Character Education Program Analysis Essay
There have been may attempts to implement a character education program at Hollister High School. After collaborating with the members of the Character Education focus team and veteran members of the high school staff, there was a general consensus that the programs of the past questioned the student’s intelligence in terms of the character lessons being taught. The lessons did not make the students think. The lessons were designed for students a lot younger than high school aged young adults. The team had to develop program that would get student students to think about how their decisions define who they are as people and how these better decisions will help each student become the best version of themselves. The program implemented needed to be more than a character word of the month.
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During this process the researcher was exploring books for Catholic Confirmation Candidates at Our Lady of the Cove and discovered a book that could be used as a framework for secular character education. Decision Point (http://dynamiccatholic.com/confirmation/) is the book that serves as the framework for the Hollister High School Character Education program.
Because many of the past character education programs had failed in the past, I was forced to think outside of the box. Pulling the program from a religious text was built upon the theory that all societies reward people for doing the right thing. The resources used were very minimal. When the framework for the character education in place, the researcher created an outline of topics that would be taught during the character education lessons and shared, them with the principal in the spring of 2015. Once the framework for the program was approved the principal, he placed the researcher into a leadership position within the character education team. In the team the researchers collaborated with a team of nine educators working collaboratively on a mission of improving attendance and reducing discipline referrals and thus trying to improve school culture through a service learning component.
The service learning component of the plan was introduced to the team by the building principal. In his vision of the future he wants service learning to be a graduation requirement. In the first year of implementation the researcher work with the administrative and character education team on a service learning day on the same day the high school juniors were taking the state mandated ACT exam. Members of the team had to place over 360 students into a service learning project away from the high school building in an effort to eliminate the possibilities of distracting the juniors taking the ACT.
The majority of citizens within Hollister R-V School District live by deep fundamental Christian principles and the researcher and the team wanted to tap into this cultural mindset without bringing religion into the character lessons. The researcher and the character education team wanted students to understand the importance of doing the right thing. Additionally the researcher and the team wanted students to think about their actions in an effort to help students become best versions of themselves, To differentiate between happiness and pleasure, to understand the power of being given second chances, the power of habit, and the power of building positive relationships. These are not just Judeo/Christian values; they are the foundation in the secular world of public education in terms of preparing students for college, career, and life.
The researcher and the building assistant principal will analyze the quantitative disciple and attendance data for the fall 2015, spring 2016, and fall 2016 semesters and compare it with the data collected from the 2014-2015 school year in an effort to determine growth on the areas of concentration. If the students are making the choice of missing less school and making fewer destructive decisions in the classroom that result in discipline referrals, students will be spending more time in the classroom and thus creating an opportunity for increasing student achievement. The plan was designed to help students make more discerned decisions versus destructive decisions in an effort to become the best version of themselves. Students need to understand that they are not victims of their decisions; they are defined by them. Becoming the best version of one’s self requires self-control. In order to master the art of self control people must gravitate to things that will make them happy and not look for things that only bring pleasure because happiness is sustainable and pleasure is not. Everyone make mistakes along the way and everyone has regrets and people must know every new day offers a clean slate and another chance to become the best versions of oneself. In order to decrease the disciple referrals, and increase attendance and academic achievement, the researcher and the team elected an approached designed to build student character from the inside out and not from the outside in. The team wanted to create a learning atmosphere that promotes a healthy foundational basis for student decision making and not a plan that looks for punitive consequences for making bad decisions.
Before the first year of implementation, the researcher initially roughed out a character education pacing guide that was shared with the building principal in the summer of 2015. Once the plan was approved by the principal the researcher submitted the plan to the members of the character education focus team. Everyone on the team had the opportunity to provide feedback on the initial draft. Before the beginning of 2016 spring semester the team and the researcher created the first character education lesson and members of the team along with the researcher led professional development, modeling the plan for the high school staff. At this point the entire staff was offered an opportunity to provide constructive feedback on the plan before the plan is realized during the first week of January. This time was chosen because each new semester offers a clean slate for all students and with each new slate provides an opportunity for all students to become better versions of themselves.
The planning for the service learning portion of the character education program began in December 2015.
The team invited many outreach organizations in Stone, Taney, Christian, and Greene County to present at the first annual se4rvice learning fair. The service learning fair took place the first week in February and over 15 outreach organizations were able to communicate to the student body the missions of their organizations and how each one serves the community. After the service learning fair the students had the opportunity to sing-up for a service learning project based on the information presented during the fair.
