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Overview
This review summarizes the first wave of intervention reports produced in 2005–06. www.whatworks.ed.gov.
WWC identified 93 studies of 41 programs
Character education is a fairly new and rapidly evolving topic for curriculum interventions. It is also broad, often overlapping with other program areas.
Character can encompass such moral and ethical values as respect, fairness, and caring—as well as responsibility, trustworthiness, and citizenship. And it can refer to the demonstration of these values in behavior, reasoning, and emotions.
Some character education programs integrate activities in social studies, English, and math. Some create communities of students, teachers, and parents to foster respect and caring. And some use in-class stories, games, songs, and activity books to encourage the acceptance of other cultures.
To set some bounds on this evolving topic, the WWC identified programs that deliberately attempt to develop students' character by teaching core values and that had most if not all of their lesson plans or prescribed activities directly related to instilling those values. Most programs did not enter our review because of this criterion. For programs that did, most had only one or two small studies that met our evidence standards. For these studies, student outcomes were measured in three domains: behavior, academic achievement, and knowledge, attitudes, and values.
We looked at 93 studies of 41 programs that qualified for our review. Of these, 18 studies of 13 programs met our evidence standards, 7 without reservations, and 11 with reservations. (The identification of eligible programs ended in September 2005, and that of eligible studies, in July 2006.)
In looking at the three outcome domains for the 13 programs:
- Positive Action had positive effects on behavior
and on academic
achievement - Too Good for Drugs and Violence had positive effects on knowledge, attitudes, and values
- Too Good for Violence had potentially positive effects on behavior
and on knowledge, attitudes, and values
Six other programs had potentially positive effects in one domain. Five had no discernible effects in any domain.
Character education in practice
Setting schoolwide principles. The School Improvement Committee at Davis elementary, comprising the parents, teachers, administrators, and the school principal, supervises practices that promote the school's values—such as cultural awareness and interpersonal respect. Ms. Lopez, a fourth grade teacher, helps her class reflect on their decisionmaking and behavior, drawing on students' personal experiences. After each lesson, the class agrees on rules of respectful and culturally sensitive behavior. Throughout the year, the students deepen their understanding of these concepts through class discussion, art projects, and schoolwide events.
Integration into the curriculum. Teachers at Oaks high school work to infuse moral problem-solving and ethical thinking into the curriculum. In history and social studies, students explore the ethical values found in the Declaration of Independence. In language arts, students write essays that focus on moral dilemmas. In math, students learn how to interpret statistical results from a survey about moral attitudes. In additional small-group discussions, facilitated by trained teachers and senior students, students talk about dilemmas in their personal life and how to resolve them.
Role models and service learning. The character education program at Lowell high school combines in-class activities with service learning. This year, the ninth-graders decided to contribute to the appearance of their downtown area. The students researched the type of plants most appropriate for this area, prepared a budget, and presented an action plan to the city council, which approved the plan. With the help of teachers and parents, they raised the money for the equipment and supplies. The students wrote about their experiences in language arts classes and discussed the moral and ethical values that they felt they developed through the service learning. Towards the end of the semester, the school principal met with student representatives to listen to their feedback about the character education and service learning efforts in the school.
A comprehensive focus on caring. In Jefferson middle school, teachers and school administrators model caring behavior during class hours and school breaks and acknowledge students' acts of kindness. Parents receive the school newsletter, which shares what the school does to promote a caring school community and invites families to take part in the school's projects and special events. Teachers' assessments of students' caring behavior is included in report cards. A school climate survey, administered to students as part of the school's self-assessment, has a scale on whether students experience faculty and their fellow students as being caring.
