Take Charge!
Take Charge! is a dynamic curriculum for adolescents based on the book In Pursuit of Happiness by E. Perry Good. It focuses on helping kids help themselves. The curriculum's foundation is Perceptual Control Theory.
The Take Charge! curriculum is designed to stand alone or be a component of A Connected School. When both staff and students have mastered the concepts of internal motivation and purposeful behavior, the entire school culture begins to change.
The curriculum has been piloted at several schools in North Carolina and South Carolina with impressive results.
Background
Take Charge! was developed by E. Perry Good and Jane Williams in order to address the need among young people to learn the skills of self-evaluation, self-discipline, conflict resolution, and effective communication, both with peers and with teachers. The curriculum is standards-based, providing descriptions and examples of interactive activities which help teachers bring the concepts of Perceptual Control Theory to life for their students.
The curriculum has been piloted in several schools in North Carolina and South Carolina. It has been used as a basic life skills course in Beaufort High School, Beaufort, South Carolina, to help freshman adapt to their new environment. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it has been used in drug prevention efforts aimed at helping young people choose better alternatives to drugs.
Third-party controlled studies are being undertaken to validate this curriculum.
Current Programs
The Take Charge! curriculum is currently being piloted at Beaufort High School in Beaufort, South Carolina. During the summer of 2004, just prior to implementing the curriculum that fall in the new Ninth Grade Academy, the entire staff was involved in a four day A Connected School seminar, introducing them to Perceptual Control Theory and its applications.
The results were dramatic.
In one semester, discipline referrals fell by 58 percent, out of school suspension days decreased by 80 percent, and the number of F's decreased by 75 percent. Third-party controlled studies are currently underway in order to validate this curriculum.
The Take Charge! curriculum can be used in a variety of different ways. For example, a counselor can use it to run groups targeting bullying or to close the achievement gap among students. It can be taught in Ninth Grade Academy or in Freshman Seminar.
