The Character Education Story
Our district has always placed a priority on the importance of helping our students to develop social skills and core ethical values through character education activities. The district philosophy statement and product goals, which apply to all of our curricula and programs, exemplify the need for students to develop feelings of self-worth and a positive self-image, use rational thinking, acquire skills needed to gain employment, assume a satisfying responsible role in family living, maintain mental and emotional health, develop eagerness for lifelong learning, acquire management and planning skills, and most importantly, develop problem solving and decision making skills.
Program Implementation: The Cape May County Special Services School District has been implementing social skills instruction on a district-wide basis for the past six years, utilizing the University of Medicine and Dentistry’s Social Problem-solving/Decision-Making program. We have actually been involved with this research-based program since the late 1980s, but made the decision to re-vitalize a district-wide initiative in 1999. The UMDNJ Social Problem-solving program provides us with a structured, well-organized framework for instruction, and also allows for adaptation to meet the diverse needs of our student population.
Program implementation includes a combination of: staff development, direct student instruction in specific social skills, integration of character education activities into content area instruction, and ongoing opportunities to practice skills through overlearning in all school environments.
Our approved district Professional Development plan supports ongoing professional development activities in the area of character education through our social skills program, and in the development of a district-wide discipline philosophy and school-based discipline plans.
By having every staff member in the Cape May County Special Services School District trained in a social skills program that is research-based and incorporates best practice, and is designed with our specific student population in mind, staff and students are on the same page, both in terms of our priorities for classroom instruction, and the language being used to implement the program.
In addition to student instruction and staff development, our district has successfully formed a Character Education Advisory board that consists of members of our Social Skills Leadership team as a core group, along with staff, students, parents and community members.
Evaluation: Efforts to document student progress and program effectiveness have been ongoing over many years. The evaluation of student progress has been accomplished through pre/post-testing using social skills checklists, through clinical observation, the review of anecdotal notes, and progress toward Individual Education Plan goals/objectives.
In addition, data including attendance rates, discipline referrals, referrals to the Crisis Intervention Unit and Supervised Study have been compiled and analyzed to determine both individual student and school progress. Program effectiveness has been evaluated through review of lesson plans, observation by supervisors of social skills lessons, completion of staff needs assessments on an annual basis, and review and analysis of social skills workshop evaluations.
This year, we have created and implemented a student self-rating assessment tool that is being completed online through Ed Solution. We are also looking at the possibility of gathering data on qualitative individual student growth through an online database that would allow for anecdotal information to be compiled for every student in our district.
Resources: We have a wide range of information available for the implementation of staff development and instructional activities that include: Active Listening, Team Building (for staff and students), Games to Teach Social Skills, Problem-solving Steps, Keep Calm activities, and resources for our bimonthly themes (including Caring, Thankful, Patient, Respectful, Honest, and Positive.
If you have questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact via emal:
Lizabeth Buoro,
Supervisor of Curriculum & Assessment
Marge Krah,
District Social Skills Teacher
Gina Lanza,
Outdoor Experiential Education Teacher
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