The Impact of a Character Education Program on Student Behavior as Demonstrated by Academic Achievement and Discipline PDF Download

Author: Robert C. Daria
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Character
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
This study evaluated the impact of a character education program on student behaviors as measured through academic achievement and discipline at Cousins Middle School. The process included the studying of three years of longitudinal data on 54 eighth grade middle school students in the areas of grade point averages, standardized test scores, absenteeism rates, and discipline problems. Furthermore, its impact was evaluated by reviewing teacher perceptions on the program as gathered through perception questionnaires and personal interviews. All data were gathered during the course of the implementation of a character education program that was mandated by the state of Georgia.

Author: Michael G. Hylen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alternative schools
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
Student problem behavior is incompatible with academic achievement and positive interpersonal relationships. It has become necessary for schools to develop codes of conduct to address inappropriate student behavior. But, current school disciplinary policies are ineffective instruments for effecting positive change in student problem behavior (Goodman, 2006). In response to this problem, public school districts are developing a wide variety of approaches to dealing with the needs of problem behavior students. One approach has been the development of alternative high school programs - school district initiatives specifically designed to meet the needs of students lacking success in the traditional high school setting. This study explores the impact of a character education based interactive discipline program on student problem behavior of at-risk students in an alternative high school setting. Participants in this study included 97 students (37 female, 60 male) during the first school year of the study (2004 - 2005) and 90 students (34 female, 56 male) during the second (2005 - 2006) from a large suburban school district. Ninety-three percent of the students were Caucasian, 3% were African American and 3% were Hispanic. Forty-nine students (19 female, 30 male) were enrolled in the school during both years of the study. The data revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the use of a traditional approach to discipline and the use of a character education based interactive discipline program in reducing recidivism for students who participated in the study over one year (t = -.059, df = 83, p = .504) or over two years (t = -1.309, df = 36, p = .09). The data also revealed there was no statistically significant difference between the two discipline approaches in raising student GPAs over one year (t = -1.225, df = 80, p = .112) or over two years (t = -1.794, df = 38, p = .945). Similarly, the data revealed that there was no statistically significant correlation between change in GPA and recidivism over one year (R = -0.18, p = .215) or over two years (R = -0.23, p = .314).

Author: Thomas Lickona
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0307569489
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 498

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Book Description
Calls for renewed moral education in America's schools, offering dozens of programs schools can adopt to teach students respect, responsibility, hard work, and other values that should not be left to parents to teach.

Author: Madonna Murphy
Publisher: R&L Education
ISBN: 1461666910
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Character Education in America's Blue Ribbon Schools is based upon descriptive, documentary, and qualitative research conducted on the award winning school applications in the United Stated Department of Education's Elementary School Recognition Program, i.e. the Blue Ribbon Schools. The purpose of the program is to focus national attention on schools that are doing an exceptional job with all of their students. Areas studied are developing a solid foundation of basic skills and knowledge of subject matter and fostering the development of character, values, and ethical judgment. The first edition of this book reported on the first decade of this program, from 1985 to 1994. The second edition adds the schools that have won the award from 1996-2001. Included are the Blue Ribbon schools that applied for Special Honors in Character Education and five that actually won that recognition in 1998-1999. This edition finds character education much stronger in American schools in recent years and is full of many promising practices. It is a practical book that will guide school administrators, teachers, parents, board members, and concerned citizens interested in starting or strengthening the character education focus of their school.

Author: Santiago Davidu Udayar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Prior research indicates that character education programs may have an influence on student behavior and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of character education programs on student behavior and student academic achievement in Texas middle schools identified as "Character Plus" schools by the state. Fifty-five Character Plus middle schools (grade 7 through grade 8) and a comparison group of 55 middle schools that had not implemented character education programs since 2001 were selected for inclusion in the study. To be included in the study, the Character Plus middle schools had to have continuously met criteria for implementation of state-approved character education program from 2003 to 2007. The data for the study included 2006-2007 eighth-grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores for reading and mathematics; student behavior variables, percentage of students with disciplinary placements, students' attendance rates, students' drop-out rates, and percentage of students at risk, and control variables percentage of limited English proficient students, percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and percentage of instructional expenditure per student. After controlling three variables - percentage of limited English proficient students, percentage of economically disadvantaged students, and percentage of instructional expenditure per student - the data were analyzed, using single-classification analysis of covariance, multiple discriminant analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis to test the following null hypotheses (1) character education programs in Texas Character Plus schools would not influence student achievement, (2) character education in Texas Character Plus schools would not influence student behavior, (3) and student behavior in Texas Character Plus schools would have no influence on academic achievement. The test results indicated that character education had no direct influence on academic achievement. But, character education was found to have a significant statistical influence on student behavior and there was a significant influence of student behavior on academic achievement. Based on the study findings, it was concluded that character education in Texas Character Plus middle schools did not influence achievement directly, but by improving student behavior, character education did influence academic achievement.

