CREATIVE LEAPS:
Journal for the Arts in Leadership and Interdisciplinary Learning

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New York ASCD Announces Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Leadership

The New York State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has announced the launch of its Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Leadership. Headed by New York State ASCD President Jim Collins, the commission has been convened to foster a greater emphasis on leadership and character education in school curriculum throughout the state of New York.

In recent years, particularly since the inception of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards, stringent curriculum guidelines have eliminated time and space for instruction in arts, humanities, and life skills. As a result, important topics such as integrity, leadership potential, and civic responsibility are nearly absent in today’s classroom goals. The aim of the ASCD Commission is to conduct an in-depth study on the necessity of addressing such topics in education, and to study successful character and leadership education programs already in existence elsewhere in the country.

The Commission will release a report of its findings in March 2005. According to Collins, the expectation is that this report will call for major reform in curriculum priorities. It will call for schools and districts to address leadership skills, character education, and life skills much more directly. It is also hoped that the successful existing character education programs elsewhere in the country will serve as models for implementation here in New York.

Current members of the commission include representatives from the Capital Region BOCES and YMCA, the New York State Education Department, and the Magellan Foundation.

Related links:

“The Figure Within Us” by ASCD President Jim Collins

Character Education Programs for Youth

New York State ASCD Home Page