Bridging the Character Education Achievement Gap

By Paul Sutton, Education Week February 26, 2009

Throughout his now-famous "Last Lecture," the late Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science Randy Pausch talked about what he called the "head fake." It is the idea that learning and education work best when they work on the personal and general levels simultaneously. It’s clear what calculus can teach a high school student. But beyond that learning, a character education lesson on the dialogues between Socrates and Crito can teach critical-reading skills and democratic dialogue, while also teaching personal and social justice and integrity. The study of both calculus and Socrates demands intellectual rigor, and yet these subjects are not valued in the same way in our public high schools.

Character education as a discipline is losing the argument that it deserves the same resources as disciplines affirmed by an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate curriculum. And this is because we have been selling and teaching it wrong. We miss one of the most important aspects of character education, the cognitive head fake, when our obsession with advanced coursework becomes myopic and overshadows the strength both areas could have if working to complement each other in high schools.

As the demands of high-stakes testing grow and ever-expanding achievement gaps continue to ask more of public schools, character education is too often left behind. Money for staffing and programs dry up as budgets shrink. When forced to choose, schools will take academic rigor over team-building, future college success over human interrelatedness. Why? Because all they see in the latter is an intellectual void. Most schools value character education in principle, but choose to cut it first in a crisis because they see more-pressing instructional needs elsewhere.

And when extensive research, such as the "Smart & Good High Schools" study, suggests the need for more, and more-comprehensive, character education programs, most schools and districts will reject the recommendation, seeing it as yet another unnecessary strain on their already stretched school communities. Whole-school initiatives may be noble goals, but in reality, most schools don’t have the resources or the will to go for broke on character education—even if problems such as cheating, bullying, or harassment may be rapidly escalating.

The assumption that a broad-based character education initiative could flow easily from whole-school transformation ignores the reality that change in high schools happens slowly, if at all, and usually in small pockets, not as a whole school.
Educators should start small, allowing a successful "pocket" to expand within the school community. Character education could be taught, for example, through a fully articulated "student leadership" class—a class most schools already fund. Although they are largely underutilized and misused, these classes are dedicated to student activities. They also should have academic goals and expectations, and be open to all kids and valued by the school and the district just as AP or IB classes are—through a rigorous curricular review.

To be taken seriously in public secondary schools, character education must go beyond mission statements and explore ways to connect such goal-setting exercises to concrete learning objectives that challenge students with scholarly content and approaches. To survive, it must compete with advanced courses for full-time-equivalent teachers by embracing high expectations for all kids and proving its worth year in and year out.

As James Traub, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, has said: "[T]he issue is not whether we will have character education, but instead, what kind we will have and what relationship it will bear to the ongoing campaign to improve children's academic skills." Indeed, character education's very survival depends on its quantifiably improving students' academic skills.

A new character education model should be developed around principles that encourage college-level critical thinking and service to community. It should include the following elements:

1. We should teach dialogue and deliberation through Socratic seminars and consensus-building, so that students learn how to communicate with each other in a democratic setting and the ability to judge ideas on the strength of evidentiary support, not misinformed opinion.

2. We should teach core values and beliefs, so that students identify universal truths they are willing to speak for and work from that will guide the decisions they make as leaders and citizens of their communities.

3. We should teach historical models of leadership, so that students will understand that all great leaders are merely standing on the shoulders of others, and that the values of integrity and compassion don’t come easily. Figures taught could range from Gandhi and Lincoln, to the Bible’s King David, to the explorer Ernest Shackleton.

4. We should provide thoughtful teaching of inequity and inequality as they relate to race, gender, and class, so that students can learn how to speak to one another about diversity in a way that creates progress and does not reinforce stereotypes or systems of power and privilege. Students should be introduced to the writings of authors such as Peggy McIntosh, Cornel West, and James A. Banks.

