Character Education

In a World of Budget Cuts and Standardized Testing

Presenters

Some of the most knowledgeable and influential educators and researchers in the field of Character Education will share their perspectives on how to initiate, develop and nurture learning environments that bring forth and strengthen the very best that youngsters can offer the world: the respectful self-assurance of a balanced, caring person who has learned the skills and is personally eager to work and play collaboratively with others.

Presenters include:

Marvin W. Berkowitz Sanford N. McDonnell Professor of Character Education, University of Missouri Marvin W. Berkowitz is the inaugural Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Before arriving at UMSL in1999, he was the inaugural Ambassador Holland H. Coors Professor of Character Development at the United States Air Force Academy. Previously he served as Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Ethics Studies at Marquette University. Dr. Berkowitz earned his Ph.D. in Life-span Developmental Psychology at Wayne State University in 1977, after which he served as a Research Associate at the Center for Moral Development and Education at Harvard University for two years. He has taught at various institutions throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development and Education in Berlin (1987-8) and as a Visiting Scholar for the Gordon Cook Foundation in Scotland (1995). His research interests are character education, moral development, adolescent development, and risk-taking. He is author of Parenting for good, editor of Moral education: Theory and application (1985) and Peer conflict and psychological growth (1985), and author of more than 70 book chapters, monographs, and journal articles. He is co-editor of the Journal for Research in Character Education. He has also served on the editorial boards of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly and Journal of Psychological and Educational Consultation, as an Executive Member of the American Bar Association's Interdisciplinary Committee to Promote the Best Interest of the Child and on the boards of the Character Education Partnership, the Jean Piaget Society and the Association for Moral Education. He was Principal Investigator of a National Institute on Drug Abuse grant to study the relation of moral development to adolescent drug use, a study of "What works in character education" funded by the John Templeton Foundation grant, and a US Department of Education grant to establish a national resource center in character education. Marvin is also a co-founder of ComedySportz, a nationally franchised improvisational comedy show.

Diane Berreth Co-founder and past president of the Character Education Partnership; Deputy Executive Director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Diane Berreth, well known as a leader in the field of education, has served as deputy executive director of Strategic Direction and Planning for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) since 1990. Dr. Berreth's numerous and varied appointments and honors include having served as delegate to the Annual White House Conference on Character Building for a Democratic Civil Society (1995 1998) and the White House Conference on Character and Community. She was president of the National History Standards Project (1992-94), and a member of the Cisco Learning Institute Advisory Committee (2001-Present). She was also co-chair of the Task Force on Empathy and Self-Discipline for the Communitarian Network's White House Conferences. Diane co-founded and served as president of the Character Education Partnership, Inc. In recognition of her leadership and determination, Diane was presented with the Character Education Partnership, Inc. Sanford N. McDonnell Lifetime Achievement Award in October of 2004. She received her doctorate in education policy and leadership from Indiana University.

Karen E. Bohlin Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character, Boston University and head of the Montrose School Karen E. Bohlin is head of the Montrose School, a 1999 National School of Character, and senior scholar at Boston University's Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character (CAEC), where she formerly served as director. Dr. Bohlin has taught high school and university students for nearly twenty years and has led numerous professional development seminars for school leaders on character education. She is author of Teaching Character Education through Literature: Awakening the Moral Imagination in Secondary Classrooms, Building Character in Schools Resource Guide (with Farmer and Ryan), and Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life (with Ryan). Karen is co-editor of Great Lives Vital Lessons, a resource guide on teaching biography to middle school students and Citizenship and Higher Education, a collection of scholarly essays on the role of universities in communities and society.

David Brown Executive Director, Western Association of Schools and Colleges David E. Brown is the Executive Director of Accrediting Commission for Schools of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. In that role, he is responsible for guiding policies that govern quality-improvement practices that impact more than 3500 public and private schools in California, Hawaii and the Far East. Prior to joining WASC, Dr. Brown served as Principal of La Canada High School, Superintendent of the San Marino School District, Superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District and Superintendent of the Napa Valley Unified School District. During these years, Dave was actively involved with the Association of California School Administrators, serving as State President in 1990-91. Later, he served as the chair of the State of California Superintendency Committee and as chair of several California task force groups, including the School-to-Career and the Discipline and Safety committees.

Philip Brown Director, New Jersey Center for Character Education Philip Brown is director of the New Jersey Center for Character Education (NJCCE) at Rutgers University. The NJCCE was established when New Jersey received one of the five awards given to states under the Partnerships in Character Education grant program, administered as part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.

