Character Education

Tier 1

Strategy Brief, February, 2014.

Ann O’Connor, Amber Olson, Natalie Hoff & Reece L. Peterson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

M any schools have looked for ways to provide proactive guidance for the positive behaviors
and values that many believe should be a part of education for all people. Many experts
have called for schools to be more active in teaching the moral and civic values that are an es-
sential part of our social fabric and sense of community. These calls are not new. In 1909 Dewey
stated, “A successful school, like a successful business is a cohesive community of shared values,
beliefs, rituals and ceremonies”. More recently others have described the need for telling stories to
children about the heroes and heroines who embody the core values of the community (Brendtro,
Brokenleg, & Van Bockern, 1990). More than 90 percent of people polled in 1993 said that schools
should be teaching values such as courage, caring, acceptance and honesty (Elam, Lowell, & Gallup,
1993). As a result, many schools have embraced character education as a way to teach a core group
of community values, as well as to support academic
excellence (Huston-Holm, 2010).

What is Character Education?

Character education is defined as “the process of

developing in students an understanding of, commit-
ment to, and tendency to behave in accordance with
core ethical values” (Milson & Mehlig, 2002, p. 47).
Character education is a broad term that is used to Tier 1
describe the general curriculum and organizational fea-
tures of schools that promote the development of fun- Intervention
damental values in children at school. While both family
and religious institutions have more primary roles in
this process, few deny that the schools may also have a role as it relates to civic and commu-
nity values. Some have argued that, consciously or not, schools and classrooms transmit values
(Henley, Ramsey, & Algozzine, 1999). Character education simply does that in a more system-
atic and intentional way. Character education includes two primary components: a) education
in civic virtue and in the qualities that teach children the forms and rules of citizenship in a just
society, and b) education in personal adjustment, chiefly in the qualities that enable children to
become productive and dependable citizens (London, 1987).

Character education may include a variety of subcomponents that can be part of a larger
character education program or it can be self-standing. These can include social skills, moral
development, values clarification, caring, and school values statements (Kohn, 1991). Other pro-
grams such as cooperative learning strategies, participatory decision-making for students, and
service learning are sometimes also classified as components of character education. Character
education itself is often viewed as simply one component of some larger school reform and
improvement strategies. For example, in Boyer’s (1995) school reform book “The Basic School, a
 Building & Sustaining Character Education 2
Student Engagement
Community for Learning”, he proposed “a Com- today be considered components of character
mitment to Character” as one of ten key compo- education. For example, Nebraska’s law re-
nents of his vision for a school. quires:

According to Likona (1988), the moral or Every teacher employed to give instruction
character education of elementary students is in any public, private, parochial, or denomina-
designed to accomplish three goals: tional school in the State of Nebraska shall .
1. To promote development away from self- . . give special emphasis to common honesty,
centered thinking and excessive individual- morality, courtesy, obedience to law, respect for
ism and toward cooperative relationships the national flag, the United States Constitu-
and mutual respect; tion, the Constitution of Nebraska, respect for
2. To foster growth of the capacity to think, parents and the home, the dignity and necessity
feel, and act morally, and; of honest labor, and other lessons of a steadying
3. To develop in the classroom and school a influence which tend to promote and develop an
moral community based on fairness, caring, upright and desirable citizenry. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §
and participation 79-725, 2012).

In order to accomplish these goals Likona Although rarely enforced, they remain in
(1988) advocates for four processes which he statute and if not followed could result in a
feels should occur in the classroom: building Class III misdemeanor in criminal court (Neb.
self-esteem and sense of community, learning Rev. Stat. § 79-727, 2012).
to cooperate and help others, moral reflection,
and participatory decision-making. Specific In another example, the Michigan State
qualities sought in children are: Board of Education has adopted a “Policy on
• Self-respect that derives feeling of worth Quality Character Education”, which advocates
not only from competence, but also from
positive behavior toward others;
• Social perspective-taking that asks how oth-
ers think and feel;
• Moral reasoning about the right thing to do;
• Such moral values as kindness, courtesy,
trustworthiness, and responsibility (Likona,
1988).

