by Lara Maupin, Director SSOC/NSOC

Kristen Pelster, Principal at Ridgewood Middle School in Missouri

Joe Mazzola and I attended the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools annual conference this week. We were quite pleased to see the Department’s emphasis on how school climate can enhance the conditions for learning reflected in the selection of keynote speakers and workshops. Researchers and practitioners shared how improving school climate can improve academic achievement and reduce bullying.

We were especially thrilled that the Department asked dynamic principal Kristen Pelster of Ridgewood Middle School in Missouri to be the kickoff keynote speaker. Kristen told her school’s powerful story of transformation from the worst school in the district to National School of Character. How did they do it? Character education! By holding kids to high expectations and giving them the support they needed to meet those expectations, Ridgewood culture began to change. Over time, Kristen was able to empower her teachers and students. Without changing anything about how they taught academics, Ridgewood students improved academically. Of course, this is a story we know well at CEP. We see it repeated time and time again in our National Schools of Character. But it was gratifying to see over 1500 conference participants from around the country “get it” too.

Throughout the conference, we heard the message repeated:  Our kids deserve to be safe in school. Once they are safe, they can learn. We can do better. We know that our nation’s teachers are working hard for kids. They simply need our support – and they need tools which will enable them to build positive classroom cultures. Character education provides these tools, without adding “one more thing” or taking time away from academics. As researchers at the conference confirmed, we now know that when we focus on the social, emotional, and character development of students, we gain “time on task,” which results in academic improvement.

As Kristen said when she was asked how could she spend time on character, “How could I not?”

It’s worth taking a look at what these countries are doing to see if we can learn from them. If these countries don’t debate school choice, teacher accountability, or high-stakes testing, why do we? Will all of our interventions and measurements really make our students achieve more? Perhaps Merrow is right to point to our divergent state policies and lack of support or respect for teachers as weak areas of our educational system.

Even so, that leaves us with the question, “What do we focus on right now?” We at CEP propose one word to serve as the foundation of every effort: relationships. Schools should not be failing our kids. In fact, unless the buildings are falling apart, schools can’t fail them. It’s the breakdown in communication and interaction between teachers and students, between administrators and parents, between faculty and staff, between educators and the wider community. It’s been heartbreaking to see recent stories on teachers leaving the profession because of iron-fisted administration policies or facing daily threats with a lack of recourse.

Students, teachers, and parents at these schools all lose, because the environment doesn’t encourage the development of positive connections and relationships that would lead to an atmosphere of teamwork. Contrast that with the inspiring tales of how parents taking charge can become partners in a school’s improvement efforts. While we agree with Merrow that there are no “magic bullets,” there are many ways that fostering relationship-building can benefit a school.

One mom heard that the elementary school down the block from her new home was horrible and that she should search for another school to send her kids to. After visiting the school and seeing its dilapidated condition, she instead chose to take action. With support from the principal, she enrolled her kids and gathered together a coalition of parents who came together to help make changes the school could not afford or accomplish on its own—painting classrooms and changing the neighborhood perceptions of the school, allowing the teachers to focus their efforts on teaching.

Another mom also started taking action when she heard about the facility conditions at her son’s school. She hung a shower curtain on a bathroom stall when none of them had doors and then took larger action to build a partnership with other parents that enabled them to develop a compelling case that the school district’s board members could not ignore. Now she’s the president of a reinvigorated PTA that is helping to develop more effective parent-teacher partnerships at other local schools.

While parents can have a powerful impact on schools, teachers have the most direct impact on student learning. To be effective, teachers need to work in an environment where they feel comfortable suggesting ideas, collaborating with others, and working together with parents and the school administration to gather feedback and make changes. This is why the importance of school leadership cannot be overemphasized. A caring school community can be developed through effective school policies that encourage the development of connections among staff as well as with students and parents. One of this year’s National Schools of Character is accomplishing amazing things while still managing to leading the district in closing the achievement gap—or perhaps they have closed the achievement gap because of these relationships.

Uthoff Valley Elementary School is a public school in Fenton, MO, that has about 20% of its students on free or reduced lunch. While everyone in the school works hard on building relationships, just one example of these efforts comes through monthly early release days, where cross-grade buddy activities are planned by staff teams. Each month, 20 – 30 parent volunteers will come in to the school that day and help run these activities. This frees up the staff, who can therefore be engaged in full-day professional development and planning opportunities. Staff members take the time to recognize and appreciate each other for their actions as well, both publicly and privately, often for something the staff member may not realize he or she had done.

How can we build on these individual school efforts? Great things are happening on a smaller scale—now we need to find a way to bring these empowering stories into the limelight and build some powerful momentum in a larger undertaking.

If you could come up with your own way to acknowledge the hard work of all of our teachers, school leaders, and the faculty and staff as a whole, what would you do?

Here’s one idea that was recognized as a 2010 Promising Practice.

S.E.S. Hall of Fame

Sullivan Elementary School in Sullivan, MO, took the need to teach students the school’s adopted character traits and turned it into a year-long opportunity to recognize staff members. Students are selected to interview school staff members on a bi-monthly basis. Staff members and students are chosen by a 5th grade committee and after the interview, a visual display is created as a new spotlight in the Hall of Fame.

Don’t forget the importance of recognizing your staff members throughout the year, whether by offering a simple thanks for kind acts or honoring them in more public ways. A little bit of appreciation goes a long way, and it seems in this current atmosphere of high-stakes school critiquing, we need to show it more than ever.

