Additional Program Information

Developer and contact

Institute for Global Ethics, 11 Main Street, PO Box 563, Camden, ME 04843. Web: www.globalethics.org/services/edu/bds.htm. Email: ethics@globalethics.org. Telephone: 207-236-6658.

Scope of use

Building Decision Skills was first published in 1995. Information is not available on the number or demographics of students, schools, or districts using the intervention. The curriculum may have changed since the study was conducted. The WWC recommends asking the developer for information about the most current version of this curriculum and taking into account that student demographics and school context may affect outcomes.

Teaching

The program has packets that the teacher can choose to present over a short period or to spread out over time. Students participate through collaborative activities, group problem-solving, communication, and independent thinking. The curriculum includes a teacher's guide, lesson plans, readings, overheads, and handouts. The key concepts and core activities are designed as single class-period lessons, but many lessons can be extended beyond one class period. Alternatively, the first five lessons can be taught at one time and the last five later.

The Institute for Global Ethics offers one-day or two-day on-site professional development workshops conducted by a Global Ethics staff trainer. In addition, the Institute offers on-site seminars and assemblies for students participating in the Building Decision Skills program. Lectures, group discussions, and small-group activities are used with topical sessions that include moral awareness, values definition, ethical analysis, and dilemma resolution.

In the study reviewed here, the Building Decision Skills curriculum was implemented in an elective service-learning class. The service-learning activities that were integrated into the curriculum involved working off campus two days a week and working on campus two days a week on such projects as providing companionship for residents of a retirement home or running a recycling program in the school.

Cost

The Building Decision Skills curriculum costs $100 and includes the teacher's guide, lesson plans with handouts and activity materials, a paperback book How Good People Make Choices, and an audiocassette tape with an overview of the program. The Institute for Global Ethics offers a one-day Ethical Fitness® seminar ($2,500) for school faculties on the conceptual framework for the Building Decision Skills curriculum. Three-day train-the-trainer seminars ($12,600) are available for schools and school districts to certify trainers to teach the Ethical Fitness® seminar.

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