Character and Community Development

This book provides the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological foundation that teachers, principals, professors, and students preparing for teaching will need in order to be informed and effective planners and evaluators of character education programs and good character educators. Through its clear definition of terms, review of Constitutional and public support, comparative analysis of philosophical approaches, synthesis of many relevant theories of child development, K-12 core curriculum, description of many instructional strategies, and methodology for program evaluation, this handbook effectively prepares prospective program planners and character educators to create comprehensive programs that are developmentally appropriate, adapted to the unique needs and characteristics of school communities, and soundly evaluated.Dr. Vessels presents a wide range of options, developmental and practical guidelines for choosing from among these options, and a creative core curriculum and evaluation technology that he hopes school community members will find useful for their particular school or system.

"[A] well articulated, developmentally grounded approach to character education....[The book] provides a wealth of practical information and tools for educators and others concerned with children's moral and character development."-Victor Battistich, Ph.D. Deputy Director of Research, Developmental Studies Center Oakland, California, "Complete, practical guidance for the development of school-wide, as well as classroom strategies for character education....Sensitive to issues of church-state relations, [Vessels'] work can be followed and implemented with confidence. A must for educators."-James W. Fowler, Ph.D., Director Center for Ethics in Public Policy and the Professions Emory University, "The single most valuable thing about the book [is the] review of developmental stages of children, including moral development, and what best practices in character education and a variety of strategies would look like for each of those grades....[A] wonderful resource, a wonderful book."-Kristin D. Fink State Character Education Specialist, ?A unique and different perspective on the important topic of character education.... Vessels' book will not be one that gathers dust on a bookshelf. It has a wealth of information that should be read by all interested in the character development of children and youth.?-Character Educator, "A unique and different perspective on the important topic of character education.... Vessels' book will not be one that gathers dust on a bookshelf. It has a wealth of information that should be read by all interested in the character development of children and youth."-Character Educator

GORDON G. VESSELS is a school psychologist who recently directed a character education grant project in the Atlanta Public Schools, funded by the Georgia Humanities Council. Currently he is working on related research articles and consulting with schools and school systems that are interested in initiating or improving character education programs. Dr. Vessels is a former teacher and social worker with leadership certification and 25 years of experiences as an educator.