Carol Weyland Conner Murshida of Sufism Reoriented Carol Weyland Conner is the Murshida, or guide, of Sufism Reoriented, an organization founded by and dedicated to the principles of the Indian master Meher Baba (1896-1969). For the last thirty years, Sufism has supported the Meher Schools, a pre- and elementary school offering character education to children from families throughout the Northern California Bay Area. Born into a family of educators, Murshida Conner earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and then completed a doctorate in clinical psychology at Catholic University of America. After teaching adolescent psychology for several years at Washington, DC's Children Hospital, she went on to work as a private psychotherapist until her retirement. Today, as the Murshida, or teacher, of a spiritual organization with centers in Washington, DC and California, she is vitally interested in this novel experiment in education, the Meher Schools, which attempts to integrate spiritual values of unity, cooperation, brotherhood and love of beauty through the arts, with children's education.

Stephen Daeschner Superintendent, Jefferson County Public School District Stephen Daeschner is in his thirteenth year as the superintendent of the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky. His early degrees in physics/mathematics and secondary education were earned in Kansas, capped by a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin. He began his professional career as a teacher of science and mathematics in California. After that, he served in such diverse roles as principal of an elementary school for deaf students in our nation's capitol; director of research, evaluation and planning in St. Louis, Missouri; deputy superintendent in Anchorage, Alaska; and superintendent in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dr. Daeschner has brought stability to the leadership of the Jefferson County Public Schools. Having arrived in Louisville in 1993, he now holds one of the longest tenures of any large-city superintendent in the nation. Notable accomplishments during his superintendency in Louisville include: a major expansion of preschool and kindergarten programs, the application of technology in the classroom, growth in community/business partnerships with the schools, an array of alternative schools and not a single student expulsion since his arrival, court victories in support of racially integrated schools, and a steady year-by-year rise in student achievement. Stephen is also active in many community organizations, serving on the boards of such groups as the Fund for the Arts, the Muhammad Ali Center, Success by 6, Greater Louisville Inc., and KentuckianaWorks.

Matthew L. Davidson Research Director at the Center for the 4th & 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility) Dr. Matthew L. Davidson is a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel for the National Schools of Character Awards Program and co-author with Dr. Thomas Lickona of the recently released Smart & Good High Schools: Integrating Excellence and Ethics for Success in School, Work, and Beyond. Matt also co-authored the Evaluation Toolkit, published by the Character Education Partnership and Character Quotations. Matt's recent work includes co-directing a national study of high school character education, conducting an ongoing study of character education effectiveness in DuPage County (IL), and directing curriculum development and evaluation for the GoodSport Youth Development Program.

Joan Krusor Davis Missouri Character Education Project Joan Krusor Davis currently serves as the coordinator for the state funded Missouri Character Education Project, which is now in its fifth year. Joan has over 25 years experience in education including teaching at the elementary, middle school and college levels. She has a Master of Science in Education, Public Speaking/Radio-Television.

Ellen Evans Principal, The Meher Schools, Lafayette, CA Ellen Evans attended public schools in Brooklyn, New York, before earning a B.A. in Biology from Brooklyn College. Ellen then enrolled in a dual degree program at the University of California (Berkeley) with an emphasis on genetics and school administration, receiving an M.S. in Health and Medical Science. Ellen has been principal of The Meher Schools in Lafayette, California since its creation in 1975. In her role, she has been an innovator in creating an educational environment where children learn from interactions with staff who are hired both for their academic achievement and also for their personal commitments to strive to live the values of the New Humanity: cooperation, unity, creative endeavor, mutual respect, love and service to life in the classroom and on the playground. Working together, the Meher Schools staff has developed a curriculum of studies that includes original dramas, songs and other creative projects carefully designed to exemplify and support these ideals. Ellen's personal experience in choral singing, performing, theatre arts and fine arts and her exceptional early education in the public schools of New York, contributed to her understanding and commitment to the arts in education as a way of communicating, developing and supporting the deeper values of the human spirit.

