CHRISTOPHER STARR, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
What is a brain without a heart? Not as smart, recent research suggests.
No doubt this is why truly great schools consider character education on an equal par with academic rigor.
But a difficulty arises for schools like The Peck School in Morristown, NJ, whose motto states; “In life, knowledge must be guided by values.” The problem is that knowledge can more easily be measured than character skills such as ethics, resilience, and curiosity.
Like many independent schools, The Peck School is hoping to change this dichotomy by joining a consortium of nearly 100 institutions that will conduct the Mission Skills Assessment (MSA) throughout this fall semester. The assessment has been developed over a period of five years by the Independent School Data Exchange (INDEX) and Education Testing Services (ETS) to scientifically gauge each school’s success rate in promoting six character skills that are labeled “essential” for success in school and life: teamwork, creativity, ethics, resilience, curiosity, and time management.