The service learning day was scheduled for April 19, 2016. This was the day all of the juniors at Hollister High School were taking the state mandated ACT. All students were placed in a service learning projects. Students served in nursing homes, animal shelters, thrift shops, food pantries, and many other places. There was even a bus that drove around the Hollister community performing random acts of kindness. With all of the students out of the high school building the juniors were able to take the ACT in a building with little to no
disruptions.
Year two of implementation built upon the momentum from the previous year. Through the team’s reflection from the year before, the character education lessons at the beginning of each semester became Motivation Mondays. In addition to the service learning day scheduled on the day the juniors tae the ACT, the seniors performed a service learning project documenting the journey of senior citizen in the area and the sophomores facilitated a day a patriotism where they provided lessons on what it means to be an American to children in the elementary school.
The building principal asked the researcher to take the reins on this program based on previous conversations on the importance the character education component of the Freshman Academy summer school program. Based on the meetings reflecting on the summer school program it was determined that the program should be implemented school wide. The assistant principal was added to the team because of the service component of the plan. The assistant principal was new to the building, but not to the district. He was the coordinator of the alternative school. The alternative school’s curriculum is rooted in service learning. The librarian was a huge advocate for the students and has been in the district for a long time. She had a great feel for what the student needs are. The junior/senior English teacher provided her expertise in Google Forms as a tool to keep the team and students very organized. She allowed the team to work smarter; not harder. The rest of the team consisted of six teachers who teach a wide variety of classes and were always will to pinch in wherever and whenever needed.
After the first character lesson presented the first week of the second semester, a member of the team created a survey on a Google form. The survey asked many questions about the effectiveness of the character lesson. What the students and staff liked and disliked. The survey was a tool used as a guide to create the next character education lesson. The survey was completely anonymous and the student’s opinions on the lesson were straight forward and were used as a foundation for future lessons. The same survey was distributed to the students after the second character education lesson and based on the results the team and the researcher decided to add members of student government to help in the collaborating in the creation of future character education lessons.
The student work that demonstrates how impactful the character education lessons were is based on the educational decisions the students make on a day-to-day basis. Did they decide to go to school? Did the student decide to make it to all of their classes on time? Did the student decide to be a part of a learning environment free of distractions? Did the lessons help the student become the best version of themselves? The data collected on attendance and discipline was used to measure if the students were making better choices during the school day.
During this process the researcher was exploring books for Catholic Confirmation Candidates at Our Lady of the Cove and discovered a book that could be used as a framework for secular character education. Decision Point (http://dynamiccatholic.com/confirmation/) is the book that serves as the framework for the Hollister High School Character Education program.
Because many of the past character education programs had failed in the past, I was forced to think outside of the box. Pulling the program from a religious text was built upon the theory that all societies reward people for doing the right thing. The resources used were very minimal. When the framework for the character education in place, the researcher created an outline of topics that would be taught during the character education lessons and shared, them with the principal in the spring of 2015. Once the framework for the program was approved the principal, he placed the researcher into a leadership position within the character education team. In the team the researchers collaborated with a team of nine educators working collaboratively on a mission of improving attendance and reducing discipline referrals and thus trying to improve school culture through a service learning component.
The service learning component of the plan was introduced to the team by the building principal. In his vision of the future he wants service learning to be a graduation requirement. In the first year of implementation the researcher work with the administrative and character education team on a service learning day on the same day the high school juniors were taking the state mandated ACT exam. Members of the team had to place over 360 students into a service learning project away from the high school building in an effort to eliminate the possibilities of distracting the juniors taking the ACT.
The majority of citizens within Hollister R-V School District live by deep fundamental Christian principles and the researcher and the team wanted to tap into this cultural mindset without bringing religion into the character lessons. The researcher and the character education team wanted students to understand the importance of doing the right thing. Additionally the researcher and the team wanted students to think about their actions in an effort to help students become best versions of themselves, To differentiate between happiness and pleasure, to understand the power of being given second chances, the power of habit, and the power of building positive relationships. These are not just Judeo/Christian values; they are the foundation in the secular world of public education in terms of preparing students for college, career, and life.