5. We should teach democratic citizenship and leadership, so that students can learn how to use democratic systems to empower and give voice to all participants in a society to make communities more equal and just. Students should be introduced to scholars such as Walter Parker and historical documents such as the Federalist Papers and Washington’s Newburgh Address.

6. Since moral reasoning is integral to these pursuits, students should be taught to think their way through ethical and moral dilemmas and how to make choices that benefit all and that foster the strength of character to persevere through failures. Lawrence Kohlberg’s “stages of moral development” is a great place to start.

7. We should teach ethical and collaborative decision making and problem-solving, to empower students to change dysfunctional systems and communities. This should teach them that problem-solving is not the sole responsibility of one leader or group, but of a whole community working together.

8. We should give students opportunities for practical application of these precepts and practices, so they can test their new knowledge within the community and attempt to make positive improvements. These opportunities could be through schoolwide community-service projects, school philanthropy projects, and various other school improvement projects that encourage all students to participate.

Whether this kind of learning comes through a student leadership or character education class, schools should encourage students to register and attend. Several levels should be taught, becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging. To maintain standards of academic achievement, students within such a program should be assessed on their ability to produce a high level of scholarly written work and to add quantifiably and positively to the school’s climate and culture through active leadership.

If we are bold enough to change our thinking and accept that character education must become a part of the academically rigorous landscape of public high schools, students taking these classes will benefit, along with the schools that offer them.

Metric

With the introduction of the XB model, a decision was taken to fit dual scale speedometers with the mph reading still dominant, but with an inside reading in smaller yellow letters showing kph.

CIA test

There's a lot to be said about marital bliss...

A while back there was an opening in the CIA for an assassin. These highly classified positions are extremely difficult to fill, requiring an extensive background check, training, and testing before candidates are even considered for the position. After reviewing several applicants and completing all the checks and training, the field was narrowed to the three most promising candidates. The day came for the final test, which would determine which of equally qualified candidates, would get the job.

The final candidates consisted of two men and one woman. The men administering the test took the first candidate, a man, down a corridor to a closed door and handed him a gun saying, "We must be completely assured that you will complete your assignments and follow instructions regardless of the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your wife, seated in a chair. Take this gun and kill her."

The man, looking completely shocked said, "You can't be serious! I could never kill my wife."

The CIA man said, "Well, then, you're obviously not the man for the job. Take your wife and go home." They brought the next candidate in, the other man, and repeated the instructions. This man took the gun, walked into the room and closed the door.

However, after five minutes of silence, the door opened and the man handed the CIA tester the gun, saying, "I just couldn't do it. I couldn't kill my wife. I tried to pull the trigger but I just couldn't do it."

The CIA man said, "Well, then, you're obviously not the man for the job. Take your wife and go home."

Then they brought the woman down the corridor to the closed door, handed her a gun, and said, "We must be completely assured that you will complete your assignments and follow instructions regardless of the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your husband, seated in a chair. Take this gun and kill him."

The woman took the gun, walked into the room, and before the door closed all the way, the CIA men heard the gun start firing. One shot after another, for thirteen shots, the noise continued. Then all hell broke loose. For the next several minutes, the men heard screaming, cursing, furniture crashing and banging on the walls; then suddenly, silence. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, "You guys didn't tell me the gun was loaded with blanks! I had to beat him to death with the chair!"

Love

"There is only one happiness in life -- to love and be loved." George Sand,
French novelist

Metric

Australia implemented the metric system in August, 1974 which was into the XB model Falcon. All previous model Falcons, including all of the XAs, had speedometers that read only mph as seen below.

What's in a name?

Tom was invited to his friend’s house for dinner. He found that his buddy called his wife every cute name in the book: honey, darling, sweetheart, pumpkin, and baby.
When she was in the kitchen, he leaned over to his friend and said, “I think it’s nice you still call your wife all those pet names.”
“To tell you the truth,” his friend said, “I forgot her name abut three years ago.”

Walk and talk

We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the next Twenty-four years telling them to sit down and shut up!

Go, Teacher, Go!

