About CETAC

The Character Education and Civic Engagement Technical Assistance Center (CETAC) is funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS). CETAC provides support and information for and about schools involved in character education and civic engagement.

Through the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, the U.S. Department of Education is working to create an educational system in which students leave school armed with the skills they need to compete in a global society. As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partnerships in Character Education Program (PCEP) provides resources for school communities to promote character education programs that are integrated into classroom instruction, consistent with state academic content standards and carried out in conjunction with other education reform.

As part of this effort, CETAC helps states and local school districts address the guiding principles of character education programs as outlined in the legislation. CETAC offers a variety of online resources to help educators learn more about selecting, implementing, and evaluating character education and civic engagement initiatives.

CETAC activities include:

1. Providing training and technical assistance for grantees on effective program development, implementation and evaluation;
2. Developing and disseminating publications and other resource materials about character education to State education agencies, local education agencies and the public;
3. Developing and maintaining a publicly accessible web site on resources for character education, civic engagement and service learning; and
4. Supporting regular meetings of character education resource groups, national education organizations and U.S. Department of Education staff training sessions.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has awarded a contract to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) to support OSDFS Character Education and Civic Engagement initiatives through administrative and logistical support, to operate the CETAC web site, and to provide outreach and technical assistance to PCEP grantees. CETAC staff members include:  Betty Straub, Director; Carole Wilson, Associate Director; Aree Sangpukdee, Coordinator; Karen Brazell, Coordinator; Brent Garrett, Evaluation Specialist; and Judith Pokorni, Research Science Advisor.

Please click here to provide us with feedback on how CETAC can best serve you and how the CETAC web site can be improved.