The Content of Their Character

For most of America’s history, schools were established to furnish more than just academic training: They were founded to form young people of strong character and civic conscience. We rarely think of our schools that way now. Ironically, we bicker over test scores, graduation rates, and academic standards, even as we are besieged by news stories of gratuitous misconduct and cynical, callous, unethical behavior. Might our schools provide a glimmer of hope? This is precisely the question that a team of talented scholars asked in a landmark study. The Content of Their Character provides a summary of the researchers’ findings — the stories from the schools they visited and the teachers, administrators, and students they spoke to. The results point to a new model for understanding the moral and civic formation of children and new ways of undertaking this important challenge.