State Policy on Character Education

Many states have enacted laws or admin-
istrative policies addressing character issues
either related to the character of teachers or to
the content of public education. These origi-
nated from the earliest establishment of public
education as a responsibility of each state.
There are currently 18 states that mandate char-
acter education, including Nebraska. There are
18 states that encourage character education,
7 states that support character education, but
don’t have any legislation concerning this topic,
and 8 states that don’t have any legislation on
the topic (Character.org, n.d.). These would
 Building & Sustaining Character Education 3
Student Engagement

for all Michigan schools to “adopt, implement values represented as pillars of character. The
and evaluate research based programs … to six pillars of character are: trustworthiness,
teach character education.” respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and
citizenship. Character Counts! is an ethics and
character-building curriculum program designed
Character Education Programs for students ages 4-19. The program teaches
and develops a consensus regarding a set of
A wide variety of character education pro- ethical values that transcend race, creed, poli-
grams have been developed. In the following tics, gender, and wealth, and works to embed
section, four representative examples of charac- these values within all aspects of the school day
ter education programs are briefly described to with teachers pointing out positive examples of
provide some examples of the types of programs these values and reinforcing them in students.
available. More information on these programs The program can be adopted on a building,
can be found in the resources list at the end of district, or community wide basis. Materials are
this document. Inclusion here does not imply available at website of the Josephson Institute
endorsement of these programs.
(2013), http://charactercounts.org/.

Character Counts!
CHARACTERplus Way
“Character Counts!” is a character educa-
The CHARACTERplus Way curriculum was
tion program that is based on six universal core
developed for ages 4-18 years and is based
on the Ten Essentials developed in 1988 by
the St. Louis, Missouri school districts and the
McDonnell-Douglas Corporation. The Character
Education Partnership services Missouri and
south-western Illinois. This curriculum is a com-
prehensive, whole school process using data-
based planning and collaborative classroom
practices (Marshall, Caldwell, & Foster, 2011).
The curriculum is implemented in two phases,
the first being to collect data and get a baseline
of where the school and students are starting
and the second phase being to implement the
program. There are several activities used to
implement the program including assessment,
school reports, staff development, coaching,
training institutes, networking, and using the
Ten Essentials to develop the program (Mar-
shall et al., 2011). There have been studies on
the effectiveness of this program, two of which
were large-scale, four-year experimental studies
(Marshall et al., 2011). In the first study the re-
searchers found a positive change in the school
environment, a reduction in discipline referrals,
and increased test scores in language arts and
math (Marshall et al., 2011). For more informa-
tion: http://www.characterplus.org
 Building & Sustaining Character Education 4
Student Engagement

Developmental Assets they strengthen aspects of their moral devel-

opment. “Because children and adolescents
In an effort to identify the elements of a cannot avoid being hurt by others, forgiveness
strength-based approach to healthy develop- education is relevant to all youth” (Lin, Enright,
ment, the Search Institute (2013) developed & Klatt, 2011, p.250). These two curricula for
the framework of “Developmental Assets”. This grades 6-8 and 11-13 guide teachers in educat-
framework was developed from a comprehen- ing students about forgiveness as a core value.
sive synthesis of over 800 studies on “adoles-
cent development, prevention, risk reduction, What Do We Know About Character
protective factors, and resilience” (Stevens & Education Programs?
Wilkerson, 2010). This framework identifies
40 critical factors for young people’s growth “Developing character in youth is a com-
and development. When drawn together, the plex process that is unlikely to yield immediate
assets offer a set of benchmarks for positive or easily measured results” (Milson & Mehlig,
child and adolescent development. The first 20 2002, p. 48). However, character education pro-
developmental assets, the “External Assets,” grams have logical and common sense values,
focus on positive experiences that young people particularly if one hypothesizes that violence
receive from the people and institutions in their and inappropriate behavior in school arises in
lives. Examples are: “family support”, “service part from deteriorating home and community
to others”, “school boundaries”, and “creative values, as well as poor moral judgment by the
activities”. An additional 20 assets are internal perpetrators. At South Carroll high school in Bal-
and developed or nurtured to guide choices timore, Maryland, researchers have concluded
and create a sense of centeredness, purpose, that an effective character education program
and focus. Examples are: “achievement motiva- positively affects academics (Manzo, 2005).
tion”, “caring”, “planning and decision making”,
and “personal power”. Several research studies While character education programs are
through the Search Institute have supported widely accepted and have been advocated for
the assertion that the more of these assets by a wide array of prominent organizations and
students’ possess, the more likelihood of school individuals, there is little research evidence
success, overcoming adversity and having good to support the effectiveness of these types of
physical health (Scales, Benson, Leffert, & Blyth, efforts in the prevention of violence or in the
2000). Rose (2006) concluded that the “asset- reduction of other kinds of behavior problems.
based approach is both relevant and useful in While local evaluations of some programs have
formulating interventions that target positive been conducted, there have been very few
development for all children and youth” (p. 239- national studies of these defined programs, or
240). the more general concept of character educa-
tion, particularly for youth with emotional and
“Forgiveness” as Character Education behavior disorders. Part of the difficulty arises
because character education is a general phi-
This forgiveness education program is an losophy and does not prescribe specific prac-
example of a more focused character education tices. Without prescribed practices and curricula
effort which is focused on forgiveness as a moral or identified measurable outcomes, it is difficult
concept as a part of a larger character educa- to evaluate the fidelity of implementation, let
tion effort (Knudson & Enright, 2002, 2008). alone the effectiveness of such approaches.
“Forgiveness is a moral response to situations in
which youth are treated unfairly. It has behav- Programs like Character Counts! and Devel-
ioral, cognitive and emotional components.” opmental Assets have had research conducted
As youth learn about, and practice, forgiveness on their effectiveness and there has been
 Building & Sustaining Character Education 5
Student Engagement

