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The Language of Landforms | Lesson Plan | Education.com

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Kinesthetic and visual learners will greatly enjoy this playful lesson. Using symbols and gestures, students explore the characteristics of various United States landforms.

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What is differentiated instruction?
Carol Tomlinson provides a concise explanation of what it means to differentiate instruction.

Two misconceptions about DI - that there is a disconnect with standards and that DI is only for certain students
Carol Tomlinson explains how learning standards and differentiation are aligned with one another and that DI is not a restrictive approach designed for certain types of students.

A misconception about DI - that it is an 'add-on' activity
Carol Tomlinson addresses a common misconception about DI by clarifying that it is not an extra thing to do in the classroom.

A misconception teachers sometimes have - "I already differentiate."
Carol Tomlinson discusses a common misconception of teachers who lack a clear understanding of DI - they often believe they already differentiate.

Four common misconceptions about DI
Kristina Doubet discusses some misconceptions about DI, clarifying that whole-class instruction occurs in a differentiated classroom, that DI is not a case of high-level versus low-level students, that it is a proactive approach to meeting the varied learning needs of students, and addresses students' differing interests and learning preferences as well as readiness.

Engaging resource specialists in planning differentiated lessons
Kelly A. Hedrick explains the important role resource specialists can play in collaboratively planning differentiated lessons with classroom teachers.
Barriers that teachers may encounter when implementing DI
Catherine Brighton describes barriers that elementary and secondary teachers often encounter as they begin to differentiate instruction in their classes.
Cindy Strickland describes a way to differentiate professional development for teachers using tiered activities designed for different readiness levels.

These experts on differentiated instruction appear in our video clips.
Video Archive
Catherine Brighton - Associate Professor, UVA School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia

Marcia Imbeau - Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Arkansas

Kristina Doubet - Assistant Professor in Middle, Secondary, & Mathematics Education, James Madison University

Jay McTighe - Author and educational consultant

Monica Harrold - Principal, Northside Elementary School, Ann Arbor, MI

Cindy Strickland - Educational consultant and ASCD faculty member

Kelly A. Hedrick - Director of Gifted Education & Academy Programs, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, VA

Carol Tomlinson - William Clay Parrish Jr. Professor Emeritus, UVA School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia

Jessica Hockett - Educational consultant

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It is composed of Vitamins C and K and minerals like generic viagra sale iron and manganese. It's very important to stick to a pill at pfizer viagra online amerikabulteni.com least 30 to 60 m...

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Our research examines the nature of such potentials, the contexts and conditions in which they develop, and the practices that support their flourishment

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Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based conceptual framework, which aims to integrate the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters.

Visible Thinking began as an initiative to develop a research-based approach to teaching thinking dispositions. The approach emphasized three core practices: thinking routines, the documentation of student thinking, and reflective professional practice. It was originally developed at Lemshaga Akademi in Sweden as part of the Innovating with Intelligence project, and focused on developing students' thinking dispositions in such areas as truth-seeking, understanding, fairness, and imagination. It has since expanded its focus to include an emphasis on thinking through art and the role of cultural forces and has informed the development of other Project Zero Visible Thinking initiatives, including Artful Thinking, and Cultures of Thinking.

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Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based conceptual framework, which aims to integrate the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters. Visible Thinking began as an initiative to develop a research-based approach to teaching thinking dispositions. The approach emphasized three core practices: thinking routines, the documentation of student thinking, and reflective professional practice.

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Read the LATEST blog Why use PYP Teaching Tools? Do you believe in developing thinkers and inquirers within the classroom? Are you an inquiry teacher, perhaps working within the IB PYP? Maybe you are looking for guidance and resources that will provoke curiosity in your students, leading to...

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Findings from the American teacher panel for SEL in schools

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Findings from the American teacher panel for SEL in schools

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Photo by FatCamera/Getty Images

Setting goals. Working together. Making good decisions.

More than ever, schools across the United States and around the globe are embracing social and emotional learning (SEL) to assist students in adopting these skills and many other interpersonal (e.g., teamwork, leadership) and intrapersonal (e.g., self-regulation, resilience) capabilities. This dedication to SEL is well supported by research. Numerous studies in the last decade have demonstrated how SEL capabilities can improve student well-being, social behavior, and academic achievement.

Defining Social and Emotional Learning

Although SEL is defined in a variety of ways, the research team defined it in accordance with a framework developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This framework is widely used in schools and includes a broad set of competencies that are reflected in many other common frameworks.

According to CASEL, social and emotional learning "is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions."

But what do teachers think about the SEL-related efforts in their districts and schools? How do they see these efforts affecting their students (and themselves)? Do they feel that they are getting enough support to work on SEL in their classrooms?

RAND Corporation researchers conducted a spring 2019 survey through the American Teacher Panel (ATP), a nationally representative sample of K-12 teachers. The team received responses from more than 1,200 teachers across the United States working in schools in different geographic locations and economic conditions and serving different student populations.

The findings from this study, which are summarized in this research brief and documented in the full report, can help education policymakers and practitioners strengthen their supports for SEL in schools.

Survey Results

Finding 1 Most Teachers Expressed Confidence in Their Ability to Improve Students' Social and Emotional Competencies, but They Also Perceived Barriers

The survey asked teachers several questions about their beliefs about SEL and their role in promoting it. As Figure 1 shows, teachers' self-efficacy (i.e., their confidence in their ability to improve students' social and emotional competencies) was high; roughly 90 percent of elementary teachers and slightly fewer secondary teachers agreed that they could get through to even the most-difficult students. The responses also suggest that teachers felt confident in their ability to improve student SEL.

However, teachers identified limits to what they could do in their classrooms. Many teachers expressed a belief that factors beyond their control had a greater influence on students' SEL than they did and that pressure to improve students' academic achievement made it difficult to focus on SEL.

Figure 1. About 90 percent of elementary and secondary teachers agreed that promoting SEL would improve students' academic achievement

Percentages of teachers who agreed with statements about self-efficacy and responsibility for SEL

Statement

Elementary teachers who strongly agreed

Elementary teachers who agreed

Secondary teachers who strongly agreed

Secondary teachers who agreed

NOTES: Linear probability models were used to estimate differences between the proportion of teachers in elementary and secondary schools who at least agreed (agreed or strongly agreed). Linearized standard errors and survey weights are used in all models. N = 1,212-1,214. ** p < 0.01.

The survey question was "How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about your work with students this year (2018-2019)?" Response options were "strongly disagree," "disagree," "agree," and "strongly agree."

Finding 2 Teachers Indicated a Need for Additional SEL-Related Professional Development in Several Key Areas

Professional development (PD) can take a variety of forms and be both formal (e.g., workshops) and informal (e.g., professional learning from peers or mentors). Roughly three-quarters of teachers reported receiving some SEL-related PD during the 2018-2019 school year, with much of this PD in the form of informal dialogue with colleagues and participation in professional learning networks. Although PD covered a variety of topics, the topics that it was least likely to cover were adapting SEL practices to different cultures or linguistic backgrounds and using student SEL data.

When asked about the areas of SEL-related PD they wanted, a large majority of teachers indicated a need for additional development on several topics, including integrating SEL into academic instruction, adapting SEL to different cultures, adapting SEL to students with different learning needs, and reviewing and using SEL data.

Teachers in higher-poverty schools indicated a greater need for more PD related to SEL definitions and overview; about SEL programs, lessons, or activities for use in classrooms; that adapts SEL to different cultures; and that helps teachers build their own SEL skills.

