The Effects of Character Education on Student Achievement

The Effect of a Character Education Program on Elementary Student Achievement

Abstract Educators at the elementary school level are aware of the importance put on the state mandated assessments. As student behavior continues to increase, student achievement is affective. Educators search for answers to problems that surround elementary students in the school setting. The incorporation of a character education program may help to improve student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a character education program to increase student achievement in elementary school students. The results of this study indicated that a well-organized and consistently implemented character education program increased positive behavior and student achievement. Offering character education is about setting expectations, constantly communicating those expectations, and reinforcing them to create a positive school culture. Therefore, good habits are formed and the positive behavior and a rise in student achievement may continue long-term, even after the character education program is no longer present.

Table of Contents
Abstract Page #
Chapter 1: Introduction Background of the Problem 4 Statement of the Problem 5 Significance of the Study 5 Hypotheses 6 Limitations and Delimitations 7 Definition of Terms 7 Summary 8
Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature Introduction 9 Statement of the Problem 9 Character Education in Connection with Student Learning 10 School Culture and Academic Achievement 14 Impact of Education 18 Need for Further Research 19 Summary 19
Chapter 3: Research Methods 20 Research Design and Rational 20 Participants 21 Objectives 22 Action Plan 22 Development of the Research Tool 24 Assessment Method 25
Chapter 4: Project Results Historical Description of the Intervention 26 Analysis of Results 27
Chapter 5: Conclusion Conclusion and Recommendations 30 References 32
Chapter 1
Introduction
Background of the Problem

In the last several decades there has been an increase in teen suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, school shootings, teen crime and sexual promiscuity. There has also been a decline of the family unit as a force for moral education. Many parents do not provide their students with support for school success. “Citizens are realizing that a society cannot operate unless its citizens follow certain moral principles, and schools are realizing that without character education, which can help establish a good learning environment, education itself may not be effective” (Davis, 2008).

Throughout history, parents, teachers and members of the community have come together to share in the responsibility of supporting the positive development of character education.

“Horace Mann, in the 1840’s helped to improve instruction in classrooms nationwide, advocating that character development was as important as academics in American schools. As the United States recognized the importance of this concept, in 1994 Character Education program began. The Department of Education joins with state education agencies and school districts across our country to provide vial leadership and support to implement this program” U.S. Department of Education, 2005, p. ).

While there are many proponents for character education there are also many who oppose

it. Hunter maintains that the very things that make moral education possible (presumably cohesive families, respect for authority, a culture of caring, and the like) are not present in today’s society. Others worry that schools are usurping the role of parents and churches inculcating virtues. Some maintain that teaching virtues is not possible apart from teaching religion (Davis, 2008)”.

One of The Department of Education goals is to “promote strong character and citizenship among our nation’s youth”. In order to reach this goal, the Department of Education has teamed up with state education agencies and school districts to provide training and support to help implement the character education program.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a character education program to support positive behavior and to increase student achievement in elementary school student.

Significance of the Study

The primary focus of our government is the state mandated test scores. This focus has now trickled down to the level of the educator and has become their focus. There is an increasing need for instruction in social and character development in as well as academic instruction. With the pressures on schools to meet state-mandated learning standards the likelihood of adding any noncore subjects may cause resistance from teachers and other staff members.

When students enter a school culture that provides expectations and supports quality work and moral character, they will work to fit into that culture. Students who feel safe, secure and are in a caring community are more motivated, ambitious, and engaged in their learning. A powerful school culture enables a student to feel confident and take pride in their work. If a character education program positively affects student achievement, it will continue. If it does not, modifications will be made or alternatives will be sought.

Hypotheses

In the relation to the problem stated above this research posed the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis: A character education program will improve elementary student behavior and achievement.

Null Hypothesis: A character education program will not improve student behavior and achievement.

Limitations and Delimitations

For the purpose of this study 25 elementary students received a character education program. The students, nine males and sixteen female, come from a low-economic, African American population. The school is a public school located in the city of Saint Louis, Missouri. The time period of this study is 14 weeks. Since the study a female student no longer attends the school.

Definition of Terms

For the purpose of this study the researcher defined the following terms for better understanding of this project.

Character Education program The character education program will consist of class meetings, individual projects, small group projects and whole class projects all based on the character education subject. Students will complete worksheets, papers and computer programs. A program that teaches character values within the districts curricula. The program teaches a high expectation for responsible behavior, a process for implementing positive values when making decisions, visual reinforcement of character values and a school culture that fosters a positive attitude.

Student Achievement Student Achievement is the knowledge student acquires that enables the student to be successful in all aspects of life. In this study student achievement is based on classroom grades.