Author: Edward F. DeRoche
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1475864930
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Few character education books published in the 21st century have addressed the resource needs of P-12 teachers. It Starts in the Classroom: Character Education for a Better Tomorrow is a “character education tool kit” that enables P-12 teachers, teachers-in-training, counselors, administrators, and coaches to see themselves as the “key” character educators in their schools, classrooms, and community. This book helps bring humanity, student engagement, and other life skills into the classroom that have been proven to increase student academic achievement. Ultimately, It Starts in the Classroom helps teachers see that they are, in fact, really changing the world for the better. This book shows them how to do this not only with their students but with themselves. With the current state of our world, character education is needed now more than ever. Things can get better, but it starts in the classrooms—with the teachers and the students.

Author: William G. Thompson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Character education has been a part of public schooling in the United States since its beginning. It has undergone dramatic changes over the years, from didactic instruction to service learning; it continues to evolve as more and more schools become involved in teaching students right from wrong. The current emphasis on character education in schools began in the early 1990s as an attempt to alleviate the increasingly violent behavior of students as reported in the media. The purpose of this study was to determine how character education affected the behavior of students. The study involved: observing student behavior; interviewing teachers, students, and parents to determine their perceptions of the effects of the character education program on student behavior; and reviewing disciplinary records to identify behavioral patterns. The findings from this study suggested that character education programs may have a positive effect on student behavior. Furthermore, the findings led to recommendations regarding the implementation of character education programs in elementary schools. Character education should be an integral part of the curriculum, not taught as a separate subject. This includes not only academic subjects but also specialty areas such as art, music, and physical education. Classroom rules should be based on the principles of good character and teachers should model good character for the students to observe. Additionally, students should be taught character through hands-on service activities that contribute to the school, the community, and society in general. This will help the students develop a sense of ownership of the program and should help to improve student behavior.

Author: Jan Olsson
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1452214522
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
A realistic approach to assessing student behavior, staff morale, and school climate and creating a proven-to-work character development program that can dramatically turn around student behavior.

Author: Dr. Howie Knoff
Publisher: Project ACHIEVE Press
ISBN: 0979656419
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 77