Finding 3 Teachers' Sense of Well-Being, Which Was Generally High, Was Associated with Their Use of SEL Practices and with the Kinds of Schools in Which They Worked

Teaching can be highly stressful work. Stress on the job can affect teachers' sense of well-being, which, in turn, can detract from teachers' ability to support their students' social and emotional development in addition to their academic performance. Teachers reported generally high levels of satisfaction with their work (e.g., a large majority of teachers reported that they looked forward to work each day) and high levels of well-being, including a sense of connectedness, frequent positive emotions, and feelings of creative engagement in their work. At the same time, however, roughly half of teachers indicated that they felt burned out by their work.

We found that teachers who reported higher levels of well-being reported engaging in SEL practices to a greater extent than those with lower reported well-being. We also observed differences in well-being as a function of school poverty level, with teachers in lower-poverty schools reporting higher levels of well-being - including job satisfaction - than those in higher-poverty schools.

The collected data do not show us why this is so, but the difference might stem from the numerous challenges that educators face in schools that are underresourced or that serve high-need students and families.

Finding 4 Elementary Teachers Reported Higher Levels of School Supports for SEL Than Did Secondary Teachers

Figure 1 shows that most teachers expressed a belief that they could and should promote SEL. However, Figure 2 makes it clear that, although elementary teachers reported a higher overall level of support than secondary teachers, they felt that they lacked access to critical supports to help them do this.

Overall, most teachers (roughly two-thirds) reported that their schools did not have a clear vision for SEL. Even fewer teachers agreed that their schools had a clear set of SEL practices or a roadmap. Most teachers reported that they would welcome more school support; 80 percent wanted more SEL lesson plans and curriculum support.

In addition, most teachers felt that their schools had a culture that was supportive of student SEL development and used student input to inform school improvement. However, teachers in higher-poverty schools (55 percent) were less likely than those in lower-poverty schools (71 percent) to report having a supportive school culture and to report that student input informed school improvement (46 percent and 54 percent, respectively).

Figure 2. Teachers from both elementary and secondary schools agreed that their schools supported SEL, but their schools lacked a clear vision or a roadmap for SEL implementation

Percentages of teachers who agreed with statements about school-level supports for SEL

Statement

Elementary teachers who strongly agreed

Elementary teachers who agreed

Secondary teachers who strongly agreed

Secondary teachers who agreed

NOTES: Linear probability models were used to estimate differences between the proportion of teachers in elementary and secondary schools who at least agreed (agreed or strongly agreed). Linearized standard errors and survey weights are used in all models. N = 1,224-1,228. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01.

The survey question was "How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about social and emotional learning in your school during the current school year (2018-2019)?" Response options were "strongly disagree," "disagree," "agree," and "strongly agree."

Finding 5 Half of the Surveyed Teachers Reported Not Knowing Whether Their States or Districts Had SEL Standards or Measures

There is growing awareness of how state and local SEL standards and assessment data can influence and support individual educators' practices. We found that half of teachers did not know whether their districts or states had general SEL standards or whether their state or district's academic standards addressed social and emotional competencies. Additionally, most teachers did not know whether their state or district had a reporting system that included SEL-related measures for students.

Finding 6 Teachers Who Perceived That Their State or District Had SEL Standards Indicated Greater Use of SEL Practices Than Those Who Did Not

Regardless of whether states actually had standards, teachers who believed that there were SEL standards said that they or their schools had enacted SEL practices at higher rates than teachers who said that they did not have SEL standards or that they did not know. Responses regarding academic standards that addressed SEL and accountability systems that included SEL measures followed the same pattern.

Finding 7 Teachers Working in Different Grades and in Schools with Different Poverty Levels Reported Using Different SEL Practices

Teachers were asked to indicate the extent to which they or their schools used various approaches to promote SEL. Figure 3 shows that teachers reported providing SEL instruction in a variety of ways, which differed by grade level.

The figure shows that the use of SEL curricula or programs was more common among elementary teachers, whereas secondary teachers reported greater reliance on community engagement, teacher/student check-ins, and student involvement in school decisions. Currently, SEL curricula and instructional resources are more available for younger students, and there is a need for SEL approaches that emphasize voice and relationships for adolescents.

The practice that the lowest percentage of teachers in both elementary and secondary schools reported adopting to at least a moderate extent was using technology that supports SEL.

Teachers in lower-poverty schools reported using some practices more than their peers in higher-poverty schools, specifically peer mentoring, project-based learning, and guided inquiry.

Figure 3. Approaches to promoting SEL varied by grade level taught and by school poverty level

Percentages of teachers reporting that they or their school used approaches to promote SEL to a moderate or great extent

Statement

Elementary teachers who reported a great extent

Elementary teachers who reported a moderate extent

Secondary teachers who reported a great extent

Secondary teachers who reported a moderate extent

NOTES: Linear probability models were used to estimate differences between the proportion of teachers in elementary and secondary schools who responded at least a moderate extent (a moderate extent or a great extent). Linearized standard errors and survey weights are used in all models. N = 1,216-1,220. ** p < 0.01.

The survey question was "To what extent have you or your school used the following approaches to promote SEL during the current school year (2018-2019)?" Response options were "not at all," "to a small extent," "to a moderate extent," and "to a great extent."

Photo by michaeljung/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Implications for Policy and Practice

These findings, which reflect the views and experiences of K-12 teachers across the United States, point to ways that state-, district-, and school-level education leaders might contribute to better, more-intensive SEL in classrooms and schools. The data also suggest ways in which policymakers and others could contribute to improved SEL practices. For example, stakeholders should:

develop the right SEL-related PD opportunities. Teachers reported that their PD lacked emphasis on some important topics, including adapting SEL to different cultures and using student SEL data to inform instruction. PD providers should consider ways to ensure that teachers have access to learning opportunities in areas where they need more help.

ensure that information about SEL standards is widely accessible to educators. SEL standards are intended to promote awareness of - and attention to - SEL. Some states have adopted SEL standards, but they are not nearly as prominent or visible as state academic standards. Teachers who believed that their state or district had SEL standards engaged in higher levels of several SEL practices than those who did not believe that there were standards.

address teacher well-being and burnout. Although the survey showed that teacher job satisfaction and well-being were generally high, there were substantial disparities, with teachers in higher-poverty schools expressing lower well-being and higher burnout than those in lower-poverty schools. Additionally, all teachers likely have experienced heightened levels of stress and concern as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. State policymakers and district leaders should monitor (or continue to monitor) teachers' stress and well-being and develop resources and strategies to support all teachers.

equip principals and other school leaders with the knowledge and resources needed to engage in instructional leadership around SEL. Many teachers reported a lack of a clear vision and roadmap for SEL in their schools and indicated an interest in more guidance related to SEL lessons. Principals can have a tremendous impact on the teaching and learning environment in their schools, including setting a schoolwide SEL vision. District staff and others who work with principals should provide the necessary guidance or other resources to help ensure SEL-focused school leadership.

provide secondary schools with guidance on how to incorporate SEL into classes and activities. The lower rates at which secondary teachers enacted some practices, such as integrating SEL into extracurricular activities, conducting student-led discussions, and making connections to SEL during academic instruction, suggest that there are opportunities for middle and high school teachers to bring an SEL lens to their instruction and activities, provided they receive the tools and guidance to do so.

be ready to provide guidance on new and emerging SEL online instruction programs and tools. Digital approaches to SEL were not widely used as of spring 2019, when this survey was conducted. However, as a result of the spring 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, some organizations, such as CASEL and Transforming Education, began issuing guidance to help educators support students socially and emotionally using remote-learning strategies and tools. It is also likely that the adoption of digital SEL materials will grow. Teachers' lack of prior experience with such materials highlights a need for training and other resources to help them use these tools effectively.

