• WHAT IS CHARACTER COUNTS!?

CHARACTER COUNTS! is a national movement that promotes the Six Pillars of Character as the basis for understanding, evaluating and modeling ethical behavior.

• WHAT ARE THE SIX PILLARS AND WHY ARE THERE ONLY SIX?

The pillars are: TRUSTWORTHINESS, RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, FAIRNESS, CARING, CITIZENSHIP. We believe that human behavior can be guided by these six concepts. While more words or "pillars" could be chosen, the intent is to be concise.

• HOW DID CHARACTER COUNTS! GET STARTED? WHO CHOSE THE WORDS?

CHARACTER COUNTS! got its start as a result of the Josephson Institute of Ethics' conference at the Aspen Institute in 1992 for the purpose of exploring the causes of the perceived decline of ethical behavior in recent years. Participants included approximately thirty people representing various walks of life. During the three-day conference, the participants themselves chose the words as a direct result of their consensus building deliberations.

• IS CHARACTER COUNTS! RELIGIOUS OR RELATED TO ANY RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS?

No. CHARACTER COUNTS! is not a religious organization or affiliated with any religious denominations. The six pillars of character are universal concepts that are readily understood and embraced by all religions and cultures.

• IS CHARACTER COUNTS! POLITICAL?

No. CHARACTER COUNTS! is community based and has no political agenda.

• IS CHARACTER COUNTS! A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION?

Well, yes and no. CHARACTER COUNTS! is a local, grassroots effort of concerned citizens in the many communities nationwide that have embraced it.
There is also a national organization administered by the Josephson Institute of Ethics in California which "owns" the name and six pillars service mark. This organization is a not-for-profit activity of the Institute and serves as a library of resource material including training information and materials and other useful information for local groups. The Institute also conducts training of several days' duration to prepare individuals to assist their communities through ethical awareness and development workshops.

• IS CHARACTER COUNTS! PRIMARILY A SCHOOL BASED ACTIVITY?

No, not at all. Schools are a wonderful place to further the goal of character education but by no means are the only place for CHARACTER COUNTS! Character education begins at home. However, CHARACTER COUNTS! needs to impact all environments. Before and after school programs, athletic programs, communities of faith, local units of governments and businesses have all been trained in CHARACTER COUNTS! in Arizona.

• CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC BY WHAT YOU MEAN BY EXPANDING CHARACTER COUNTS! IN ENVIRONMENTS?

We have identified several broad environments that we "inhabit" during our day. For children, these include school, after school activities such as Girl Scouts, YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, athletics and the like. For working adults, this includes the workplace, recreational opportunities after work hours and time spent in volunteer civic related outlets. These may include virtually any form of organized athletics or less structured forms of relaxation or perhaps the pursuit of additional education. For most people, it includes the hours spent at home in social or family types of activities such as sharing meals. Any list of possible environments should logically include churches and synagogues which are positive contributors and reinforcers of the principles of good moral behavior.

• HOW IS CC! ORGANIZED IN AZ?

The Arizona Character Education Blue Ribbon Task Force, established in June 2003 by the Arizona Department of Education, Superintendent Tom Horne consists of approximately twenty-one community leaders who represent many community “constituencies.” The Arizona Character Education Initiative was created by executive order in October 1999 by Governor Jane Dee Hull. The task force serves as the guiding agency to develop and implement plans to broaden CHARACTER COUNTS!sm throughout Arizona. The Character Education Foundation was formed as a 501(C)3 corporation to facilitate fund raising activities and long-term sustainability.

• WHAT DOES THE TASK FORCE OFFER?

The Arizona Character Education Blue Ribbon Task Force, Arizona Department of Education offers CHARACTER COUNTS! training to any educator, nonprofit organization, parent and youth stake holder at no cost to them. This assumes that resources are available to provide the funding. Organizations and individuals trained by the Task Force agree to incorporate the CHARACTER COUNTS! program and the six pillars into their regular curriculum.

• HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?

Contact the Arizona Department of Education:
Arizona Department of Education
Character Education and Development
1535 West Jefferson Street, Bin 18
Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-542-1755
928-541-1166 fax
Email: charactered@ade.az.gov

• I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT TRAINING IN ARIZONA, CAN I CONTACT JOSEPHSON INSTITUTE DIRECTLY?

Yes, you can. Please go to their website at www.charactercounts.org for upcoming training dates and more information.

• WHAT OUTCOMES AND RESULTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN FROM CHARACTER COUNTS! PROGRAMS?

CHARACTER COUNTS! has been proven effective to decrease suspensions, absenteeisms, fights, alcohol and drug use, while improving morale within the organization/school and the community and positively impacting the overall well-being of the youth, educators and parents involved. Here are a few examples:

Allen Elementary School, Dayton, Ohio:

• Number of suspensions dropped from 150 to 8 from 1989 to 1995
• Teacher attendance went from among the lowest to among the highest from 1989-1995
• Garfield Middle School, Albuquerque, New Mexico:
• In 1995, the year before CC! was introduced, there were 91 incidents of reported violence during the first 20 days of school. In 1996, the number fell to 26 incidents during the same period.

Moten Elementary School, Easton Maryland

•Classroom disruption went from 115 reported incidences in September 1997 to 36 in September 1998.
•California Pilot Schools (five elementary and five middle schools). The results over the four year period included:
•The elementary school students realized a 6.76 point improvement in the second/ third graders reading scores and a 12.92 point increase in their math scores.
• Fern Bacon Middle School was from 470 suspensions (1996-97) to 204 suspensions (1998-99)
•Rio Linda Jr. High School went from 621 suspensions (1997-98) to 389 suspensions (1998-99)
•Eight of the 10 schools saw an increase in student attendance over the years.

South Dakota Schools Implemented CHARACTER COUNTS! with exceptional results after one year:

•The number of students who reported using physical force against someone within the last six months decreased from 50% to 34%.
•The number of students who told a lie to a parent within the last six months decreased from 83% to 73%.
•The number of students who reported drinking alcoholic beverages within the last six months decreased from 50% to 38%.

• WHAT IS THE LONG TERM GOAL OF CHARACTER COUNTS! IN ARIZONA?

While we hope to improve the ethical sensitivity and behavior of all of our citizens, this will be a very long term process and somewhat difficult to measure concretely. We believe, however, that we will have been successful if over the next three to five years we significantly raise community awareness of the six pillars of character. We must integrate these principles into our schools, homes, work places, and recreational environments to positively influence the development of "people of character" in our community and throughout our state.