quantifiable data gathered, although there has When implementing a character education
not been enough data gathered yet to consider program, students need to be taught to speak
these programs evidence-based practices. the same language about character for simple
Moreover, much of the research is published communication. Students that come from dif-
by the program developers, making it difficult ferent cultural and religious backgrounds do
to determine program effectiveness in more not always use the same words to refer to a
diverse contexts. The results for the specific type of character or they may not have learned
programs show some positive results, but other these terms before coming to school. After
studies on character education in general have implementing a character education program,
not found character education to significantly Singh (2001) found that classroom behavior
affect the variables being measured. improved and students began to expect more
of themselves and each other. A good character
Making Character Education Work education program takes time to develop. It
must include the entire community, be infused
According to Likona, Schaps, and Lewis throughout the school curriculum, involve
(2001), in order to implement character educa- everyone at the school from custodians to ad-
tion the school staff must become a learning, ministrators, and needs to help students under-
caring, and moral community in which all share stand core ethical values and how to act upon
responsibility for character education and at- them (Huston-Holm, 2010).
tempt to adhere to the same core values that
guide the education of students. They state Sipos and Maupin (2010), have identified
that effective character education is defined to eleven principles of effective character educa-
include student thinking, feeling, and behavior. It tion that schools and administrators imple-
includes a meaningful and challenging academic menting a character education program should
curriculum that respects all learners, helps consider. These include promoting core values;
them succeed, and strives to develop students’ defining character to include thinking, feeling
intrinsic motivation. The schools should provide and doing; using a comprehensive approach;
opportunities for moral action and acknowledge creating a caring community; providing students
appropriate moral responses. with opportunities for moral action; offering
a meaningful and challenging academic cur-
riculum; fostering students’ self-motivation;
engaging staff as a learning community; foster-
ing shared leadership; engaging families and
community members as partners; and assessing
the culture and climate of the school (Sipos &
Maupin, 2010). The report by Sipos and Maupin
(2010) explain these principles in much more
detail and give examples of them being used by
different schools.

Conclusion
Although there are not a lot of data that
verify the effectiveness of character education
programs, these programs have become com-
mon in a large number of schools. Furthermore,
there are many individuals and organizations
that support character education, including
the federal government. According to its advo-
cates, effective character education requires an
 Building & Sustaining Character Education 6
Student Engagement
intentional, proactive, and comprehensive
approach that promotes the core values in
all phases of school life, and which re-
quires moral leadership from both staff and
students. Programs typically address both
citizenship in a just society and personal
adjustment, and are delivered via curricula
and a variety of other approaches.

Resources on Character Education

Character Counts! and the Josephson Institute have a vast wealth of materials related to Character
Counts! and character education, including books, reports and other materials, some of which are avail-
able at no charge. There is also evaluation and testimonial information, information about organizations
and individuals who support the coalition, and links to other character education sites. There are also
many links to state and local implementation efforts. http://josephsoninstitute.org/ and
http://www.charactercounts.org. See also the Program Brief on Developmental Assets at:
http://k12engagement.unl.edu/character-counts.

The Character Education Partnership, Washington, DC 2006. This is an organization that advocates for
integrity, honesty, respect, and other core ethical values to be taught and practiced in schools and at
home. The website is for parents, students, and schools. There are character education lesson plans and
a number of different resources and training options offered on their website. www.character.org.

CHARACTERplus. This organization has offices in both St. Louis and Kansas City. This is a website devoted
to the CHARACTERplus curriculum that explains the philosophy and history behind the curriculum. It
also explains the organizations programs and services, events and conferences. It is a local education
agency serving Missouri and parts of Illinois. www.characterplus.org.

