based Service Learning (S.H. Billig)

Service Learning & Healthy Outcomes

• Personal and Social Development

– Increase measures of personal and social responsibility

– Increased self-esteem and self-efficacy

– Less likely to engage in “risk” behaviors

– Less likely to be referred for disciplinary measures

– Less likely to engage in behaviors that lead to pregnancy or arrest

• School Environment/Climate

– Improves overall school climateSource: Research on k-12 School-Based Service Learning (S.H. Billig)

2012 NCDPI Student Leadership Institute

• Two and a half day residential program

– June 27th through June 29th

• William Peace University

• 16 Teams of Students with Adult Advisors

– 7 Elementary

– 6 Middle School

– 3 High School

– 84 total

Lincoln

DurhamAlamance

Alleghany

Anson

Ashe

Avery

Beaufort

Bertie

Bladen

Brunswick

Buncombe

Burke

Cabarrus

Caldwell

Carteret

Caswell

CatawbaChatham

CherokeeClay

Cleveland

Columbus

Craven

Cumberland

DareDavidson

Davie

Duplin

Edgecombe

ForsythFranklin

Gaston

Gates

Graham

Granville

Greene

Guilford

Halifax

Harnett

Haywood

Henderson

Hertford

Hoke

Hyde

Iredell

Jackson

Johnston

Jones

Lee

Lenoir

McDowell

Macon

MadisonMartin

Mecklenburg

Mitchell

MontgomeryMoore

Nash

NewHanover

Northampton

Onslow

Orange

Pamlico

Pender

Person

Pitt

Polk

Randolph

Richmond

Robeson

Rockingham

Rowan

Rutherford

Sampson

Scotland

Stanly

StokesSurry

Swain

Transylvania

Tyrrell

Union

Vance

Wake

Warren

Washington

Watauga

Wayne

Wilkes

Wilson

Yadkin

Yancey

Perquimans

Chowan

2012 SLI TEAMSPasquotank

Camden

Currituck

Alexander

REGION 8WESTERN

REGION 7NORTHWESTSnow Creek Elementary

REGION 5PIEDMONT - TRIAD/ CENTRALEfland CheecksErwin MontessoriMineral Springs MiddlePenn-Griffith High

REGION 1NORTHEASTLakeforest ElementaryFirst Flight Middle

REGION 3NORTH CENTRALMoore Square Museum MagnetRocky Mount PreparatorySoutheast HalifaxNorth Johnston High

REGION 6SOUTHWESTLincoln Charter ElementaryConcord Middle

REGION 4 SANDHILLS/ SOUTHCENTRALCameron ElementaryHoke County High

REGION 2SOUTHEASTPenderlea ElementarySouthwest Middle

The Experience• Team Building Session

– Leading To Change (Charlotte, NC)

• Elementary Teams– Training in Service Learning, Leadership and Character Development– Service Learning Project Planning with Centennial Middle School (Raleigh, NC)

Leadership Staff– Experiential Learning Experience at the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health

Education (Raleigh)

• Middle High School Teams– Training in Service Learning, Leadership and Character Development– Service Learning Project Planning with Guilford County Schools Character

Education Staff– Guest Speaker, Marty Wiggins, Environmental Education Consultant– Experiential Learning Experience at Lake Crabtree (Raleigh)

2012 SLI Resources

2012 SLI Testimonials• “The students absolutely loved the leaders from

Leading To Change! They had a lot of fun moving around and participating in the activities. They were activities that the students have been able to share with their peers in the classroom as well.”

• [Teambuilding Session with Leading To Change] “Really pushes our kids out of their comfort zone which was great!”

• “The kids were on fire, and didn’t want to stop!”

Quotes from 2012 SLI Evaluation Survey

2012 SLI Testimonials• “NCDPI SLI Team provided wonderful resources!”

• The Poe Center: “This was such a wonderful learning opportunity for the kids as well as myself! So many hands on experiences for them – I really think they took a lot away from that trip.”

• “The stop by Durham (the American Tobacco District) was good.”

• “I love that the students were able to participate in creating and leading the closing ceremony.”

Quotes from 2012 SLI Evaluation Survey

The 2012 SLI Experience

2012 SLI Outcome• Create A Service Learning Project

– Elementary Teams had to create a health-related project or show the health link

• Service Learning Project Focus– Raising money through exercise (walk-a-thon/bike-a-thon) to start and fund a school

“Back Pack Buddies” program• Fighting Hunger

– Bullying

– Improving school environment through wellness

– Planning and planting a school garden

– Environmental Awareness and recycling

– Providing support to youth battling life-threatening illnesses

2013 SLI

• June 23 – 26

• William Peace University

• Veteran Cohort and Beginner Cohort

• Focus: Building Capacity in Student Leadership, Service and Character Development.

State/National School/District of

CharacterBrenda ElliottExecutive Director of Student ServicesProject Manager for Character Development Initiative

elliotb@gcsnc.com 

Yvonne FosterCoordinator of Character Development & Service-Learning

fostery2@gcsnc.com

State/National School/District of

CharacterCotswold ElementaryCharlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Alicia Giles HashPrincipalp349@cms.k12.nc.us.

Mary HookCoordinator for Character Educationmary.hooks@cms.k12.nc.us

How Do You Know If Your Character

Education Program Is Working?

Observable Behaviors:

Do students demonstrate that they know right from wrong?

Do students’ actions show a respect for others?

Do students work well cooperatively?

Do students influence others in a positive way

Is the school becoming a more caring community?

Is the entire school staff working on being a positive role model and friend to students?

How Do You Know If Your Character

Education Program Is Working?

Collect Definitive Information:

Attendance data

Suspension data

Data on specific behaviors i.e., fighting, bullying, cutting class, d-hall participation, etc.

Communication logs i.e., parent/community involvement, school/community collaboration, school program agendas and bulletins,

etc.

“Nothing is more important to the public weal [well-being] than to form and train up

youth in wisdom and virtue.”

--Benjamin Franklin