Teachers' voices will be critical in the coming years as schools, policymakers, SEL program developers, and other groups continue to explore how to promote a broad variety of SEL competencies among young people. In addition, high-quality SEL for children ultimately depends on teachers who have access to training, instructional resources, and supports for their own-well-being. The lessons from this study can inform the work of education leaders and organizations that work with teachers to offer SEL opportunities that benefit all children.

How This Study Was Conducted

This survey was administered in spring 2019 to a nationally representative sample of K-12 teachers via the ATP, which is part of RAND's American Educator Panels. We initially fielded the survey to 1,998 teachers and then weighted the 1,238 responses to ensure that the sample was nationally representative in terms of teacher characteristics (e.g., years of teaching, race/ethnicity) and school characteristics (e.g., elementary or secondary school, geographic location, enrollment numbers, student racial/ethnic composition). We analyzed the data to provide a detailed portrait of current supports for SEL that reflects a whole-school, systemic approach. The results contribute to our understanding of how schools across the United States attempt to promote SEL, what conditions are in place to support SEL, and how practices and conditions related to SEL differ among schools.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research brief series. RAND research briefs present policy-oriented summaries of individual published, peer-reviewed documents or of a body of published work.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

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What Teachers Think About Social and Emotional Learning

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Many studies have shown how social and emotional learning (SEL) can improve student well-being, social behavior, and academic achievement. But what do teachers think about the SEL-related efforts in their districts and schools? Do they feel that they get enough support to work on SEL?

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Character.org is a worldwide network that empowers people of all ages to practice and model core values that shape our hearts, minds, and choices.

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Bring character education into classroom

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A pool of policies and updates that generate concrete searched results.

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Character Education - Social Emotional Learning - Life Skills - Lesson Plans & Curriculum

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How To Do Character Education & Social Emotional Learning

You are a character educator. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, custodian, or school bus driver, you are helping to shape the character and the social education of the kids you come in contact with...

The real question is what kind? Are you doing character education and social emotional learning well or poorly? By design or by default? And what kinds of values are you actually teaching?
Read article

Ethical & Moral Dilemma Archive

Noah sees the same bully torment the same victim every day on the schoolyard, and nobody tells the teacher about it. Should Noah speak up and risk being labeled "tattletail", or should he ignore it and mind his own business?
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Your character is defined by what you do, not what you say or believe.

Every choice you make helps define the kind of person you are choosing to be.

Good character requires doing the right thing, even when it is costly or risky.

You don't have to take the worst behavior of others as a standard of comparison for yourself. You can choose to be better than that.

What you do matters, and one person can make a big difference.

The payoff for having good character is that it makes you a better person and it makes the world a better place.

Live Wire Media also offers award-winning, research-based video DVDs, curriculum modules, interactive software, and other helpful tools.
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Below are some examples of topics we cover:

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You are a character educator. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, custodian, or school bus driver, you are helping to shape the character and the social education of the kids you come in contact with... The real question is what kind? Are you doing character education and social emotional learning well or poorly?

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Most Students Now Have Home Internet Access. But What About the Ones Who Don't?-

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A very insightful and reflective message we should be aware of.

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A year after the pandemic exposed deep inequities in K-12 students' access to technology at home, the picture is looking very different.

In a recent EdWeek Research Center survey, more than three-quarters of teachers said more than 75 percent of their students have adequate internet access at home for consistent participation in remote learning.

Access to digital devices like tablets and laptops is even more widespread: More than half of respondents said every student has adequate access to the devices they need for online learning, and another third said that's true for more than three-quarters of their students.

The flip side of that coin, though, is that 6 percent of respondents said fewer than half their students have adequate home internet access.

Similarly, 5 percent of respondents said half of their students or fewer have adequate access to devices.

Those percentages of students without devices may seem small, but it's worth putting them in context: If even 5 percent of K-12 students in the United States aren't adequately connected to learn from home, that's more than 2 million students.

It makes sense, then, that close to half of district leaders said they plan to invest "a lot" of money going forward in devices, and close to three-fifths said they'll be investing "some" or "a lot" of money to expand home internet access for students and families.

Some of the factors delaying progress to close the digital divide are out of schools' hands.

Here's a look at the work currently underway at the different levels of government-school districts, states, and federal agencies-to bridge tech access gaps.

School districts are aware much more work needs to be done

Still, the report estimates between 9 million and 12 million U.S. students still lack adequate internet access at home for remote learning. Progress for Latinx families has been particularly slow, the report says, possibly because of "certain adoption barriers more commonly or acutely experienced by Latinx families, including language barriers and reluctance toward providing personal information."

Celebrations of progress toward closing the digital divide tend to leave out the work that remains to be done. Much of it will require a concerted effort to funnel more resources to low-income communities in both rural and urban areas.

Thomasville, Ala., lies 60 miles from the nearest interstate highway and 100 miles from the nearest metropolitan area. "We're the rural of the rural," said Sheldon Day, the city's mayor since 1996.

During the pandemic, the city government has broadcast its internet signal to as many public facilities as it can, asked local businesses to share their networks as well, and brought Wi-Fi-enabled school buses closer to where students could reach them and complete online schoolwork.

The town sent hotspots to families who didn't have internet access at home. "If they had a decent cell signal, they could access those. The challenge has been, in the middle of Timber Country, cell signals get absorbed by the timber," Day said.

Families who did have internet access at home struggled through even slower connections than their urban counterparts, because the service providers' networks in rural areas weren't strong enough to withstand the unusual increase in online activity.

"We've got children who are going to lose two years of educational attainment and adults who are going to lose two years of opportunities to bridge a gap in their technical training attainment that could help them get a real good paying job," Day said.

These numbers highlight the formidable challenge ahead for turning the rapid nationwide progress on closing the digital divide into change that lasts over the long haul. Providing robust home connectivity, experts say, will require gaining the trust of families who might be skeptical of school districts' or governments' involvement in their daily lives, or confused about how to operate unfamiliar technology.

It's worthwhile to view the value of efforts to close the digital divide for the ripple effects they may provide.

Day said many parents in the area have grown more technologically savvy than ever before as they've had to play a more active role in helping their students learn on their newly acquired digital devices.

"Over the past year our parents have probably been more educated on technology than the children, which is going to make us better going forward," Day said.

States that put a device in the hands of nearly every student offer roadmaps to replicate

A handful of states have recently declared that they've officially closed the digital divide, at least when it comes to device access. These states offer roadmaps that could be replicated elsewhere.

Every K-12 student in Texas now has access to a working digital device at home, thanks to a coordinated effort among district superintendents, the state education department, state legislators, and the governor's office.

Launched in May, Operation Connectivity quickly surveyed hundreds of districts to find out their immediate technology needs. Among the first findings: Many districts were struggling with bulk deliveries of laptops and tablets on back order. The state used its bargaining power for a bulk purchase of 1.3 million devices for $200 million-at a 40 percent discount from market rate-in less than three months.

