Case Study 6B

The Jefferson Way

Mike Swartz and Sandy Swartz

The School District of Jefferson, in a rural community of 7,800 people in Jefferson, Wisconsin, began a school-community initiative that has since been named the Jefferson Way. The initiative began to take form when Mike Swartz became the superintendent of schools in 2003. He conveyed to the board of education during the interview process his passion to make the development of good character in every student as important as good grades and athletic success. Throughout 2004, the Jefferson Way touchstone was developed by school board members, administrators, teachers, parents, students, business leaders, clergy, and private citizens. This touchstone consists of a vision statement that defines our goals and objectives:

We have the courage to stand up for what is right even if we have to stand alone; We believe in the value of giving, of looking beyond ourselves to others’ needs and desires; We believe in maintaining a healthy sense of humor and a positive attitude; We encourage the development of responsibility through a strong, positive work ethic; We might have different things to give, but we give the best of what we have.

These five statements represent more than wishful thinking. They are public statements to which the community, parents, students, and staff members pledge their support in educating our young people in heart as well as in mind.

The character traits of responsibility, respect, honesty, caring, perseverance, self-discipline, courage, fairness, and citizenship were identified as tools to utilize in order to reach our goals. These traits were and are discussed in our schools in numerous ways: vision statements, student/faculty handbooks, calendars, district newsletters, honor codes, and district yearly themes. Reminders of important traits are included in each piece of mail that leaves the schools or the district office and within athletic programs, clubs, organizations (e.g., Caring Club), and Christmas Neighbors. Not only do we ensure that the character traits are displayed and woven into every aspect of every day in all five school buildings, but they are also displayed, modeled, and celebrated in over 150 businesses and industries within our community.

District and Community-Wide Involvement

We ensure a continuous improvement process for all district activities, of which character education integration is an essential part. A districtwide steering committee that includes the superintendent, administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, administrative assistants, cafeteria workers, a custodian, students, and parents meets bimonthly to plan deliberate integration goals and activities. These activities are carried out in each school building by character education teams. Collaboration between staffs of the different buildings ensures that potential obstacles are addressed.

The district is committed to Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets Approach, an evidence-based strategy that exemplifies the results when adults focus on forty specific actions that are student focused. When adults deliberately show that they value children of all ages, amazing results happen; our district provides solid evidence of being asset builders for our students. The stronger these assets are in kids, the better their behavior and academic performance. Consultation teams in each building promote students’ development of assets as a problem-solving method to assist their academic and social/emotional development. We promote student intellectual growth by offering Advanced Placement classes that challenge students to do their best work while promoting work ethic and intellectual curiosity.

Students are included in goal setting, and district, building, and classroom expectations are shared efforts that promote student ownership in decisions, rules, and outcomes. The initiative revolves around the concept of “Know the good, love the good, do the good.” Our educators and other employees accomplish this with deliberate efforts to model, teach, expect, discuss, and celebrate our core values and traits in everyday interactions. Teachers note that infusing everyday curriculum with basic character discussions, combined with a climate that practices and expects all stakeholders to strive toward social and moral excellence, helps students and adults to think, feel, and act with character. Character integration is used in such projects as Freshman Academy (Character Education Partnership, 2009), class meetings at all levels, and the honor code. Setting the Stage for the Jefferson Way dedicates seven days of middle school advisory time to teach, practice, demonstrate, and model schoolwide character expectations that foster a healthy environment, resulting in greater student success. Many high school students participate in STAR (Students Talking about Respect). This organization hosts student-led character activities throughout the year. Each year has had a different theme, such as “Diversity,” “Walk a Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes,” and in the 2010/11 school year, “Stamp Out Bullying.” Community service projects provide students with the opportunity to become involved in volunteerism at a young age. The districtwide steering committee identified service learning as a number-one goal for the 2010/11 school year. Students share the “way it makes me feel” after they have participated in a project. Service learning clearly demonstrates the “power of one” to students and the desire to “pay it forward” to other people. Many of the above-mentioned efforts have been recognized by the Character Education Partnership as “Promising Practices” in character development and have been shared nationwide.

Every year since the initiation of the Jefferson Way, a district- and community-wide theme has been used. Each year’s theme is chosen to promote, strengthen, and celebrate the relationships our school district members have with each other and our community. Business leaders arrive the first day of school to greet the staff, wishing them a good year, thanking them for being good role models for our young people, and making them feel valued. Business individuals, clergy, law-enforcement officers, parents, graduates, and other community citizens welcome students to our schools on a frequent basis, reminding students to do their best.

Our students and staff also contribute to the community. During the summer of 2008, Jefferson declared a state of emergency due to widespread flooding. Two days before the cresting of the rivers, students took the responsibility of organizing an effort to fill and deliver thousands of sandbags. They served food to the evacuated families and discussed how they could raise money to offer additional help. Staff and students participate in “Leave the Lights on in Jefferson” to collect food for the food pantry. Christmas Neighbors is a community-wide project in which students take the lead to collect and deliver tons of food and clothing to those in need. The student body was surveyed, and 83 percent responded favorably to service projects. An adult leads the discussion on reflection after each project. Not only is it our (adults) responsibility to provide opportunities for students and staff to engage in moral action; it is their responsibility to seek it out and act upon it.

