In this essay the author argues that today's resurgent focus on noncognitive skills, especially for low-income students, may unfairly mask cognitive deficiencies and work to relieve our society of its duty, at which we are currently failing, to help low-income children improve their lives by improving their cognitive skills. The author points to a…

The aim of education should be developing intellectual character, moral character, civic character, and performance character. That does not mean that schools should ignore teaching content, but that the dispositions and habits of mind that come from developing these four forms of character will remain with students throughout their lives.…

Ontario embraced a provincial lead improvement plan that was designed to improve its 5,000 schools by focusing on literacy and numeracy, improving high school graduation, and improving public support for education. Its primary strategy was developing networks of educators and building their capacity for growth.

While agreeing with Scriven's exposition of the cognitive approach to moral education, the author disagrees with and comments on three points: the argument against developmentalists, morality and rational justification, and the affective aspect of moral argument. (DW)

Perhaps one major change our schools might begin to consider would entail a commitment at least to make explicit and examine forcefully and persistently what our nation's political and social ideals actually are, and to what degree we do or do not live up to those ideals. (Author)

Social and moral development, like intellectual development, is a process by which learners actively construct meaning. Conventional character education, based on behaviorism, conservatism, and religious dogma, assumes that values can be asserted into passive receptacles. To help children develop the capacity for moral deliberation when called…

Explains the Kohlberg moral stages in moral development, discusses the aims of moral and civic education, then describes the continuing experimental work at the Harvard Center for Moral Education. (Author/DW)

The affective and developmental approaches to moral education are described as inadequate, while the cognitive approach based on moral knowledge, moral reasoning, and the study of ethics is described as defensible and preferable, even though difficult to implement in public schools. (DW)

Discusses implementation and evaluation in moral education pilot projects in Canadian elementary and secondary schools, emphasizing the role and impact of the teacher in teaching of values. (DW)

Declares that Kohlberg fails to consider morality outside of Kantian terms, fails to take "good-boy" morality seriously, is weak on affective morality, and fails to consider habit training in growth. (DW)

Character education often uses exhortations and extrinsic inducements to make children behave and work harder. Extrinsic rewards and awards erode intrinsically motivated behavior. Programs should answer five basic questions, avoid indoctrination, and provide students with opportunities to construct meaning around moral concepts and to change…

Criticizes the values clarification approach for avoiding the structure of values, for allowing judgmental activites, for embracing moral relativism, and for not being founded in theory. (DW)

Six years ago, students at Birch Meadow Elementary School (Reading, Massachusetts) were polite to adults, but callous and uncaring toward each other. Today, thanks to a "Just Community" approach modeled on Lawrence Kohlberg's philosophy, students feel a sense of school ownership and responsibility for their classmates. (MLH)

Offers support for the view that morality and convention constitute discrete conceptual demains and undergo independent courses of development. Argues that moral education should be reexamined to insure that specific activities and responses are appropriate to the domain and to the students' developmental level. (Author/WD)

Responds to the previous article by rejecting arguments that the relevance, arbitrariness, or external origin of disciplinary policies have any significant impact on those policies' effectiveness in building student character or promoting self-disciplined learning. Proposes focusing instead on observable conduct and providing encouragement for…