Opinion
School Climate & Safety Letter to the Editor

Character Is Fundamental to Measuring Success

June 20, 2017 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

In response to “For Schools, Rating Students’ Character Is a Tricky Prospect” (May 31, 2017), I’m delighted to see a recognition of the real growth needs of students by schools entering the character domain. In character development, parents are the primary teachers and the home the primary classroom, and I salute these schools that start involving parents. There is nothing tricky about rating character—it just requires a more comprehensive evaluation process that includes social, emotional, and intellectual growth.

As the founder of the Hyde Organization, a network of character-based public and private schools, I know thousands of alumni and parents who would be amused at calling character a “soft skill.” To them, evaluating students just by academic grades is like trying to make the tail wag the dog. Character is the whole; academics are a subset.

Joseph W. Gauld

Founder

The Hyde Schools

Bath, Maine

A version of this article appeared in the June 21, 2017 edition of Education Week as Character Is Fundamental to Measuring Success

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety What the Research Says Restrictions on Suspending Students From School Show Evidence of Being Effective
New research suggests restrictions on exclusionary discipline can work with support.
5 min read
Danny Perez, a 7th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, Calif., faces a court of his peers for getting involved in a fight. Kristy Treewater, the school’s assistant principal, sits by his side to monitor the student-run session.
Danny Perez, a 7th grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, Calif., faces a court of his peers in 2012 for getting involved in a fight. Kristy Treewater, the school’s assistant principal, sits next to him. Interventions like these, called "restorative justice," have gained popularity as an alternative to suspensions.
Sarah Rice for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Teachers With Guns: District by District, a Push to Arm Educators Is Growing
The number of districts with armed educators is rising. An inside look at one of them.
12 min read
Educators with the Benjamin Logan Local School District receive training from the Logan County Sheriff's office to join the district's armed response team in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on June 26, 2023.
Educators with the Benjamin Logan Local School District receive training from the Logan County Sheriff's Office to join the district's Armed Response Team in Bellefontaine, Ohio, on June 26, 2023.
Eli Hiller for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Let's Talk About When Cars Need to Stop for School Buses
A refresher course on the rules of the road involving stopped school buses.
1 min read
Collage of school bus, cars, stop sign and a neighborhood map.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
School Climate & Safety Opinion School Police Officers Should Do More Than Just Surveil and Control. Here’s How
SROs should be integrated into schools as a means to support students and create a safe, humanizing environment.
H. Richard Milner IV
5 min read
opinion sro school police 80377388 01
Dynamic Graphics/Getty