Whole Child Education

With more states adopting the Common Core State Standards, it can be overwhelming for U.S. schools and teachers to consider "adding" anything else. But character education isn't about adding, it's about integrating with all that you already do. In a new position paper from whole child partner Character Education Partnership, authors Kristin Fink and Karen Geller make the case that the Common Core State Standards are good for education, but Common Core integrated with character education is even better.

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A friend of mine's daughter took a picture of herself using his phone. She is 18 months old. He should be glad she didn't do something else with it. He captioned it, "Caden's first selfie." We call these pictures "selfies" because it's a picture taken of yourself, by ... yourself. I thought his daughter looked adorable with her big smile. I am not a fan of my own selfies because I think they bring out my worst qualities (too many to list).

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'Tis the season for the social media firestorm of thankful messages, and, as cliché as it is, I think there is something to be said for pausing and being grateful. Yet it can get overwhelming. A few years ago, I did a new "thanks" message on my Facebook page for the 10 days leading up to Thanksgiving. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel by the end, mostly because I felt the need to be entertaining while not bragging, which is a fine line to walk. Like many of you, I have so much to be thankful for, and I find it's easy to take it all for granted. And if you're like me, you save certain things to remember the good times. Maybe it's a wedding program, a special note from a student, the ticket stub from your first concert, or any other tangible item that you can post on a bulletin board or pull from a drawer when you need a pick-me-up and take a moment of pause.

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Last night on Twitter, ASCD and an inspiring group of educators dedicated an entire hour to sharing the many things we are all thankful for. The chat left me in an incredibly grateful mood. Whether you are thankful for your school community, your professional development opportunities, the new technologies available in your classroom, or a new position this school year, the universal theme that sounded throughout the entire chat was that you are thankful for and inspired by your students.

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"The wonder drug has been invented, manufactured, packaged, and shipped. Doctors and nurses are being trained to administer the drug properly. Companies and consultants are offering products and services to help with the proper administering of this wonder drug. A national effort is underway to develop tools to monitor the improvement of the patients. The media are flooded with enthusiastic endorsement and euphoric predictions.

This cure-all wonder drug is the Common Core, short for the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Cooked up by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, this magic potion promises to cure America's education ills..."

—Yong Zhao (with a heavy dose of irony) in "Common Sense Vs. Common Core: How to Minimize the Damages of the Common Core"

Teachers, educators, and the public have every right to be skeptical. We've had two wonderful-sounding—and I believe initially well-intentioned—top-down education initiatives over the past decade that have left many scratching their heads and asking, was it worth it? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which many have argued has caused more grief and problems than it solved, and the ultra-competitive Race To The Top initiative that pitted states against states and educators against educators. In both cases, implementation could be described as draconian, ill-resourced, and somewhat flawed.

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The Common Core State Standards aren't an enemy. They're a smart way of saying to the public, "This is where education is going. This is what your child needs to know and be able to do as a future worker, citizen, and leader." To that end, the Common Core standards are helping to advance what we already know to be solid, holistic learning for our schools. This includes providing teachers the breathing room to get creative about focusing on integrity at every turn.

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New one-page profiles of the 2013 National Blue Ribbon schools highlight each school's mission, demographics, culture, and goals.

The 286 schools—210 elementary schools, 22 middle schools, 53 high schools, and one K–12 school—represent promising ideas in different settings, from rural areas to major cities. Schools were recognized in one of two categories: Exemplary High Performing, based on overall academic excellence, or Exemplary Improving, grounded in improving student achievement. Now in its 31st year, the program celebrates schools that serve as admirable examples of the United States' vision and commitment to education.

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If the state of North Carolina decides to pull the plug on the Common Core State Standards, it will be a slap in the face to the teachers and administrators who have spent countless hours (most on their own time without reimbursement) preparing to implement the Common Core State Standards to maximize learning for 1.5 million students.

On June 2, 2010, the North Carolina State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which were implemented during the 2012–13 school year. The CCSS represent K–12 learning expectations in English language arts and mathematics. They reflect the knowledge and skills students need to be college and career ready by the end of high school. Over the past few months, elected officials across the United States are beginning to question the CCSS. On June 4, 2013, North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest posted a YouTube video outlining his concerns.

While standing in the car rider line at an elementary school, I was approached by a classroom teacher. She asked, "Are we going to align our curriculum, instruction, and assessments to the Common Core State Standards next year?" I replied, "yes." Then I said, "The Common Core is not going away." The teacher replied, "The Lieutenant Governor is discussing eliminating the Common Core." I replied, "Which Lieutenant Governor?" The teacher said, "The North Carolina Lieutenant Governor, Dan Forest."

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In order for me to lead effectively in my classroom, I needed to make sure I was teaching the right things. Otherwise, what were students learning? And, why were they learning it?

Students need to be personally invested in their learning in order for them to be most successful. What's taught needs to be relevant to them. The curriculum can be rigorous to the 10th power, but if it isn't taught in a way that is engaging and fun, students will not produce work that is reflective, vulnerable, risky, and potentially full of mistakes.

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Teachers lead learning in their classrooms every day, but teacher leadership often extends beyond the classroom. Teachers lead their colleagues in professional learning and growth. They lead their communities in bringing change to schools. They might focus on leading within their schools and localities, or they might use social media to share their ideas with fellow educators around the world. But such leadership can be a challenge. Administrators and policymakers need to listen to teacher voices and give teachers room to lead. The October 2013 issue of Educational Leadership looks at how teachers are leading today and considers how schools can best leverage the leadership skills of teachers.

In her "Perspectives" column, Editor-in-Chief Marge Scherer examines today's challenges to teacher leadership and asks how do we tap this talent and know-how to transform "the school writ large," to quote Roland S. Barth. Barth is an author of one of this issue's articles, and Scherer ends her column with another quote from him: "The bottom line remains: All teachers can lead. Many teachers want to lead. Schools badly need their ideas, invention, energy—and their leadership."

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