Summary

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a character education program to ensure positive behavior and to increase student achievement in elementary school students.

When students sense a safe and positive atmosphere they will be more willing to take pride in their accomplishments. A school with a caring atmosphere will allow the students to have the confidence to achieve.

Chapter II
Literature Review

Introduction

Character education has become a priority for many school districts across the United States. Character education programs today are built primarily on fear. They respond to the litany of problems besetting United States society and chronicled daily in newspapers, television, radio, and magazines. Sex, drugs, violence, and academic achievement are only a few issues cited as resources to inoculate our youth with a healthy dose of character education (Rusnak, 1998).

With No Child Left Behind school districts are racing to implement new programs to increase students state test scores. Character education is one of the many programs used to impact and improve the development and academic achievement of students. This literature review examines character education in connection with student learning standards, school culture and academic achievement, how character education impacts education and the need for further research.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a character education program to support positive behavior and increase student achievement in elementary school students.

Character Education in Connection with Student Learning Standards

According to Yazzie-Mintz (2010) one of the primary goals in education is “focusing exclusively on assessment and achievement data leads to three major problems:

• Schools necessarily put a sharp focus on test scores and achievement data and less focus on students’ interaction with their work, motivation in class, and engagement with school.

• Schools that don’t have the capacity to analyze data in meaningful ways often piecemeal conclusions from complex data and plan action steps without fully understanding what the data tell them. • Schools focus on the “measurable” data, rather than the more complex, difficult-to-quantify questions” (Yazzie-Mintz, 2010).

According to Beatty, Dachnowicz and Schwartz (2005), character education initiatives in the past decade have included a variety of approaches. Many schools and districts will incorporate their character education with the academic curriculum. This includes framing ethical discussions in areas such as English, social studies and science. Other school will utilize commercial programs that help establish common language and goals. Several of the character education initiatives are comprehensive and address structures across the school which could include supervision, discipline, and ways of working with students, while others will take the form of books, websites, and other resources that educators will use to develop ideas that they will implement in their classrooms. All character education programs share the goals of increasing students’ awareness of moral and ethical issues, affecting students’ attitudes regarding such issues, and affecting students’ actions.

“Teachers, principals, and parents will understandably ask how we can think of attempting to squeeze a new emphasis, such as character education, into the already packed standards-based curriculum“(Siff-Williams, 2010). There is a way to accomplish this by incorporating character education into routine instruction.

• Identify values and character emphases that reflect community consensus and show how good decision-making is at the basis of all these values. • Guide teachers in analyzing state standards to determine teaching targets and identify character education emphases, such as decision making, that relate to the targets. • Provide staff training and planning time for teachers to design unit plans that meld state standards and character education teaching. • Support teachers in the implementation of lessons activities that emphasize state standards and character development learning experiences. • Promote the use of performance-based assessments, such as observation instruments and scoring rubrics, that can effectively evaluate aspects of character development (Siff-Williams, 2010).

According to Character Education Partnership (2008), school based-strategies do not replace the important contribution that parenting practices make to performance development, nor do they reduce the need for schools to reach out to families as partners in encouraging their children’s effort and learning. Character Education Partnership (2008) has ten practices that will help shape a school and peer-group culture and will also maximize the motivation to learn and achieve.

• Create a safe and supportive learning community. • Create a culture of excellence. • Foster, in both faculty and students, a “growth mindset” that emphasizes the importance of effort. • Develop thinking dispositions in all members of the school community. • Assign work that matters. • Provide models of excellence. • Develop a culture that encourages feedback and revision. • Prepare students to make public presentation of their work. • Use rubrics to help students take responsibility for their learning. • Encourage mastery learning.

“Students themselves testify to this power of school culture to change how they experience school and approach their work. A sixth-grade girl was asked how her current school, in which students regularly presented their work to classmates and audiences, differed from her previous school. She described the difference in terms of school culture: In this school, everyone looks at my work. In my old school, only my teacher knew anything about my work, I have to try much harder in this school because the work is more important” (Character Education Partnership, 2010).

Lickona and Davidson (2005) include critical thinking as one of their target ‘8 strengths of character’. Berkowitz and Bier (2005) report that effective character education programs frequently target moral development and implement moral discussions in classrooms. “Character education promoters also generally seek a stronger emphasis on a positive school ethos, increased academic work, viewing the teacher as moral authority and strengthening the role of parents in partnerships with school and teachers” (Arthur, 2005). Examples of the most prevalent implementation strategies are:

• Social skills and awareness (e.g., communication skills, active listening, relationship skills, assertiveness, social awareness) • Personal improvement/Self-management and awareness (e.g., self-control, goal setting, relaxation techniques, self-awareness, emotional awareness) • Problem-solving/Decision-making

Based on psychological research, it has become clear that peer interaction is a powerful means to promote student learning and development (Berkowitz & Bier, 2005). “To integrate character education into standards-based instruction, we must widen our lens during the instructional planning process” (Siff-Williams, 2010).