Kristin Danielson Fink Director, Community of Caring Kristin Danielson Fink is the director of Community of Caring, a K-l2, comprehensive, whole school character education program with a unique focus on students with disabilities, founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation. Community of Caring recently re-located its national headquarters from Washington, D.C. to the University of Utah, College of Education. A classroom teacher for 22 years, Kristie has served as the Character Education and Service Learning Specialist at the Utah State Office of Education and is currently Secretary of the Board of Directors for The Character Education Partnership. A participant in several White House conferences on character, she served as the mistress of ceremonies for the 2003 and 2004 National Schools of Character awards ceremony, and chaired the Blue Ribbon selection committee for the 2004 National Schools of Character. Kristie co-authored Making Character Education a Standard Part of Education, with Linda McKay; wrote Promoting Character Education for Glencoe/McGraw-Hill; and consulted with Turner Learning and the Cartoon Network on Animate Your World: Shaping Character.

Charles C. Haynes Senior Scholar, First Amendment Center Charles C. Haynes is senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Washington, D.C.. He is best known for his work on First Amendment issues in schools and communities throughout the nation. Over the past decade, he has been the principal organizer and drafter of a series of consensus guidelines on religious liberty in public education endorsed by a broad range of civil liberties and educational organizations. In January, 2000, three of these guides were sent by President Clinton to every public school in the United States. Dr. Haynes is the author or co-author of six books, including The First Amendment in Schools and Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools. His column Inside the First Amendment appears in newspapers nationwide. Widely quoted in news magazines and major newspapers, Charles is also a frequent guest on television and radio. He has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and on ABC's Evening News. He is a founding board member of the Character Education Partnership and holds a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School and a doctorate from Emory University.

Jacqueline Ringgold Jones Character Education Specialist, Maryland State Department of Education Jacqueline Ringgold Jones is the Character Education Specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education. She is a member of the Community of Caring Advisory Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Center for Character Education. Jacqueline has presented or trained in ten states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. In 1998 she received the Community of Caring Outstanding Lead Teacher Award. Jacqueline's article, The Quest for Character: Where Do We Begin? appeared in the Spring 2003 edition of Orbit Magazine, a publication of the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. Jacqueline has an M.S. degree in curriculum and instruction and is completing her 34th year as an educator.

Thomas Lickona Director, Center for the 4th and 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility) Dr. Thomas Lickona, past president of the Association for Moral Education, now serves on the advisory councils of the Character Education Partnership, Character Counts Coalition and Medical Institute for Sexual Health. Tom's publications include a graduate text, Moral Development and Behavior (1976); a popular book for parents, Raising Good Children (1983); a book describing his 12-point character education program, Educating for Character: How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility (1991); and a collection of essays by various authors, Character Development in Schools and Beyond (1992). Educating for Character has been praised as "the definitive work in the field" and was named winner of a 1992 Christopher Award for "affirming the highest values of the human spirit." Tom is a developmental psychologist and Professor of Education at the State University of New York at Cortland. His work has been featured in a cover article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine and he has been a guest on numerous radio and TV talk shows, including The Larry King Live Radio Show, Good Morning America, and Focus on the Family.

Mary Hansberry McCarthy Director of Character Education Programs, Hudson Public School District, Hudson Massachusetts (National District of Character, 2001 Character Education Partnership) Mary Hansberry McCarthy is the District Director of Community Relations and Character Education in Hudson Public Schools, Hudson, Massachusetts. She also coordinates the mentoring and the professional development programs for the district. Mary taught English on the high school, junior high and college levels and has served as a social worker, high school principal, college teacher and college supervisor. Mary has triple eagle status at Boston College with graduate degrees in English and American Literature, Educational Administration and School Leadership. She co-teaches a graduate course on service-learning and a VHS (Virtual High School) course on service-learning which she designed for high school students. She has presented nationally with Hudson's Superintendent of Schools, Sheldon H. Berman and published articles on service-learning and character education.

Linda McKay Senior Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools of the U.S. Department of Education Linda McKay is senior adviser to the Deputy Under Secretary of Education in the newly created Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools. In that capacity, she provides recommendations and policy guidance on character education to the Department and its Character Education Technical Assistance Center (CETAC). Prior to joining the Department of Education in 2003, Linda served for 14 years as the director of CHARACTERplus. Her work with CHARACTERplus, a project of Cooperating School Districts (CSD), St. Louis, Missouri, involved managing a school/home/business/community partnership that promotes character education in public school districts as well as private and parochial schools in Missouri and Illinois. During her leadership the program grew to includes more than 530 schools and 20,000 teachers and 400,000 students. McKay is a founding member and, from 1993 to 2002, served as secretary of the board of Character Education Partnership, Inc., Washington D.C. Linda has co-authored many publications about character education, ethical decision-making and other topics