Community of Caring. Community of Caring is a comprehensive K-12, research-based character educa-

tion program with a unique focus on students with disabilities. Community of Caring schools teaches
values everywhere: in the classroom, hallway, cafeteria, and on the playing field.
http://education.utah.edu/research/programs/community/index.php

Developmental Assets. The Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN; This is an independent, nonprofit, non-
sectarian organization whose mission is to advance the well-being of adolescents and children by gen-
erating knowledge and promoting its application. At the heart of the institute’s work is the framework
of 40 developmental assets. It offers the main source of materials and support for implementing the
developmental assets program. www.search-institute.org. See also the Program Brief, Developmental
Assets at http://k12engagement.unl.edu/developmental-assets.

The Adventure of Forgiveness: A Guided Curriculum for Children Ages 6-8. (Knudson, J. & Enright, R.D.,
2002; Curricula for other ages 11-13 also available 2008). These currciula guide teachers in educating
students regarding forgiveness as an important element of character education.
 Building & Sustaining Character Education 7
Student Engagement

Recommended Citation for this Brief:

O’Connor, A., Olson, A., Hoff, N. & Peterson, R. L. (2014, February). Character Education, Strategy Brief.
Lincoln, NE: Student Engagement Project, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska De
partment of Education. http://k12engagement.unl.edu/character-education.

Character Education References

Boyer, E. L. (1995). The basic school: A community for learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Brendtro, L., Brokenleg, M., & Van Bockern, S. (1990). Reclaiming youth at risk: Our hope for the future. Bloomington, IN: Na-
tional Education Service.
Character.org (n.d.). Character Education Legislation. Retreived from
http://character.org/more-resources/character-education-legislation/
Henley, M., Ramsey, R., & Algozzine, R. (1999). Teaching students with mild disabilities (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Elam, S. M., Lowell, C. R., & Gallup, A. M. (1993). The 23rd annual Gallup poll of the public’s attitudes toward public schools. Phi
Delta Kappan, 75(1), 137-152.
Henley, M., Ramsey, R., & Algozzine, R. (1999). Teaching student with mild disabilities (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Huston-Holm, P. (2010). Effective character education at sentinel career center. Techniques, 85(6), 8-9.
Josephson Institute. (2013). Character counts!. Retrieved from http://www.charactercounts.org.
Knudson, J. A., & Enright, R. D. (2002). The adventure of forgiveness: A guided curriculum for children, ages 6-8. Madison, WI:
International Forgiveness Institute. Available from http://www.internationalforgiveness.com/
Knudson, J. A., & Enright, R. D. (2008). Be your best self: A guided forgiveness education curriculum for children, ages 11-13.
Madison, WI: International Forgiveness Institute. Available from http://www.internationalforgiveness.com/
Kohn, A. (1991). Caring kids: The role of the schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 72, 496-506.
Likona, T. (1988). Four strategies for fostering character development in children. Phi Delta Kappan, 69, 419-423.
Likona, T., Schaps, E., & Lewis, C. (2010). Eleven principles of effective character education. Washington DC: Character Education
Partnership.
Lin, W. N., Enright, R., & Klatt, J. (2011). Forgiveness as character education for children and adolescents. Journal of Moral Edu-
cation, 40(2), 237-253.
London, P. (1987). Character education and clinical intervention: A paradigm shift for US schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 68, 667-673
Manzo, K. K. (2005). Researchers urge broad view on how to build character. Education Week, 25(15), 15-16.
Marshall, J. C., Caldwell, S. D., & Foster, J. (2011). Moral education the CHARACTERplus way. Journal of Moral Education, 40(1),
51-72.
Milson, A. J., & Mehlig, L. M. (2002). Elementary school teachers’ sense of efficacy for character education. Journal of Educa-
tional Research, 96(1), 47-54.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 79-725 and 79-727, 2012.
Rose, H. A. (2006). Asset-based development for child and youth care. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 14(4), 236-240.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., & Blyth, D. A. (2000). Contribution of developmental assets to the prediction of thriving
among adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 4(1), 27-46.
Search Institute. (2013). Developmental assets. Available from http://search-institute.org
Singh, G. R. (2001). How character education helps students grow. Educational Leadership, 59(2), 46-49.
Sipos, R., & Maupin, L. (2010). A framework for school success: 11 principles of effective character education. Washington, DC:
Character Education Partnership.
Stevens, H., & Wilkerson, K. (2010). The developmental assets and ASCA’s national standards: A crosswalk review. Professional
School Counseling, 13(4), 227-233.

http://k12engagement.unl.edu.
© 2014 Reece L. Peterson, Barkley Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0732; [email protected].
Supported by Nebraska Department of Education Project 94-2810-248-1B1-13 (USDE Grant #HO27A110079).
Contents do not necessarily represent the policy of NDE or USDE, and no endorsement should be assumed.
Permission to duplicate is granted for non-commercial use by school personnel working in school settings.