By the end of 2020, in a state with 5.5 million K-12 students-including 3.3 million who are economically disadvantaged-the connectivity initiative had helped districts add 4.6 million devices.

"We feel very confident that at the end of the first phase of connectivity efforts, we went from having a very low ratio of devices in students' hands to being truly one-to-one across our entire state," said Gaby Rowe, who's leading the Operation Connectivity initiative in Texas. "We know now we've built one leg of that stool very firmly."

The state was able to provide resources that individual districts couldn't have put together on their own. The connectivity initiative crafted a machine-learning platform that helped quickly analyze more than 120,000 invoices, leading to faster reimbursements for districts that used their own money to buy technology. "The best advice I can give people is, 'Think like a startup,' " Rowe said.

Connecticut has also provided every K-12 student with a laptop or digital device. Efforts to bolster internet connectivity are ongoing.

Nick Simmons, director of strategic initiatives for the Connecticut governor's office, believes these efforts reflect the positive outcomes that come from a coordinated government approach to longstanding challenges.

"We played the role of an aggregator for districts-this is how many students in that area need your support, and then connected the internet company directly with the district," Simmons said. "We sent families a voucher so they could call the cable company, give that company their voucher, and get a technician over to the house. All of that was paid for by the state."

Federal government eyes continued support for addressing tech equity challenges

Broadband advocates view municipal networks as valuable tools for lowering the cost of internet access across the board, and for serving as a stable public option that can work well for areas that traditional internet service providers don't have a financial incentive to reach.

That support will be very helpful now but doesn't represent a comprehensive solution to the problem, advocates say.

"An emergency broadband benefit is great, but it's just a start," said Kim Keenan, co-chairwoman of the Internet Innovation Alliance. "This is not a problem that we can throw enough money at and it will go away. It's systemic."

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Most Students Now Have Home Internet Access. But What About the Ones Who Don't?

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A year after the pandemic exposed deep inequities in K-12 students' access to technology at home, the picture is looking very different. In a recent EdWeek Research Center survey, more than three-quarters of teachers said more than 75 percent of their students have adequate internet access at home for consistent participation in remote learning.

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Ultimate resources for parents and homeschooling parents.

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Getting Started Homeschooling - Teach Them Diligently

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We've put together a FREE gift to help you get started homeschooling. Teach Them Diligently is excited to be able to provide tools, help, and support specifically for new homeschool families! Our website is packed with how-to blog articles, audio sessions, and downloadable resources.

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CHRISTIAN VALUES-BASED CHARACTER EDUCATION:A CASE STUDY IN BANDUNG

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CHRISTIAN VALUES-BASED CHARACTER EDUCATION:A CASE STUDY IN BANDUNG

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The author claims how christian value-based character education modifies but lays solid fondation of national curriculum

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Even though it charged you for get some resources and books, but trust me, it is worth it!

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SEL / Character Ed Lesson Plan for grades K-4

What is empathy?- with Story, Worksheets, Presentation Options

Objective

Students will understand the following:

What empathy is and why it is important.

How to look for cues in facial expressions and body language to understand how others feel.

How to "put yourself in someone else's shoes"

Grade Level

K - 4

Character / SEL Topics

Social Skills, Self Awareness, Self Management

Positive relationships

Traits: Empathy, Respect, Responsibility

Download Resources

Our PDFs are free to print or share for non-commercial use, meaning you are welcome to link to our pages for educational purposes, add PDFs to your Google classroom or print PDFs for in-class use.

Empathy Lesson Plan Resources

Select Resources by Story

Vocabulary

Empathy- The ability to understand how someone else is feeling. Empathy has two parts:

Shared emotion - when you feel an emotion with someone else, even though you aren't in the same situation

Understanding other perspectives- understanding how someone else might see a situation (their perspective) even if you think differently about it. We call this being able to "put yourself in someone else's shoes."

See the What is Empathy? page for a full definition and examples in terms kids will understand.

Procedures

Define Empathy

Explain what empathy is using the definitions in the vocabulary section above. Ask children to describe a time when they have felt empathy. For example: If they have felt sad or excited when a friend felt sad or excited, even though they weren't affected by whatever caused their friend to feel that way. (Such as being sad with your friend that he/she didn't make the soccer team or being excited for your friend when she got a new toy she had been wanting.)

If they ever hurt themselves and their mom said, "I'm sorry", even though it's not her fault they got hurt. The mom is really saying "I feel bad that you are feeling bad," which is showing empathy.

See the What is Empathy? Page for more examples

Talk about why empathy is important

Empathy is important because it helps us get along with other people. It's the basis of all healthy relationships because we are able to understand how others are feeling and how our actions might impact them. It's important for relationships with friends and family, but also for working well with teams, and succeeding in a job. Empathy is important to our whole society because it helps us cooperate and live peacefully with others. It helps us understand how people see situations differently so we can treat each other with courtesy and find compromises.

One way to see how empathy is important is to consider what life would be like if nobody cared how you felt about anything. What if everyone just said and did whatever they wanted, without caring how it would impact others?

Practice building empathy

Empathy has two parts: feeling someone's emotions and understanding their perspective. Using the stories and /or presentation, discuss empathy:

Feeling someone's emotions- Practice predicting how someone is feeling using the images and the cues that the faces and bodies give you.

Understanding Perspectives- For each scenario in the stories, have children discuss what is happening and how one person may feel. Then switch perspectives and describe the scenario from another person's point of view.

Option 1- Story- Use the print book, ebook, or video book to read the story of your choice. As you read discuss emotions, facial and body cues, perspectives.

Option 2- Presentation- Use the presentation for each book to highlight faces and scenarios and prompt discussion

Option 3- Worksheet- Use the worksheet for each book to reinforce learning as students independently identify emotions in the characters.

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SEL / Character Ed Lesson Plan for grades K-4 Students will understand the following: What empathy is and why it is important. How to look for cues in facial expressions and body language to understand how others feel.

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This site signifies the importance of knowing the core knowledge through practices.

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Kialo Edu is a custom version of Kialo ( kialo.com), the world's largest argument mapping and debate site, specifically designed for classroom use. Its clear, visually compelling format makes it easy to follow the logical structure of a discussion and facilitates thoughtful collaboration. Kialo's mission is to promote well-reasoned discussion online, and to that end, Kialo is free for educators to use.

To put their knowledge into action To sharpen their critical reasoning skills To demonstrate their understanding To engage constructively with each other
Take your classroom discussions online, break down complex subjects for students, and shake it up with new types of assignments.

Try Kialo in Your Classroom

What can you use Kialo for?

Create discussions for your students, where they can put their knowledge into practice, develop their own views on classroom content, and consolidate what they've learned. In a Kialo discussion, every student has a voice - there's no talking over each other, and students have the space to explore arguments at their own pace. Kialo's collaborative platform encourages students to work together to find the best way to express each idea.

Assign students to write a Kialo discussion instead of an essay - or use Kialo discussions to outline larger writing projects. Kialo's argument-tree structure leads students to consider counter-arguments, develop a logical outline of their argument, and visualize how their ideas fit together.

Write a discussion for your students to explore, and set out content in a clear and easy format. Link to additional sources and reading, challenge students to add arguments or question concepts.

How does Kialo work?

With Kialo, discussions and debates are clearly visualized as an interactive tree of pro and con arguments. At the top of every discussion is the thesis, which is supported or challenged by pro and con claims. Each one of these claims can in turn branch into subsequent claims that support or challenge them.