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Book Description
Today%u2019s school-wide Positive Behavioral Support approaches are more specific, integrated, effective, and comprehensive than ever before. This Electronic Book (E-Book) describes the components and specific elements of Project ACHIEVE%u2019s evidence-based Positive Behavioral Self-Management System (PBSS) that (a) addresses the prevention, intervention, and intensive needs of challenging students, and (b) is fully consistent with NCLB and IDEA. Project ACHIEVE is a national award winning school improvement program that has been designated as an evidence-based through two federal agencies%u2014for example, the Department of Health & Human Service%u2019s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This E-Book first describes Project ACHIEVE%u2019s PBSS at the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention levels, focusing on the following areas: (a) teaching children and adolescents functional self-management skills, using the Stop & Think Social Skills Program, such that they master and demonstrate interpersonal, problem-solving, and conflict resolution skills as well as independent learning and academic engagement skills; (b) teaching teachers the instructional self-management skills that they need to run positive, effective classrooms that consistently hold students accountable for their behavior, and that result in student learning and behavioral growth; and (c) teaching school staff organizational self-management skills so that they develop the systemic approaches needed for identifying resources and building capacity to independently sustain successful building-wide services for the prevention, strategic intervention, and intensive support needs of all students. The six critical components that make up the PBSS then are presented in detail: (a) the Stop & Think Social Skills Program; (b) the development of grade-level and building-wide accountability systems; (c) how to increase staff and student consistency; (d) the analysis of %u201Cspecial situations%u201D-- behavioral situations that occur in the common areas of a school and/or that involve peer-mediated teasing, taunting, bullying, harassment, and physical aggression; (e) crisis prevention, intervention, and response; and (f) the importance of home and community outreach. Finally, the E-Book focuses specifically %u201CSpecial Situations%u201D and %u201CSpecial Situation Analyses.%u201D There are two types of %u201CSpecial Situations%u201D%u2014Setting-specific and Student- or Peer-specific. The Setting-specific Special Situations involve the common or %u201Cpublic%u201D areas of a school: the hallways, bathrooms, cafeteria, playground, media center/library, buses, and other school gathering places. The Student- or Peer-specific Special Situations involve the continuum from teasing to taunting to bullying to harassment to physical aggression or fighting. Clearly, these %u201Csetting%u201D and %u201Cstudent%u201D situations are critical to a PBSS as they can (positively) contribute to a school%u2019s positive climate, or they can (negatively) interfere with the classroom climate, making it more difficult for students to be completely engaged and focused on academic achievement. In order to develop strategic interventions for these negative special situations, this E-Book describes how to conduct a %u201CSpecial Situations Analysis%u201D%u2014a systematic data-based problem-solving process that links Problem Identification to Functional Assessment/Problem Analysis to Intervention and to Formative and Summative Evaluations. The Functional Assessment/Problem Analysis domains discussed will include: (a) Student Characteristics, Issues, and Factors; (b) Teacher/Staff Characteristics, Issues, and Factors; (c) Environmental Characteristics, Issues, and Factors-- Physical Plant and Logistics; (d) Incentives and Consequences; and (e) Resources. For Student-specific Special Situations, the Peer Group is added to the analysis. In the end, this E-Book describes a functional, effective, and comprehensive school-wide system that maximizes students%u2019 academic achievement, creates safe school environments and positive school climates, increases and sustains effective classroom instruction and parent involvement, and collects data to demonstrate student and building outcomes. This E-Book describes the necessary components of a PBSS, and provides an in-depth and practical, step-by-step approach to the Special Situation Analysis, demonstrating its explicit link with the strategic interventions that help schools to decrease or eliminate these issues%u2014thus, increasing their positive and productive school climates and classroom settings.

Author: Janine Tuccinardi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 103

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Book Description
Educators are confronted with antisocial, disruptive, and internalizing student behaviors which interfere with the flow of the learning environment and can potentially impede the learning of all students. These types of behaviors have been a concern for many years and are raising awareness among, faculty, staff, and parents that both teaching and learning are being affected due to these challenging behaviors. Therefore, administrators are faced with the challenging task of trying to find the right program or practice for addressing these behaviors. Research has shown that PBIS, ongoing professional development in classroom management, and character education programs are all effective preventative measures administrators have taken in order to address these behavioral issues and concerns. More recently, administrators have chosen to adopt The Leader in Me character program as a way to improve their school culture and climate and address student behavior issues. This case study explores teacher perceptions on The Leader in Me character program and its impact on student behavior issues at one elementary school site in an attempt to address the following question: Is The Leader in Me an effective character education program for administration to consider when looking to implement a program in order to address student behavior? A mixed-methods approach was utilized through the collection of suspension data over a four-year period and the completion of a seven-question survey by second through fifth grade teachers about their perceptions on The Leader in Me and its influence on student behavior since implementation in 2015. Quantitative suspension data revealed that The Leader in Me has not had a positive impact on student discipline issues at the studied elementary school site. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from the survey revealed a mixed review of teacher perceptions of The Leader in Me and its impact on student behavior issues since implementation. Teachers perceived The Leader in Me as having successful tools and systems to improve the overall climate and culture of a school, but it does not have the effective tools for addressing and correcting student behavior issues. A recommendation is to implement The Leader in Me in correlation with another preventative measure such as PBIS, in order to build a strong foundation and improve the climate and culture of a school, while also having the proper tools and systems in place to address student behavior issues. The information gathered in this study will add to existing research on The Leader in Me and provide administrators with teacher perceptions of The Leader in Me and its effectiveness when addressing student behavior and discipline problems. Results from this study will be informative to administrators considering a program or practice for improving student behavior and discipline issues.