Writer: Character Education No Panacea

In commentary for the Christian Science Monitor (1/23), author and UCLA education professor Mike Rose writes, "There is an emerging opinion about poverty and the achievement gap that holds that America can boost the academic success of poor people...through psychological and educational interventions that will help them develop the qualities of personality or character needed to overcome their circumstances." Such qualities, Rose writes, include perseverance, self control, and belief in personal ability. He concedes that these are "powerful attributes," but warns that "policymakers need to be careful not assume that character education is the long-awaited key to helping the poor overcome the assaults of poverty."