Bullying in our nation’s schools is rampant.

Consider the following data points from the 2010 Federal Bullying Prevention Summit: every day, 160,000 students stay home out of fear of getting bullied at school; 1 in 3 students will be bullied this year (about 18M young people); 75-80% of all students observe bullying; and, depending on definition, 15-35% of students are victims of cyber-bullying.

Fortunately, our elected officials and others are now taking bold action. To their credit, for example, 43 states have passed anti-bullying legislation. 

I had the honor of representing CEP at the Summit. The key takeaways were: (1) bullying in schools is widespread; (2) the ramifications are very serious; (3) we need to learn more through research; (4) several government agencies are truly committed to taking this issue on; (5) policies and definitions need attention and clarity; (6) there are 67 programs that claim to combat bullying; (7) none of them has been shown to be effective through research; and (8) there is no simple, silver bullet solution.

As with all complex and chronic problems in our schools, narrowly focused intervention strategies typically fail to make a lasting impact. Zero tolerance policies, hallway posters and such all sound very good in theory. There is no doubt that they are also implemented by well-meaning people who really do want to make things better. However, according to many experts, such measures are shallow in nature and thus fail to achieve their intended purpose, especially over the long haul.

So, having said all of this, if educators are serious about mitigating and eradicating bullying in schools, they will need to take a broad and strategic approach–one that focuses on the school’s entire culture. Beyond having a good strategic plan to guide the entire process, success requires committed leadership, hard work, collaboration with all stakeholders, tenacity and lots of patience. Remember, cultural change takes time, so think “crock pot,” not “microwave oven.”

As for the strategic plan, CEP can help. We offer an excellent resource for this very purpose–one that goes to the heart of school culture. It is free of charge online. I am referring to the 11 Principles of Effective Character Education. One school leader referred to them as a “GPS system” to guide one along the path of meaningful change. To learn more, or to download a copy, please go to http://www.character.org/elevenprinciples 

Following the 11 Principles will help curb violence at your school and drive other positive changes. We know this to be true from managing the National Schools of Character program for 13 years. It has given us a rich and extensive database of case studies that consistently show how violence and other problems decline as culture improves. At the same time, other important metrics also move in the right direction—including academic achievement. A safe, caring, supportive school culture doesn’t just solve problems. It also creates an environment where young people flourish in countless positive ways.

To make the point, let’s look at three schools that followed the 11 Principles of Effective Character Education and took a broad and strategic approach to creating healthy cultures. Each one drastically reduced violence and other problems. Beyond that, they also showed remarkable improvement in a host of other important areas.

Seckman High School in Imperial, MO, stresses team work, empathy and service. The assistant principal said the emphasis goes far deeper than “banners hanging from the cafeteria ceiling.” Over a 5-year period, out-of-school suspensions decreased 98%; in-school suspensions decreased 30%; fights decreased 65%; and drug-related incidents decreased 74%. Seckman was also named a Top 10 Performing School for Science; their graduation rate rose to 94%; and ACT scores hit an all-time high.

Waterloo Middle School in NY was once riddled with disciplinary and academic problems. A veteran staff member said it was “the black sheep of the district.” That is not true today. One teacher said the school “created a strong sense of family and built a culture of caring.” They emphasize respect and acceptance. Students pledge each day not to use their hands or words to hurt themselves or others. Over two years, serious offenses decreased 71% and other reportable offenses decreased 50%. Also, passing scores on the NY math assessment increased 49% and attendance climbed to 97%.

Julian Elementary School is located near San Diego. Their motto is “We can change the world with our own two hands.” Their culture includes service and respect. In a survey, 100% of parents said the school created a positive climate for learning. Last year, they achieved the highest Academic Performance Index rating in school history. Of note, it went up 45 points for socioeconomically disadvantaged students and 74 points for those with learning disabilities. As for problems, disciplinary actions for violence and bullying decreased by 71%.

The three schools showcased above are all different, yet they have several things in common. First, each one follows the 11 Principles of Effective Character Education. Second, they all created healthy, supportive, respectful cultures. Third, each school significantly mitigated major problems. And fourth, they all showed improvements in academics and other key areas.

The CEP database includes many other real-world case studies that show similarly striking results. But let’s look at a final school that is not in our database. Dunbar Senior High is in Washington, DC. It was founded in 1870 and has a long and rich history. However, like many other urban schools, it faces major challenges. Three years ago, the principal was fired and a private consulting firm took over. Even after the radical change in leadership, things failed to improve.

In December, the Washington Post reported on a Dunbar teacher who resigned because she was disgusted by the response to a cyberbullying incident. It was one of many cases of harassment and violence she claimed were tolerated or overlooked. The teacher said the consultants created “a culture of neglect, insecurity, zero accountability and poor communication.” She added “the culture, one of tolerance for sexual violence, was one she could no longer be part of.”

U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, talked about culture at the Summit. He said bullying goes to the very heart of school performance and culture. The Secretary views safety as a moral issue and said schools “should be cultivating a culture of trust and accountability.” CEP agrees with Secretary Duncan. We actually view culture as a two-way street. A good one solves problems and makes things better; a bad one exacerbates problems and makes things worse.

In conclusion, bullying is a daunting and frightening problem. If you want to take the issue on at your school and truly make a difference, you will have to take a strategic approach–one that focuses on the disease (unhealthy culture), not just the symptom.