The researcher and the building assistant principal will analyze the quantitative disciple and attendance data for the fall 2015, spring 2016, and fall 2016 semesters and compare it with the data collected from the 2014-2015 school year in an effort to determine growth on the areas of concentration. If the students are making the choice of missing less school and making fewer destructive decisions in the classroom that result in discipline referrals, students will be spending more time in the classroom and thus creating an opportunity for increasing student achievement. The plan was designed to help students make more discerned decisions versus destructive decisions in an effort to become the best version of themselves. Students need to understand that they are not victims of their decisions; they are defined by them. Becoming the best version of one’s self requires self-control. In order to master the art of self control people must gravitate to things that will make them happy and not look for things that only bring pleasure because happiness is sustainable and pleasure is not. Everyone make mistakes along the way and everyone has regrets and people must know every new day offers a clean slate and another chance to become the best versions of oneself. In order to decrease the disciple referrals, and increase attendance and academic achievement, the researcher and the team elected an approached designed to build student character from the inside out and not from the outside in. The team wanted to create a learning atmosphere that promotes a healthy foundational basis for student decision making and not a plan that looks for punitive consequences for making bad decisions.
Before the first year of implementation, the researcher initially roughed out a character education pacing guide that was shared with the building principal in the summer of 2015. Once the plan was approved by the principal the researcher submitted the plan to the members of the character education focus team. Everyone on the team had the opportunity to provide feedback on the initial draft. Before the beginning of 2016 spring semester the team and the researcher created the first character education lesson and members of the team along with the researcher led professional development, modeling the plan for the high school staff. At this point the entire staff was offered an opportunity to provide constructive feedback on the plan before the plan is realized during the first week of January. This time was chosen because each new semester offers a clean slate for all students and with each new slate provides an opportunity for all students to become better versions of themselves.
The planning for the service learning portion of the character education program began in December 2015.
The team invited many outreach organizations in Stone, Taney, Christian, and Greene County to present at the first annual se4rvice learning fair. The service learning fair took place the first week in February and over 15 outreach organizations were able to communicate to the student body the missions of their organizations and how each one serves the community. After the service learning fair the students had the opportunity to sing-up for a service learning project based on the information presented during the fair.
The service learning day was scheduled for April 19, 2016. This was the day all of the juniors at Hollister High School were taking the state mandated ACT. All students were placed in a service learning projects. Students served in nursing homes, animal shelters, thrift shops, food pantries, and many other places. There was even a bus that drove around the Hollister community performing random acts of kindness. With all of the students out of the high school building the juniors were able to take the ACT in a building with little to no
disruptions.
Year two of implementation built upon the momentum from the previous year. Through the team’s reflection from the year before, the character education lessons at the beginning of each semester became Motivation Mondays. In addition to the service learning day scheduled on the day the juniors tae the ACT, the seniors performed a service learning project documenting the journey of senior citizen in the area and the sophomores facilitated a day a patriotism where they provided lessons on what it means to be an American to children in the elementary school.
The building principal asked the researcher to take the reins on this program based on previous conversations on the importance the character education component of the Freshman Academy summer school program. Based on the meetings reflecting on the summer school program it was determined that the program should be implemented school wide. The assistant principal was added to the team because of the service component of the plan. The assistant principal was new to the building, but not to the district. He was the coordinator of the alternative school. The alternative school’s curriculum is rooted in service learning. The librarian was a huge advocate for the students and has been in the district for a long time. She had a great feel for what the student needs are. The junior/senior English teacher provided her expertise in Google Forms as a tool to keep the team and students very organized. She allowed the team to work smarter; not harder. The rest of the team consisted of six teachers who teach a wide variety of classes and were always will to pinch in wherever and whenever needed.
After the first character lesson presented the first week of the second semester, a member of the team created a survey on a Google form. The survey asked many questions about the effectiveness of the character lesson. What the students and staff liked and disliked. The survey was a tool used as a guide to create the next character education lesson. The survey was completely anonymous and the student’s opinions on the lesson were straight forward and were used as a foundation for future lessons. The same survey was distributed to the students after the second character education lesson and based on the results the team and the researcher decided to add members of student government to help in the collaborating in the creation of future character education lessons.
The student work that demonstrates how impactful the character education lessons were is based on the educational decisions the students make on a day-to-day basis. Did they decide to go to school? Did the student decide to make it to all of their classes on time? Did the student decide to be a part of a learning environment free of distractions? Did the lessons help the student become the best version of themselves? The data collected on attendance and discipline was used to measure if the students were making better choices during the school day.