All discussions are private and can only be seen by those you choose to share them with. To start a discussion with your students, simply write a brief description and a thesis (or theses). Share the discussion with your whole class, or divide students into smaller groups.

Each claim has a comment section underneath that allows you to give students feedback, suggest improvements, and ask questions without cluttering the surface of the discussion. Similarly, students can easily collaborate with each other to improve their arguments, examples, and phrasing.

You can set up teams for each of your classes to easily share and organize the content you want your students to see. All content on Kialo-Edu.com is private, accessible only to the people you share it with.

These features are just a small fraction of what you can do with Kialo.
Find the application that works best with your teaching style.

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Kialo Edu - The tool to teach critical thinking and rational debate

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Kialo is a free tool used by educators world-wide to teach critical thinking, facilitate rational classroom debate and explain controversial issues.

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An awesome curriculum treasure box for K-12 educators.

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What School Could Be (WSCB) is an organization that aims to bring together educators passionate about re-imagining school in ways that prepare students for life, not for high-stakes standardized exams. --Founder: Ted Dintersmith

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Innovation Playlist - What School Could Be

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Surely, the purpose of school isn't producing data. School ought to prepare children to lead fulfilling lives in a dynamic, uncertain future. Which raises two

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An amazing site with numerous insightful information that a cheerful classroom is looking for. Let's dig it out altogether!

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1:09:55 Guest(s): Amanda Morin, Emily Kircher-Morris

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The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast | Cult of Pedagogy

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Teaching strategies, classroom management, education reform, educational technology -- if it has something to do with teaching, we’re talking about it.

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Curriculum reform and 'quality education' in China: An overview @BethelLibrary

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This is one of my teaching wardrobe that I can find anything to fit my teaching and students. Hope you enjoy it as I do.  

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A great resource website for teachers from K-12

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A great resource website for teachers from K-12

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When the topic of character education is mentioned most everyone agrees that it is important in the education and growth of our children. Rarely will you find a person who takes the stand that character education is not important. However, there are those that believe that this topic should be taught and reinforced at home. The adage, "reading, writing and arithmetic should be taught in school and everything else left to the parents," is still used by some today. However, others believe that character education instruction should be incorporated into our school curriculum and then reinforced in our homes.

What is Character Education?

So, what is character education? Character education can be defined as the teaching of principles and standards of living that are taught in a systemic way so that students of all ages can understand and incorporate into their daily lives. Whether character education should be taught in the schools will continue to be debated. However, most schools today make this teaching a part of the curriculum in some form or fashion.

The word character itself is defined as; attributes or features that make up and distinguish and individual or groups of individuals. With this definition, we find that there is some debate on what are considered "good characteristics". What one group would consider, proper and right for living well, others would argue those characteristics are outside the norm, not part of the "mainstream" or don't go far enough for one to incorporate into society. Character attributes can vary from ethnic groups, communities, regions, and countries just to name a few. Character in and of itself is open to debate as to what is proper and what is not. Given our current society and its challenges, this goes right along with other debates that are on going today.

If we can agree that character education is important in our schools and is important for all ages, there are a few character traits that should be considered. This listing is not conclusive, nor does this list indicate that these traits are the most important. If we teach character education in our schools, we should focus on those traits that will have an immediate impact on a student's social skills, work ethic, and general well-being.

Optimism

Optimism is defined as being hopeful and confident about one's future successes. Through the teaching of optimism, a student can gain confidence that success through due diligence is achievable. Alongside of optimism, one should also incorporate the definition of success. Just because a person does not reach an originally set goal does not mean they were not successful. A person can work hard to achieve mastery of a concept and still not make a perfect 100 on the assessment. Learning that success does not mean perfection can and should lead to an optimistic attitude toward learning.

Self-Control

Self-control is defined as the ability to control one's emotions and desires or the expression of them especially in difficult situations. Along with optimism, a person's ability to control their emotions is a predominate trait that leads to getting along with and working with others on a consistent basis. Self-control is an important trait for all ages because as we age the situations become more serious as do the outcomes. A person must learn to measure their responses and reactions to situations to "walk along" in society. The person who is always "on the outside looking in" often finds their own optimism, self-esteem and their own self worth threatened. It is easy to see why people who struggle with self-control are often at odds with society and would rather be alone. Suicide is much more prominent with those who have issues with self-control. Basically, a person who struggles with self-control issues often feel like outcasts in most social settings.

Social Intelligence

Social intelligence is defined as the capacity to know oneself and to know others. Social intelligence is developed from life experiences and thus is important to be emphasized for all ages. In general, a person develops social intelligence over their lifetime. Some of the key types of social intelligence are verbal and nonverbal fluency, knowledge of social rules and how to abide within them, listening skills, understanding or being empathetic to the emotions of others, and playing social roles efficiently. These are but a few of the areas we grow daily in social intelligence. Often, our growth in this area comes from misreading the situation and having to learn from a mistake we made. However, we grow in social intelligence, reflection and change of attitude or reaction are important in the growth process of social intelligence.

Gratitude

Gratitude is defined as a quality of being thankful generally for the acts or generosity of someone else toward us. A key character quality which grows along with us as we age, showing gratitude toward others not only gives us a good feeling, but also builds up the person reaching out to us. Showing gratitude in the face of generosity no matter how big or small, grows a mutual bond of respect between individuals. Showing gratitude also teaches a person that to be generous to others is also a character trait that we should be developing within ourselves.

Generosity

Generosity is defined as the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish in our daily lives. Generosity is a trait often lost in our "dog eat dog" world of getting ahead no matter who we step on along the way. As the person who has received generosity from others, showing generosity for others should follow naturally. The concept of generosity being learned well can open doors within individuals and a common respect for others. This common respect can ignite reciprocity among those giving and receiving.

These five character traits are nowhere near the exhaustive list of character education topics. In fact, these are just the tip of the iceberg. I am sure that in reading this article you have deduced that I am a proponent of character education in our schools. Your deduction is correct. I believe that teaching "how then we should live" within the schools is as important as "reading, writing and arithmetic." Remember, as educators, our role is to teach the entire child, not to just infuse "book learning" to the masses.

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The Importance of Character Education for All Ages - TeachHUB

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When the topic of character education is mentioned most everyone agrees that it is important in the education and growth of our children. Rarely will you find a person who takes the stand that character education is not important. However, there are those that believe that this topic should be taught and reinforced at home.

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The interrelations between character education and international school

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The interrelations between character education and international school

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Character education is a relatively new concept in the education world. Yew Chung International School of Beijing explains this educational philosophy

Despite claims of being promoted in various international and local schools, the concept and true results of this educational philosophy are largely unknown or misunderstood by many parents.
The truth is that character education is not a singular process with a singular result; rather, character education, when implemented correctly, can be viewed as influencing every facet of learning. While results don't show up on pieces of paper, the effects of character education are clearly displayed through the actions and reactions of those whose educations have been molded by it.

What is True Character Education?

Character Education at its core can be understood as the development of a child's "inner moral compass". In order to develop said compass, students must be given the opportunity to partake in regular activities that promote certain desirable character traits as well as given a chance to indulge in self-reflection. At YCIS Beijing, Primary school students are exposed to character traits such as responsibility, courage, friendship, and enthusiasm in daily classroom activities set out by their teachers. Each character trait is rotated weekly and is rooted in every lesson plan. Traits are the main focus of weekly assemblies, with students receiving rewards for demonstrating the trait in question. Character traits play a major role in the formation and execution of every lesson plan to ensure that they are not something simply paid lip service but are fully intertwined in a student's learning.

