The fanatical culture of quantitative academic assessment currently dictating the parameters of success and failure in American public schools has resulted in a decreased emphasis on the character development of students. Despite the absence of standardized metrics to evaluate an individual’s ethical reasoning and academic self-efficacy, implementing effective character education programs in secondary schools is necessary to prepare Millennials for the unique challenges they will face as young adults. Observers have noted alarming trends in important social indicators, particularly the decline in marriage, which has been statistically demonstrated to impart tangible life-long benefits to both spouses and their children. This sign of the changing social fabric of American society has been associated with the rise of single-parent homes, a delayed acquisition of the trappings of adulthood for young people, and the rise of such phenomena as “hook-up culture.” It has become increasingly evident that the shifting moral center of American society is exerting a major influence on the academic success of children and young adults.
In Character Compass, Scott Seider, an assistant professor of education at Boston University, argues that secondary schools can be an effective vehicle for delivering curriculum that positively impacts the development of individual resilience and self-efficacy. Framing Seider’s analysis is a study which determined that measures of self-efficacy and persistence were stronger predictors of high school academic performance and acceptance into competitive colleges than IQ. Throughout the text, Seider supports this conclusion by referencing research from the social and behavioral sciences indicating that self-imposed constraints, such as a having a perspective that views accomplishment as something predetermined by one’s intelligence, as highly detrimental to an individual’s long-term success. In application, this means that students who view academic aptitude as something that can be improved over time through practice experience greater academic success. This also applies to the development of ethical reasoning, which Seider asserts is an essential precursor to the formation of the values necessary for success in college and the workplace.
Over the course of the 2010-2011 academic year, Seider and his research team observed the day-to-day activities of three charter schools in Boston. Each of the three case study schools offer unique, although similar, frameworks of character education that expect students to reflect upon the ethical consequences of their actions. All three charter schools have comparable demographic compositions, and admission is open to any student living in the Boston area through a process of public lottery. Approximately ninety percent of the students at these schools self-identify as Black or Hispanic, with two thirds qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The standardized test scores of these charters rival those of schools located in the wealthiest communities of Massachusetts.
At Boston Prep, students attend a weekly ethics class which seeks to inculcate a spirit of ethical philosophical inquiry through the examination of various ethical systems in the Western philosophical tradition. In contrast to the more theoretical curriculum at Boston Prep, Roxbury Prep emphasizes the practical aspects of character education in its weekly advisory class where students learn how to study, prepare for exams, successfully interview for jobs, and improve their public speaking skills. The individual-centered character education curriculum at Boston Prep and Roxbury Prep is contrasted with that at Pacific Rim, which emphasizes a commitment to the continuous improvement of the wider community. By having students delve into civic participation, examine current social trends, and explore social justice, Pacific Rim draws a link between individual character development and the improvement of one’s home community.
Seider attributes the success of these schools to their development of a common language, a shared vocabulary of character, and the emphasis that each school places on reflection throughout the learning process. By repeatedly returning to the example of Roxbury Prep, Seider indicates his belief that a curriculum emphasizing the performative aspects of character should be the mold for all such programs. As a result, Seider concludes that the American educational system must transition to models of skill acquisition that boost self-efficacy, the primary determinant of future success.
Seider’s unique blend of the best elements of journalism, qualitative field work, and data analysis, leads readers to the conclusion that these three charter schools are on the cutting edge of character education implementation at the secondary level and are models to be emulated on a national level. Character Compass is a highly engaging text and a refreshing dose of empirically-backed optimism that is often lacking in contemporary education literature.
