CSEE Recognition of Excellent Practice in Ethical Education
CSEE’s endorsement/recognition program attests to a school’s ongoing work to meet, at a high level, criteria widely recognized as hallmarks of excellence in moral development / character education. (See note below regarding terminology).
Endorsement does not intend to certify ethical rigor at the school, but rather to celebrate and help broadcast the fact that the school has in place a set of standards and practices known to maximize the possibilities of ethical growth in educational institutions.
In addition to other announcements, membership certificates of endorsed schools will note the school’s recognition as a “School of Excellent Practice.” This endorsement is valid for a period of four years or, when done in the context of an accreditation process, until the next accreditation.
Criteria:
Mission/Objectives
1. Ethical growth, as well as academic growth, is explicit in the school’s mission.
(If it is not in the mission itself, a statement of the school’s commitment to the development of both academic and ethical life is prominently placed on the school’s web site and in promotional literature.)
Verified via documentation submitted
2. The school has a planned approach to foster ethical/moral life, including goals it aims to achieve.
(Plans may come in a variety of forms, but they include how the plan is woven into the school, and an outline of behaviors that will be specifically sought, or sought to be eradicated, as a result of this approach.)
Verified via documentation submitted
3. The school has in place a plan to evaluate and fine tune levels of success in its program
(Evaluation need not be extensive or scientifically sophisticated, but it should be aimed at assessing with something other than anecdotal data where the school’s program is making progress and where additional strategies may be called for.) Verified via documentation submitted
Trustees/Governance
4. School trustees or governing body have affirmed, and demonstrate, their support of the school’s stance on the development of ethical life. (See appendix for examples.)
Verified via documentation or statement submitted; and or via evaluation visit or phone interview
Oversight
5. An individual or group at the school is either designated to oversee, or recognized as overseeing the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the school’s program for ethical development.
(Most schools work on character in one way or another, but school-wide programs—for reading, for language arts, or for athletics, as well as for ethical life—develop because they have been organized and fine-tuned with the assistance or oversight of some individual or committee.)
Verified via documentation submitted; interview during evaluation visit
6. A significant number of school personnel are trained, educated, or in the process of professional development to be up-to-date on issues of moral/ethical development/character education as these relate to the school’s goals.
(Goals are more attainable when those responsible for working toward them understand them and have the skills needed to help attain them.)
Verified via documentation or statement submitted; interview during evaluation visit
Curricular Integration
7. The school’s approach to the development of ethical life is integrated into the curriculum.
(Evidence is strong that integration into various parts of the curriculum furthers goals. This does not mean every class or every day. The key here is that teachers have carefully considered ways in which the content of their classes can be approached "through the lens of character development," such that assignments, choice of materials, instructional processes, ways of structuring class discussion, etc. can be seen as furthering the school's goals.)
Verified via documentation submitted
Students
8. The school has available, and a significant number of students avail themselves of, opportunities to play meaningful roles of the school. At a minimum, this means significant opportunities for peer interaction inside and outside the classroom.
The litmus test of this standard would generally be that students feel as though their presence is valued, and that what they do at school contributes to making them better people and the school a better place. Contributions in lower grades may be limited, and yet such opportunities do exist. At all grades, all students should be feel like they can contribute meaningfully to discussions and that they are shown respect when doing so. At higher grades, playing “meaningful roles” may include service learning, honor council participation, formal peer support networks, student government, or other leadership or decision-making/influencing positions. (Note: participation in community service projects or student council, per se, does not mean that such participation is meaningful to students. Some community service and some student council positions are trivial; others are meaningful and empowering; it is the latter that build moral character.) Participation in athletics or performance-based activities such as drama, dance, or music could also be seen as playing a meaningful role in the life of the school, provided that students feel as though they are contributing to an experience that enriches the broader school community. Collaborative or student centered classroom discussions facilitate student growth better than discussions where all contributions are mediated by the teacher.
Verified via documentation submitted; student interviews at evaluation visit
9. Students recognize that the school has goals for moral and ethical development, and typically can articulate, even if imperfectly, what the goals are.
Verified via student interviews at evaluation visit
Parents
10. Parents are included in the school’s goals for the development of ethical life, at a minimum through regular information about the school’s work to that effect, and about how they can work in tandem with the school. Ideally, parents are actively engaged in promoting the school’s goals.
(The extent to which parents can be involved depends in part on the nature of the school—boarding schools versus day schools, for example. In the best scenarios, parents both take an active role in helping the school attain its goals and participate in the definition of those goals)
Verified via documentation submitted
*Re: vocabulary
Schools use a variety of terms for ethical life. Independent schools with good programs for the development of ethical life are known to refer to their programs as character education programs, moral development programs, human development or even leadership. The specific terminology schools use is less important than that programs and their goals be clearly aimed at the development of values, virtues, character traits or standards of behavior that are beyond the normal academic goals of the institution.
FAQ
How are these standards verified?
The submission procedure aims to be as simple as possible for schools. On many points (e.g., how moral issues are integrated into the curriculum), a school’s word is taken in trust, based on what is stated in the written application form. Certain other points (e.g., mission or school statement on ethics) can be verified from the school’s web site or promotional materials. Each application must also include a one-day visit to the school (to include observation, visiting key individuals, and interaction with the student body as arranged with the school) by a CSEE staff member, a member of CSEE’s Moral Development Team, or other individual designated by CSEE.
What costs are associated with this visit?
CSEE will charge a modest fee for the visit. To the extent possible, evaluators (usually CSEE moral development team members) will come from as nearby a location as possible.
Appendix
"School trustees or governing body have affirmed, and demonstrate, their support of the school's stance on the development of ethical life." Examples might include one or more of the following:
• a seat on the board specifically reserved for a person with expertise in moral development/character education;
• the board annually reviews and affirms its position on ethical education and the development of an ethical climate
• a standing agenda item on moral development/character education for board meetings;
• standing sub-committees responsible for studying and reporting on specific moral development/character education issues