Sung to the rocking strains of Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode.

It's January already and there's no question about it; we're back and running again. It takes no time at all for the slow and lazy pace of summer to be overwhelmed by the quickened pace of school. On your mark…get set…hold onto your books and… Go!
Well I'm up and running in the morning, quarter past 5;
Gotta do a little planning just to stay alive.
Then I gulp a little breakfast and I'm off on a ride;
Get to school to make some copies -- the machines have died!
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.
Gotta teach right through the morning and without a break.
Then I have to check my voice mail; that's a big mistake.
I could use a cup of coffee cause my energy's low,
But I gotta gotta meeting and I gotta go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.
Well my stomach is a-grumblin'; I could use a snack,
But I gotta grade some papers, there's no time to slack.
I've got playground duty and detention, more than I can take.
And I really really really need a bathroom break.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.
Well it's later in the day and I am almost done,
But the students are unruly and I'm not having fun.
I am tired and exhausted and my spirits are low,
But I gotta another meeting and I gotta go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooo, go, teacher, go.
Go, go-ooooo, Teacher, be good.

302 Cleveland

Later two barrel 302C’s fitted to XB Falcons adopted the large, ‘second’ style 4V air cleaners with non-belled mouth and non-tapered snorkel.

Three old ladies

Three old ladies are sitting in a diner, chatting about various things. One lady says, "You know, I'm getting really forgetful. This morning, I was standing at the top of the stairs, and I couldn't remember whether I had just come up or was about to go down."
The second lady says, "You think that's bad? The other day, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, and I couldn't remember whether I was going to bed or had just waken up!"
The third lady smiles smugly. "Well, my memory's just as good as it's always been, knock on wood."
She raps the table. With a startled look on her face, she asks, "Who's there?!"

Music helps all students learn.

Need some music in a hurry for your students?

A teacher and musician, Jenny Billard, from Sydney, Australia, at her her The J.E.M. Site (Jen’s Educational Music Site) provides inexpensive music downloads for educators.

Working with children in remote communities in the Northern Territory prompted Billard to implement “creative" teaching techniques like using songs. She needed to catch the children’s interest and make learning easier and more enjoyable.
“It wasn't until some of the grandmothers and mothers of the children visited me at school that I found out that these children were singing my songs all around the community and at home," reported Billard. “Since we had a lot of trouble keeping children at school and interesting them in learning in such a remote area of Australia, this blew me away. Of their own choice, these children were taking learning home with them, little did they know."

Billard finds that younger children respond most positively to songs that are “cheesy and up-tempo," such as rock ‘n’ roll style, which she says are also the easiest to write. The musical and lyrical clichés found in these songs actually give them greater appeal to little ones. Older children prefer more sophistication in their music and often respond better to versions of rhythm and blues, hip-hop, or dance tunes. The “cheesy" songs that strike a chord with kids have an added benefit -- whether you like them or hate them, they are extremely memorable.

“Music is a great motivator for learning!" Billard shared. “Not only does it make you more physically relaxed when you learn, it is fun, inclusive, and more efficient. Obviously, if remembering a song and its words is easier than remembering a set of grammatical rules, then it is far better to learn those rules through song and leave behind the stress of learning where you can. If the songs appeal to the children, then they are more likely to have the songs running through their heads away from school too. It beats homework!"

The J.E.M. Site (Jen’s Educational Music Site) is very new, but Billard has big plans. A current focus is to build the songs teachers most need, so she encourages educators to send song requests to her via the site's “contact us" page.

302 Cleveland

This shows how to identify the heads when they are off the car. From the factory, Ford differentiated the two engines by painting the 302C’s rocker covers red as seen on these XA’s.

Wash your hands

A teacher sees a lad entering the classroom – his hands were dirty.
She stopped him and said, “John, please wash your hands. My goodness, what would you say if I came into the room with hands like that?”

Smiling the boy replied, “I think I’d be too polite to mention it.”