Being careful about character 

Probably one of the surest claims one could make about how to lead a successful life, in or out of school, is that qualities such as determination, perseverance, self-control, and a degree of flexibility matter a lot. In today’s education lingo, these qualities get labeled as “character” or “social-emotional learning.” Whatever the label, there is a rapidly growing interest in how to teach character and measure it. Conferences, consultants, and special issues of journals focus on character. In late 2012 journalist Paul Tough wrote a best-selling book, How Children Succeed, that garnered a lot of attention because it nicely summarizes the various bodies of research behind the current boom.