Socratic questioning and discussions, performance-based tasks, and assess-
ments designed by the teacher.
When everything has been taught and said in the education of stu-
dents, what are children embracing that will empower them to be suc-
cessful, productive reflective learners in the 21st century when exposed to
a problem or issue whose answers are not immediately available? Do chil-
dren have a toolbox of successful habits or intelligent behaviors in which
to guide them in the decision-making or problem-solving process when
presented with complex ambiguous content? Or do they have obsolete or
isolated facts with little understanding?
Until the data have all been collected and a final report is written
that outlines the measurable outcomes, we are truly amazed at the recep-
tion of Bright IDEA training and practices that we are hearing from teach-
ers and principals. Their bottom line is what they have seen in the
behaviors, attitudes, and achievement levels of their students. The com-
ponent they love the most to teach and observe that the students love to
use the most is the Gifted Intelligent Behaviors as integrated with HOM.
The training by Art Costa and Bena Kallick on the Habits of Mind has
been the highlight of the professional development component for all of
the participants. Because of the success of the HOM Bright IDEA train-
ing, North Carolina has designed a Leadership Academy for Habits of
Mind and has trained the first cohort of mentors selected from the partic-
ipants in Bright IDEA 2 and will conduct a second group of mentors dur-
ing the next year. The academy will have a group of 70 mentors who can
provide the leadership and training for HOM in their districts and beyond.
In Summary
Project Bright IDEA has integrated several research-based practices and
designed high-quality curriculum and an engaging environment to pre-
pare students for 21st century skills and learning behaviors for a lifetime.
The design was based on the assumption that learning and teaching need
to be organic, integrated, and based on big ideas, concepts, intelligent
behaviors, and real-world experiences. It is important that all students are
taught a rigorous curriculum. It is difficult to assess which components of
the program have the most impact on student achievement; it may take all
of them to help students have what they need, not only to be successful in
Habits of Mind in North Carolina 331