Civic virtue and high commitment schools

Abstract

Sigal Ben-Porath objects to the educational strategies of a number of high commitment charter schools, arguing that they do not pay sufficient attention to the need to develop and exercise the civic virtues of students. This response article highlights a number of philosophical disagreements concerning the traits of character that are central to good citizenship. It also discusses some of the difficulties involved in assessing how effective different types of schools are in the promotion of a particular set of civic virtues.