The Value beyond Classroom Walls

A true character education model must not be limited to a classroom setting. For students to effectively begin to personify the traits that are being instilled in them, they must become involved in the greater community. They are encouraged to take part in projects and witness first-hand the positive effect that these traits can have not only on their own lives, but on the lives of others. YCIS Beijing has enacted various charity endeavors that give students the much-needed chance to utilize the skills that they have been taught in class. One of the more common efforts is fundraising. Each year, students at YCIS Beijing raise thousands of dollars for charities. Examples include the Easter Fundraiser, in which Primary School children raise money for a foster home for orphans with special needs, and read-athons, where students seek donations for reading which go to impoverished Chinese farmers. Students are then invited to visit the charities they've supported to see how their donations are used to impact the lives of others.

Secondary students are tasked with spear-heading their own initiatives and to find ways in which they can personally give back to their community. As part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, all students participate in the Creativity, Action, and Service (CAS) programme, which is designed to raise students' awareness of the needs of their local and global communities. The 2015 - 2016 school year saw a number of fundraising campaigns initiated by Secondary School students, ranging from art auctions and charity galas to fundraising marathons and environmental projects, all aimed at improving the lives of others. The YCIS foundation has also set up its own charity where each school raises money to contribute the building of schools in impoverished or disaster-stricken areas of China.

Creating Global Citizens

International schools are in a unique situation where their student's perception of the world and their actions are not limited by their location. Students from around the world studying together gives each child an appreciation and understanding of other cultures not found in a traditional school. Combined with the fact that they are not living in their mother country, they are afforded an invaluable opportunity to gain a wholly unique level of compassion and sense of self as part of a global community. This sense of global citizenship is also tied to YCIS Beijing's unique character education model. The progression of learning the positive effect they can have on their locale community in Primary School to being given the chance to use their skills acquired through education and their Experiencing China and World Classroom experiences to create their own charitable initiatives in Secondary School lets students realize they can make a positive impact no matter where they are in the world.

The Final Results

A truly balanced and effective education model should not only focus on an academically rigorous education but should also seek to mold their students into competent, morally sound, and active members of our global society. Beginning with lessons emphasizing virtuous character traits to developing a positive set of skills and ambitions that will ensure productivity and success in their adult lives, YCIS Beijing's education model is able to offer students the tools for both high academic achievement and global citizenship.

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Character Education: The Truths and Value of a Fully Rounded Education | World Schools

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Character education is a relatively new concept in the education world. Yew Chung International School of Beijing explains this educational philosophy Despite claims of being promoted in various international and local schools, the concept and true results of this educational philosophy are largely unknown or misunderstood by many parents.

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21st Century Education: 5 Lessons from China--This blog contains inforamtion on how education should globalized, especially amongst developing countries. 

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Education reformation in developing countries

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Education reformation in developing countries

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by Catherine Yan Wang, National Institute of Educational Sciences

China has redesigned its education system since embarking on opening up the country and engaging in reforms in the late 1970s. The journey of change started from an ethos of "Orientation Towards the Modernization, Orientation Towards the Future, and Orientation Towards the World" created in late 1970s, went though a three-decade long reflection and debate on quality-oriented education (vs examination-oriented education), gained momentum in an Action Plan for Invigorating Education for 21st Century in 2001, and resulted in ground-breaking Basic Education Curriculum Reform that profoundly changed education philosophy, content and pedagogy for education from Grade 1-12. After 3 decades, not only has China achieved universal access to basic education, but also Shanghai became a top-performer in PISA tests in 2009. And in 2014, the changes still continue. Although there are still many challenges and barriers with education system in China, several strategies and approaches proved to be workable and effective, including the following 5 lessons:

1) Evidence-based, participatory policy-making: Like many policies of China, the formulation of the Basic Education Curriculum Outline involved five steps: conducting surveys, drafting, consulting, experimenting and implementations and expansion. It began with stakeholder survey including teachers, parents, researchers, local authorities and communities, followed by drafting the document by a team consisting of researchers, practitioners and administrators. It then went through consultations with schools, teachers, local governments to solicit their opinions on the relevance and feasibility of the policy. The policy for trial was piloted in four provinces and amended on the basis of piloting. The finalized Outline was put into implementation nationwide.

2) Provision of professional support for teaching: China created a Teaching Research System to provide ongoing support to teachers' classroom teaching, consisting of teaching research institutes at provincial, prefecture (municipality) and county levels. The researchers, mostly selected from the best teachers, support teachers' work by coordinating school-based research projects, regular visits to schools, interpreting curriculum standards, analyzing classroom teaching, preparing teaching lessons, developing teaching materials and distilling best practices for extension (e.g. through demonstration class). Some of the institutes have been integrated with teaching training college and this made teaching research a booster of teacher's professional development.

3) Learning from the world: China, its government agencies, research institutions and even schools all look to other countries' experiences for inspiration in the process of making changes for improvement. Since the 1980s, Government officials have made many overseas study tours to learn different practices. These brief glimpse of the outside world impacted their way of thinking and doing their work. Major studies almost always contain a component of international comparative study to benchmark against developed countries, and draw upon best practices to generate policy recommendations. The schools, in their pursuit of internationalization, developed exchange partnership with overseas counterparts, and also kept on learning from outside world to update their teaching content and methods.

4) Experimentation: Partly originating from the principle borrowed from economic reform, "cross the river by touching stones," various new thoughts and ideas have been tried as experiments in the education system continually, with successful experiments often being translated into policies. A typical example is the "Shiyi Experimental School": it abandoned traditional way of organizing students' learning in fixed classes on dozens of subjects, and instead, developed over 1000 courses from which 4600 students could choose, many of them relating to emerging issues of the 21st century.

5) Balancing between centralization and decentralization, emphasizing both unity and diversity: In 2001, China adopted a three-level curriculum structure aligned with the principle of "common basics, diversified options" that encompasses national, local, and school-based curricula, of which the national curriculum accounts for 80%, and local and school-based curriculum 20%. Such a structure ensure that all the students master fundamental knowledge and skills, while leaving schools ample room for experimentation and innovation.

It is hard to generalize about education development, given its inherent complexity compounded by the size and diversity of such a large country as China. A Chinese idiom "Bearing global perspective (big picture) in mind, and start from (small) concrete action" might best summarize and illustrate the lessons in setting educational policy for the 21st century from China. Education can and will make a difference on students' learning and social well-being, when taking into consideration the tremendous changes happening and coming in the 21st century and taking actions to meet these challenges and opportunities step by step.
The above entry was written by Catherine Yan Wang,from the National Institute of Education Sciences (NIES) of China, one of our GEII institutional partners. Catherine is senior specialist and coordinator of international programs at NIES. Her research areas cover education policy, education reform, social studies of education, international studies, comparative education and research methodology. In cooperation with international organizations, government agencies, and research institutions, she has designed and implemented more than 30 qualitative and quantitative research projects on various education topics. Among others, she was the chief investigator of the World Bank Project "Case Development and Paper on Institutional Learning and Catalyzing Reforms for Growth and Poverty Reduction." She has authored, co-authored and edited numerous articles, reports, journal and books,and she is editor of the book Education Policy Reform Trends in G20 Members. In her prior role, she was consultant at the World Bank and curriculum specialist and coordinator of international programs at Beijing Education Research Institute. She holds a Ph.D. of education policy, administration and social studies from the University of Hong Kong.

