What can schools do to foster student responsibility?

Consider the following story: An illiterate criminal serving time in prison for armed robbery participates in a basic literacy program as part of his rehabilitation. He is a star student, learning to read and write in record time. Based on this success, he is granted an early parole. He goes free only to return to prison within a month-this time for forgery! This story is not intended to suggest that schools are prisons. Rather, it illustrates the fact that knowledge of basic skills is no guarantee that individuals will behave in ways consistent with conventional notions of good citizenship. Parents and educators consistently state that the public schools should do more than provide basic academic preparation (Gallup, 1984; Goodlad, 1984). Yet there have been relatively few attempts among the plethora of recent commission reports, studies, and calls for reform to delineate the precise nature of the school's obligation to develop a responsible citizenry. This article considers what schools can do to foster student responsibility.