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Council

Over the last two decades, there has been a growing appreciation that school climate, the quality and character of school life, fosters — or undermines — children’s development, learning and achievement. In 2006 the National School Climate Center and the Education Commission of the States conducted a State Department of Education school climate policy scan that revealed a glaring and socially unjust gap between school climate research on the one hand and school climate policy, practice and teacher education on the other hand.

In 2007, the Education Commission of the States and NSCC formed the National School Climate Council. The Council’s mission is to narrow the gap between school climate research, policy, and practice.

Howard Adelman
Co-director and Professor
School Mental Health Project,
Center for Mental Health in Schools,
Department of Psychology, UCLA

Janice E. Arnold-Jones
Representative
House District 24, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Marvin Berkowitz
Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education and Co-director,
Center for Character & Citizenship,
College of Education,
University of Missouri, St. Louis

Cathryn Berger Kaye
CBK Associates,
International Education Consultants

Martin J. Blank
Director for School, Family and Community Connections
Institute for Educational Leadership
Staff Director
Coalition for Community Schools

Samuel Chaltain
Executive Director
Five Freedoms Project,
Washington, DC

William Cirone
County Superintendent
Santa Barbara County Education Office,
Santa Barbara, CA

Jonathan Cohen
President, National School Climate Center;
Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University;
Adjunct Professor in Education, City University of New York, School of Professional Studies;
Co-chair, National School Climate Council

James P. Comer
Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry,
Founder, School Development Program,
Yale Child Study Center,
Yale University School of Medicine

Lou Ann Evans
Member
State College Area School District, PA

Arnold F. Fege
Director
Public Engagement and Advocacy,
Public Education Network,
Washington, DC

Ann Foster
Executive Director
National Network for Educational Renewal

J. Martez Hill
Deputy State Superintendent
Mississippi Department of Education

Gary Homana
Student
Education Policy & Leadership,
College of Education, University of Maryland - College Park

William H. Hughes
Superintendent
Greendale School District,
Greendale, WI

Molly McCloskey
Managing Director
Whole Child Programs, ASCD

Nicholas Michelli
Presidential Professor in Urban Education
Doctoral Program in Urban Education, City University of New York

Terry Pickeral
Executive Director
National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC) at the Education Commission of the States,
Co-chair
National School Climate Council

Mary Lou Rush
Executive Director
Center for Students, Families and Communities,
Ohio State Department of Education

Merle J. Schwartz
Director of Education and Research
Character Education Partnership

Margaret Jo Shepherd Emeritus Professor
Teachers College, Columbia University

Linda Taylor
Co-director
School Mental Health Project
Center for Mental Health in Schools,
Department of Psychology, UCLA

Ron Tupa
Colorado State Senate
Boulder, CO

Paul Vierling,
State of Hawaii

The School Climate Council is grateful for the contributions of the following former council members:

Victor Battistich (deceased)
Associate Professor,
Center for Character & Citizenship,
College of Education,
University of Missouri, St. Louis