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21st Century Education: 5 Lessons from China

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by Catherine Yan Wang, National Institute of Educational Sciences

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Instructional strategies on implementing character education in schools

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Increasing numbers of people across the ideological spectrum believe that our society is in deep moral trouble. The disheartening signs are everywhere: the breakdown of the family; the deterioration of civility in everyday life; rampant greed at a time when one in five children is poor; an omnipresent sexual culture that fills our television and movie screens with sleaze, beckoning the young toward sexual activity at ever earlier ages; the enormous betrayal of children through sexual abuse; and the 1992 report of the National Research Council that says the United States is now the most violent of all industrialized nations.

As we become more aware of this societal crisis, the feeling grows that schools cannot be ethical bystanders. As a result, character education is making a comeback in American schools.

Early Character Education

Character education is as old as education itself. Down through history, education has had two great goals: to help people become smart and to help them become good.

Acting on that belief, schools in the earliest days of our republic tackled character education head on-through discipline, the teacher's example, and the daily school curriculum. The Bible was the public school's sourcebook for both moral and religious instruction. When struggles eventually arose over whose Bible to use and which doctrines to teach, William McGuffey stepped onto the stage in 1836 to offer his McGuffey Readers, ultimately to sell more than 100 million copies.

McGuffey retained many favorite Biblical stories but added poems, exhortations, and heroic tales. While children practiced their reading or arithmetic, they also learned lessons about honesty, love of neighbor, kindness to animals, hard work, thriftiness, patriotism, and courage.

Why Character Education Declined

In the 20th century, the consensus supporting character education began to crumble under the blows of several powerful forces.

Darwinism introduced a new metaphor-evolution-that led people to see all things, including morality, as being in flux.

The philosophy of logical positivism, arriving at American universities from Europe, asserted a radical distinction between facts (which could be scientifically proven) and values (which positivism held were mere expressions of feeling, not objective truth). As a result of positivism, morality was relativized and privatized-made to seem a matter of personal "value judgment," not a subject for public debate and transmission through the schools.

In the 1960s, a worldwide rise in personalism celebrated the worth, autonomy, and subjectivity of the person, emphasizing individual rights and freedom over responsibility. Personalism rightly protested societal oppression and injustice, but it also delegitimized moral authority, eroded belief in objective moral norms, turned people inward toward self-fulfillment, weakened social commitments (for example, to marriage and parenting), and fueled the socially destabilizing sexual revolution.

Finally, the rapidly intensifying pluralism of American society (Whose values should we teach?) and the increasing secularization of the public arena (Won't moral education violate the separation of church and state?), became two more barriers to achieving the moral consensus indispensable for character education in the public schools. Public schools retreated from their once central role as moral and character educators.

The 1970s saw a return of values education, but in new forms: values clarification and Kohlberg's moral dilemma discussions. In different ways, both expressed the individualist spirit of the age. Values clarification said, don't impose values; help students choose their values freely. Kohlberg said, develop students' powers of moral reasoning so they can judge which values are better than others.

Each approach made contributions, but each had problems. Values clarification, though rich in methodology, failed to distinguish between personal preferences (truly a matter of free choice) and moral values (a matter of obligation). Kohlberg focused on moral reasoning, which is necessary but not sufficient for good character, and underestimated the school's role as a moral socializer.

The New Character Education

In the 1990s we are seeing the beginnings of a new character education movement, one which restores "good character" to its historical place as the central desirable outcome of the school's moral enterprise. No one knows yet how broad or deep this movement is; we have no studies to tell us what percentage of schools are making what kind of effort. But something significant is afoot.

In July 1992, the Josephson Institute of Ethics called together more than 30 educational leaders representing state school boards, teachers' unions, universities, ethics centers, youth organizations, and religious groups. This diverse assemblage drafted the Aspen Declaration on Character Education, setting forth eight principles of character education.

The Character Education Partnership was launched in March 1993, as a national coalition committed to putting character development at the top of the nation's educational agenda. Members include representatives from business, labor, government, youth, parents, faith communities, and the media. (See box, p.8.)

The last two years have seen the publication of a spate of books-such as Moral, Character, and Civic Education in the Elementary School, Why Johnny Can't Tell Right From Wrong, and Reclaiming Our Schools: A Handbook on Teaching Character, Academics, and Discipline-that make the case for character education and describe promising programs around the country. A new periodical, the Journal of Character Education, is devoted entirely to covering the field.

Why Character Education Now?

1. The decline of the family. The family, traditionally a child's primary moral teacher, is for vast numbers of children today failing to perform that role, thus creating a moral vacuum. In her recent book When the Bough Breaks: The Cost of Neglecting Our Children, economist Sylvia Hewlett documents that American children, rich and poor, suffer a level of neglect unique among developed nations (1991). Overall, child well-being has declined despite a decrease in the number of children per family, an increase in the educational level of parents, and historically high levels of public spending in education.In "Dan Quayle Was Right," (April 1993) Barbara Dafoe Whitehead synthesizes the social science research on the decline of the two biological-parent family in America: If current trends continue, less than half of children born today will live continuously with their own mother and father throughout childhood.... An increasing number of children will experience family break-up two or even three times during childhood.Children of marriages that end in divorce and children of single mothers are more likely to be poor, have emotional and behavioral problems, fail to achieve academically, get pregnant, abuse drugs and alcohol, get in trouble with the law, and be sexually and physically abused. Children in stepfamilies are generally worse off (more likely to be sexually abused, for example) than children in single-parent homes.No one has felt the impact of family disruption more than schools. Whitehead writes: Across the nation, principals report a dramatic rise in the aggressive, acting-out behavior characteristic of children, especially boys, who are living in single-parent families. Moreover, teachers find that many children are so upset and preoccupied by the explosive drama of their own family lives that they are unable to concentrate on such mundane matters as multiplication tables.Family disintegration, then, drives the character education movement in two ways: schools have to teach the values kids aren't learning at home; and schools, in order to conduct teaching and learning, must become caring moral communities that help children from unhappy homes focus on their work, control their anger, feel cared about, and become responsible students.

2. Troubling trends in youth character. A second impetus for renewed character education is the sense that young people in general, not just those from fractured families, have been adversely affected by poor parenting (in intact as well as broken families); the wrong kind of adult role models; the sex, violence, and materialism portrayed in the mass media; and the pressures of the peer group. Evidence that this hostile moral environment is taking a toll on youth character can be found in 10 troubling trends: rising youth violence; increasing dishonesty (lying, cheating, and stealing); growing disrespect for authority; peer cruelty; a resurgence of bigotry on school campuses, from preschool through higher education; a decline in the work ethic; sexual precocity; a growing self-centeredness and declining civic responsibility; an increase in self-destructive behavior; and ethical illiteracy.The statistics supporting these trends are overwhelming. For example, the U.S. homicide rate for 15- to 24-year-old males is 7 times higher than Canada's and 40 times higher than Japan's. The U.S. has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates, the highest teen abortion rate, and the highest level of drug use among young people in the developed world. Youth suicide has tripled in the past 25 years, and a survey of more than 2,000 Rhode Island students, grades six through nine, found that two out of three boys and one of two girls thought it "acceptable for a man to force sex on a woman" if they had been dating for six months or more (Kikuchi 1988).