Utilizing the Curriculum

The adopted curriculum of the school district provides meaningful challenges so that character development can be promoted throughout the curriculum. The school district embraces the Wisconsin “Standards of the Heart,” which is a collaborative effort of ensuring that academic, social, and emotional learning develop together. The new Wisconsin Counseling Model has also been adopted. This involves meaningful classroom guidance in character education activities. The topics include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision making. Classroom activities occur in K–9 grades and are related to social studies themes taught at the various grade levels. Additionally for tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders, there are required classes in civics/citizenship and in social-problem resolution, with emphasis on character. There has been a major effort in the district to have all staff members complete training in differentiation of instruction in an attempt to reach and support the diverse learning abilities of all our students. Our district reaches the needs of our diverse learners with programs such as 6-Trait Writing, Read 180, Freshman Academy, Soar to Success, Cross Age Tutors, and Virtual School. Middle and high school students prepare character lessons, including a story, skit, and message, that they take to elementary school students. Discussions take place that promote students’ learning to disagree without being disagreeable. This is especially helpful as we tangle with difficult social/ethical issues within our curriculum.

Working beyond the Community

The School District of Jefferson’s students are motivated by numerous things to “be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things.” High school students from STAR have been invited to speak to other high school students about respect and about the Jefferson Way. The standing ovations that they receive help them strive to “walk the talk” and practice what they preach. Our superintendent, Mr. Mike Swartz, sets the standard for excellence in character education. He is a member of the Wisconsin Character Education Partnership (WCEP) Advisory Board and has spoken at various character education conferences in Missouri and Tennessee, as well as at the Wisconsin Association of School Boards’ State Conference and the Wisconsin Counselor’s State Conference. He prompted the decision to host a character education conference in Wisconsin so that all of our employees could attend and learn from the best. June 2011 marked the seventh annual Character Education Conference, “Character Education . . . the Wisconsin Way.” Over 150 of our employees attended, and an additional 200 to 250 from across the United States. Our students and staff are proud of the fact that our district has hosted an Annual Character Education Conference every June for seven years running. Our staff, community members, and students have been breakout presenters at our two-day conference, and the fact that other educators look to them for practices and integration strategies is a great motivator.

Continuing and Strengthening the Focus

Periodically, Dr. Berkowitz and Dr. Vincent are brought to Jefferson for ongoing training of our staff. All administrators attended Dr. Richard and Rebecca DuFour’s Professional Learning Communities training, a concept that our district embraces. Teachers and principals have attended the Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education Training provided by the Character Education Partnership. Superintendent Swartz includes a character education assessment when evaluating administrators, using the character education part of their self-assessment. Principals look for, recognize, and critique teachers on their implementation in evaluations. The interview process for potential employees includes a character education component. Administrative meetings, led by Mr. Swartz, begin with the question, “What can we do to make Jefferson Schools a better place for students and staff?” One of the Eleven Principles is discussed at each meeting, where character education goals, activities, and successes are discussed. Building-level staff meetings begin with character education first on the agenda, developing ways for principals to celebrate reaching goals and other successes. The districtwide character education steering committee (teachers, principals, support staff, students, community members, coordinator, and superintendent) meets quarterly, with substitutes provided for teachers. Early release days include character education discussion, review, and training. A shared drive on the district server provides information for collaboration and use by all staff.

Assessing Our Efforts

We utilize various methods to assess the effectiveness of our character education efforts, including climate surveys, perception surveys, bullying surveys, cheating surveys, parent conferences, sportsmanship demeanor, discipline referral reflection, and administrative and teacher evaluations. Results from these surveys are utilized and reported to employees, parents, and the community. We know that character education is an effective way to improve academic scores and homework completion as well as to decrease behavioral issues, tardiness, and behavioral referrals. From 2005/6 to 2008/9, a 54 percent decrease in infractions was seen. There were 3,800 fewer classroom infractions during this time period.

In conjunction with other county districts, we have administered the Search Institute Survey, Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors in 2003, 2006, and 2009 to grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. In 2003 the Jefferson School District and Jefferson County data mirrored each other in that there were virtually identical percentages for the number of students who had asset development in the areas of caring, equity and social justice, integrity, honesty, responsibility, and restraint. For example, in 2003, 41 percent of teens were seen as having the asset of caring in the county data total, while 40 percent (286 students) of the Jefferson School District population were seen as having developed the caring asset. Both sets of data in the other five areas were similar. In 2009, there was a significant difference (see table 6B.1). This evidence strongly suggests that character education has made specific differences in the school district’s students in grades seven through twelve in terms of the character traits identified in the Search Institute Survey that relate to the traits we have integrated into our daily activities. This survey was readministered in 2011, and the results will be reported soon. Our district is also utilizing Cornerstone Consulting and Evaluation, who administer the survey instrument Collective Responsibility for Excellence and Ethics Survey (CREE). All students and staff participated in this survey during the 2008/9 school year. The first two in-service early release staff development programs in the fall of 2009 were used for analysis and action plan development. Students, staff, and parents were administered the CREE again in spring 2011.

Table 6B.1. Percent of Students Possessing Developmental Assets in Jefferson County and Jefferson School District

Asset	Jefferson County	Jefferson School District
Caring	41	58
Equity and social justice	43	73
Integrity	63	70
Honesty	61	75
Responsibility	60	75
Restraint	41	54

Conclusion

When we began the character education initiative seven years ago, it actually took a deliberate effort to ensure that the traits we identified were being integrated into everything we did—school board meetings, administrative meetings, building staff meetings, the curriculum, athletic events, fine arts, the playground and cafeteria, and bus involvement. “It seems so natural and second nature to us now. It’s become so much of who we are,” said a high school English teacher of thirty-five years. To say that the implementation of character education into any school district anywhere is important is an understatement in the opinion of parents, community leaders, students, and school personnel in our school district. As our vision statement expresses, we believe that the development of strong character in every individual in our community is equally as important as getting good grades, good work performance reviews, and getting monetary raises. After all, it is the Jefferson Way!

Reference

Character Education Partnership. (2009). 2009 promising practices award winners: Jefferson High School’s Freshman Academy. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.character.org/Page.cfm?PageID=237&PPLPID=543&cp=368&o=1