David Osher Managing Director, American Institutes for Research Dr. David Osher is a Managing Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research, where his work focuses on the conditions for learning, prevention, and school- and community-wide interventions for individuals with mental health problems and disorders and their families. David also serves as Principal Investigator of five centers that support major national initiatives and receive support from the U. S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice: The Center for Effective Collaboration; The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Violence Prevention; The National Coordinator Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program; The National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk; and The Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health (which provides technical assistance to the grantees of the largest children's mental health initiative ever). David is also Principal Investigator of research projects regarding effective alternative schools and the long-term outcomes of children receiving preschool behavioral interventions as well as the What Works Clearing House review of character education. He has authored, co-authored, or edited over 175 books, monographs, chapters, articles, and reports including Safe, Drug Free, and Effective Schools: What Works!; Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools, Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide, Teaching and Working with Children with Emotional and Behavioral Challenges, and Safe, Supportive, & Successful Schools Step by Step.

Deborah A. Price Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools of the U.S. Department of Education Deborah A. Price is the assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. In this role, Ms. Price oversees the Department's activities related to safe schools, crisis response, alcohol and drug prevention, the health and well-being of students, and building strong character and citizenship. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Price served in several roles within the Department, including as chief of staff of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and senior adviser to the deputy secretary. While with the Deputy Secretary, Ms. Price also served as executive director of the Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, the blue-ribbon panel charged with examining Title IX and worked in the U.S. Senate for 16 years. Between 1984 and 1985, Ms. Price directed the National Prayer Breakfast. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Ms. Price earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Eric Schaps President, Developmental Studies Center Eric Schaps is founder and president of the Developmental Studies Center in Oakland, CA. Established in 1980, DSC specializes in designing educational programs and evaluating their effects on children's academic, ethical, social, and emotional development. The Center has a staff of 55 and its work has been supported by 40 philanthropic foundations and governmental agencies. Dr. Schaps is the author of three books and 60 book chapters and articles on program evaluation, school change, character education, and preventing problem behaviors. Eric serves on several boards including the education advisory board of Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Research in Character Education. He was a co-founder and former President and Board Member of the Character Education Partnership and was the 2003 recipient of the CEP's Sandy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education. That same year, he also received the Science to Practice Award from the Society for Prevention Research.

Merle J. Schwartz, Director of Education and Research, Character Education Partnership As Director of Education and Research at the Character Education Partnership, Dr. Schwartz serves as content specialist for CEP, directing the new CEP-university affiliate site structure with a train-the-trainer model. She coordinates CEP's research agenda, focusing on teacher education, large urban school districts, and effective character education practices. Merle also conducts national institutes and seminars on CEP's Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education. A graduate of The George Washington University Executive Leadership Doctoral Program, Merle is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) with master's degrees in school psychology and special education.

Clifton Taulbert Distinguished author and President of the Building Community Institute Clifton Taulbert is an internationally acclaimed author, lecturer and thought leader on the critical issues of building community. He is the founder and president of The Building Community Institute, which he organized to extend the timeless and universal ideals outlined in his best-selling book, Eight Habits of the Heart. Clifton's growing list of literary works include the award-winning, Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, the Pulitzer nominated The Last Train North, and the book the LA Times called for all Americans to read, Watching Our Crops Come In. He has also written two award winning picture books for children, Little Cliff and the Porch People and Little Cliff's First Day of School. His newest work is Eight Habits of the Heart for Educators, which is being published in March 2006. Clifton serves on the University of Tulsa Board of Trustees, and on the boards of The Oklahoma Investment Forum and the Oklahoma Public Television Trust. His awards include a 1996 Image Award from the NAACP for outstanding contribution to literature, the Arthritis Foundation Volunteer of the year and the National Jewish Medical and Research Humanitarian Award. He has also been named to the United States Air Force Enlisted Airmen Hall of Fame. Taulbert has led forums and lectured educators from Harvard University to Hong Kong on the relationship between building community and character development.

Mary Tavegia Principal, Cossitt Elementary School, LaGrange IL Mary Tavegia has worked in elementary education for over 30 years. She spent nine years as a classroom teacher and twelve years as a special education teacher in a variety of settings in both Iowa and Illinois. Since 1995, she has served as Principal of Cossitt Elementary School in LaGrange, Illinois, during which time she fostered the implementation in her school and district of the Child Development Project, an initiative which is part of her work as a member of the University of Illinois' Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. Mary earned a B.A. in psychology and elementary education from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, an M.A. in special education from the University of Iowa, and a C.A.S. in educational leadership from National-Louis University in Evanston, Illinois.