3. A recovery of shared, objectively important ethical values. Moral decline in society has gotten bad enough to jolt us out of the privatism and relativism dominant in recent decades. We are recovering the wisdom that we do share a basic morality, essential for our survival; that adults must promote this morality by teaching the young, directly and indirectly, such values as respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and civic virtue; and that these values are not merely subjective preferences but that they have objective worth and a claim on our collective conscience.Such values affirm our human dignity, promote the good of the individual and the common good, and protect our human rights. They meet the classic ethical tests of reversibility (Would you want to be treated this way?) and universalizability (Would you want all persons to act this way in a similar situation?). They define our responsibilities in a democracy, and they are recognized by all civilized people and taught by all enlightened creeds. Not to teach children these core ethical values is a grave moral failure.

What Character Education Must Do

In the face of a deteriorating social fabric, what must character education do to develop good character in the young?

First, it must have an adequate theory of what good character is, one which gives schools a clear idea of their goals. Character must be broadly conceived to encompass the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of morality. Good character consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the good. Schools must help children understand the core values, adopt or commit to them, and then act upon them in their own lives.

The cognitive side of character includes at least six specific moral qualities: awareness of the moral dimensions of the situation at hand, knowing moral values and what they require of us in concrete cases, perspective-taking, moral reasoning, thoughtful decision-making, and moral self-knowledge. All these powers of rational moral thought are required for full moral maturity and citizenship in a democratic society.

People can be very smart about matters of right and wrong, however, and still choose the wrong. Moral education that is merely intellectual misses the crucial emotional side of character, which serves as the bridge between judgment and action. The emotional side includes at least the following qualities: conscience (the felt obligation to do what one judges to be right), self-respect, empathy, loving the good, self-control, and humility (a willingness to both recognize and correct our moral failings).

At times, we know what we should do, feel strongly that we should do it, yet still fail to translate moral judgment and feeling into effective moral behavior. Moral action, the third part of character, draws upon three additional moral qualities: competence (skills such as listening, communicating, and cooperating), will (which mobilizes our judgment and energy), and moral habit (a reliable inner disposition to respond to situations in a morally good way).

Developing Character

Once we have a comprehensive concept of character, we need a comprehensive approach to developing it. This approach tells schools to look at themselves through a moral lens and consider how virtually everything that goes on there affects the values and character of students. Then, plan how to use all phases of classroom and school life as deliberate tools of character development.

If schools wish to maximize their moral clout, make a lasting difference in students' character, and engage and develop all three parts of character (knowing, feeling, and behavior), they need a comprehensive, holistic approach. Having a comprehensive approach includes asking, Do present school practices support, neglect, or contradict the school's professed values and character education aims?

Teach values through the curriculum, using the ethically rich content of academic subjects (such as literature, history, and science), as well as outstanding programs (such as Facing History and Ourselves and The Heartwood Ethics Curriculum for Children), as vehicles for teaching values and examining moral questions;

The Challenges Ahead

"Character is destiny," wrote the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. As we confront the causes of our deepest societal problems, whether in our intimate relationships or public institutions, questions of character loom large. As we close out a turbulent century and ready our schools for the next, educating for character is a moral imperative if we care about the future of our society and our children.

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The Return of Character Education - ASCD

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Increasing numbers of people across the ideological spectrum believe that our society is in deep moral trouble.

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There’s no better way than teaching children with first-hand experience. To help children cherish the value of eyesight – “the windows to the soul”.

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Throughout time, societies have recognized the need to educate the coming generation of adults to pass on knowledge and skills. Recorded history from long before the present era emphasizes that education must also develop character.

One of the great education reformers, Horace Mann, in the 1840s, helped to improve instruction in classrooms nationwide, advocating that character development was as important as academics in American schools. The United States Congress, recognizing the importance of this concept, authorized the Partnerships in Character Education Program in 1994. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 renews and re-emphasizes this tradition-and substantially expands support for it. Indeed, one of the six goals of the Department of Education is to "promote strong character and citizenship among our nation's youth" (Strategic Plan 2002-2007). To reach this goal, the Department of Education joins with state education agencies and school districts across our country to provide vital leadership and support to implement character education.

Within the character of the citizen lies the welfare of the nation.
- Cicero

What is character education?

Throughout history, character education has been the shared responsibility of parents, teachers and members of the community, who come together to support positive character development.

...nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue.
- Benjamin Franklin

Character education teaches the habits of thought and deed that help people live and work together as families, friends, neighbors, communities and nations.

Character education is a learning process that enables students and adults in a school community to understand, care about and act on core ethical values such as respect, justice, civic virtue and citizenship, and responsibility for self and others. Upon such core values, we form the attitudes and actions that are the hallmark of safe, healthy and informed communities that serve as the foundation of our society.

What is the school's role in character education?

Students spend much of their young lives in classrooms. This time in school is an opportunity to explain and reinforce the core values upon which character is formed.

In school, character education must be approached comprehensively to include the emotional, intellectual and moral qualities of a person or group. It must offer multiple opportunities for students to learn about, discuss and enact positive social behaviors. Student leadership and involvement are essential for character education to become a part of a student's beliefs and actions.

To successfully implement character education, schools are encouraged to:

Take a leadership role to bring the staff, parents and students together to identify and define the elements of character they want to emphasize;

Provide training for staff on how to integrate character education into the life and culture of the school;

Form a vital partnership with parents and the community so that students hear a consistent message about character traits essential for success in school and life; and

Provide opportunities for school leaders, teachers, parents and community partners to model exemplary character traits and social behaviors.

State education agencies, through a collaborative community process, have chosen to incorporate character education into their school improvement plans and state standards. Some states have chosen to implement character education through official state policies such as the Michigan State Board of Education Policy on Quality Character Education. Many schools have chosen to incorporate character education into their plans for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

From state to state, the following are common threads in character education agendas:

Involvement of the whole community in designing and implementing character education for its schools; and

Commitment to making character education an integral part of the education process.

Federal resources and support for character education

The United States Congress and the Department of Education have expanded support for character education for more than a decade, enabling schools across our nation to implement character education in a variety of ways. The Department of Education provides grants to state and local education agencies to support the development of character education. Since 1995, through the Partnerships in Character Education Program ( www.ed.gov/programs/charactered/index.html), the Department has awarded 97 grants to assist in designing, implementing and sustaining high-quality opportunities for students to learn and understand the importance of strong character in their lives.

Education at its best should expand the mind and build character.
- Secretary Margaret Spellings

Resources for parents and teachers in character education

Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/index.html

Character Education and Civic Engagement Technical Assistance Center
www.cetac.org

What Works Clearinghouse-Character Education
www.whatworks.ed.gov

Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen
View the booklet online at: www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/citizen/index.html
Order by calling (877) 4ED-PUBS.

Character Education-Our Shared Responsibility
View the brochure online at: www.ed.gov/admins/lead/character/brochure.html
Order by calling (877) 4ED-PUBS.

Character education teaches the habits of thought and deed that help people live and work together as families, friends, neighbors, communities and nations.

U. S. Department of Education
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20202-6450
1-800-872-5327
www.ed.gov

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Throughout time, societies have recognized the need to educate the coming generation of adults to pass on knowledge and skills. Recorded history from long before the present era emphasizes that education must also develop character. One of the great education reformers, Horace Mann, in the 1840s, helped to improve instruction in classrooms nationwide, advocating that character development was as important as academics in American schools.