A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

          FOR RELEASE                                           Contact: David Thomas     June 8, 1996                                                   (202) 401-1576

Connecticut Gains Character Education Partnership Support

The Connecticut State Department of Education will receive a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help launch a partnership between the state education department and one or more local school districts to establish character education programs for youth, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today at the White House Conference on Character Education.

"Clearly we can all agree about the importance of teaching our children, both as individuals and as members of society, the importance of common values such as caring, civic virtue and citizenship, justice and fairness, respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness?" said Riley. "This support will help Connecticut bring communities -- including students, parents, educators and others -- together to identify common values and incorporate them into learning."

Connecticut joins three other states -- Maryland, North Carolina and Washington -- that will receive grants totaling nearly $1 million.

In Connecticut, the state department of education will collaborate with the Character Counts! Connecticut Coalition and four school districts -- Clinton, New Britain, Norwalk, and Region #12 -- the first year to promote character education throughout the state. The project aims to add to the number of schools offering character education programs, with a goal of including all schools; infuse promising character education concepts and practices into interested schools; build a statewide commitment for character education through the involvement of diverse organizations and participants in coalitions and advisory councils; and increase the number of parents involved in education. Connecticut plans to supplement their grant with funds from local sources.

Parents, students, and other community members, including private and non profit organizations, can participate in the design and administration of programs. The character education partnerships will help states work with school districts to develop curriculum materials, provide teacher training, gauge and build community consensus on common values, involve parents in character education and integrate character education into the curriculum.

The projects, under the Partnerships in Character Education Pilot Project Program, will be evaluated to determine their success toward reducing discipline problems, and improving student grades, participation in extracurricular activities, and parent and community involvement. States are also asked to establish a clearinghouse for the distribution of materials and information about character education.

The four projects were selected from 27 eligible applicants, with grants totaling $996,190 for Fiscal Year 1996. The Partnerships in Character Education Pilot Project is authorized under Title X, Part A, Section 10103 of the Improving America's Schools Act (P.L. 103 - 382).

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