School Culture and Academic Achievement

“Various character education programs have been studied for their usefulness, and research has supported significant correlations between character education instruction and a decline in discipline problems as well as improvements in academic performance” (Coombs-Richardson, Huang, Lee, & Tolson, 2009). Additional research on character education indicates:

“A growing body of research on character education is suggesting that this relatively recent renewal of the practice of teaching ethics and morality is showing a range of positive social and academic outcomes in schools. What is interesting is that three recent studies show that effective character education programs go hand-in-hand with academic success” (Beatty, Dachnowicz, & Schwartz, 2005).

According to Schaps (2005), when students’ basic psychological needs (safety, belonging, autonomy, and competence) are satisfied, they are more likely become engaged in school (school bonding), act in accord with school goals and values, develop social skills and understanding and contribute to the school and the community.

When schools fail to meet students’ needs for belonging, competence, and autonomy, students are more likely to become less motivated, more alienated and have poor academic performance. Despite some increased attention to the research on community building, a high proportion of students probably still experience their schools as relatively impersonal.

“Positive school climates are powerful because they meet students’ needs for belonging, competence, and autonomy. Research on student motivation and learning has shown that a climate of ‘high support and high expectations for both achievement and behavior produces the best results’” (Narvaez, 2010).

“The value of high-quality character education has been associated with improved school climates, increased academic achievement, and improved human relations. A majority of states now have either a legislative or state education department requirement that character education be included in public school instruction” (Siff-Williams, 2010). According to the Character Education Partnership (2010), there are three conditions that are essential to educators to assist in changing school culture. First, schools need measures of success for improvement that go beyond test scores. Schools must be held accountable to external standards but this should not be the only measure of school success. Schools and classrooms should approach assessment and any additional work in a manner that develops the whole person, including ideas such as creative problem-solving, teamwork, respect for diversity, ethical decision-making, commitment to human rights and social justice. The second condition is educators must have clear idea of what school culture is. The term school climate has been used as an umbrella to cover different aspects within the school experience.

A positive school culture broadly conceived includes the schools:

• social climate, including a safe and caring environment in which all students feel welcomed and valued and have a sense of ownership of their school intellectual climate, in which all students in every classroom are supported and challenged to do their very best and achieve work of quality; this includes a rich, rigorous and engaging curriculum and a powerful pedagogy for teaching it • rules and policies that hold all school members accountable to high standards of learning and behavior • traditions and routines, built from shared values, that honor and reinforce the school’s academic and social standards • structures for giving staff and students a voice in, and shared responsibility for, solving problems and making decisions that affect the school environment and their common life • ways of effectively partnering with parents to support students’ learning and character growth • norms for relationships and behavior that create a professional culture of excellence and ethics (Character Education Partnership, 2010).

Schools need the tools to develop and assess school culture and they must be held accountable for the improvements needed within their school culture.

“Multicultural education charges teachers and schools with empowering the school culture. This can only happen through curriculum interventions by teachers, including explicit teaching of social justice goals. Purposeful curriculum design supports conditions for learning to promote high expectations and accountability for one’s own learning. Teachers and students together construct a “culture” in the classroom that helps students make sense of what the expectations are in the classroom, how they are expected to learn from one another, and who they are in the classroom as learners” (Fox, 2010).

Davis (2005) found that some approaches to character education in the public schools focus on curriculum-based character education. Teaching morals through literature is a way to present character education in a way that is not over the students’ heads. Character Education has been incorporated into different subject areas as shown in the examples below:

“Maryland grade three standards in social studies: ‘The student will be able to identify situations and processes for making decisions’. For cognitive instruction, the teacher could focus on teaching students to identify situations for decision making and apply steps in this process. For teaching the affective domain, the teacher should consider the character qualities and values that must be addressed to support students in making good decision in various situations”.

“Texas grade seven standard in science reads ‘Describe and give examples of ecosystems and list some biotic and abiotic factors that are interdependent in an ecosystem’. A science teacher would likely begin instruction for this standard by teaching about ecosystems and explaining biotic and abiotic factors. It is then just a short step to introducing character education emphases such as interdependence, cooperation, and relationships among human beings. The character education focus for this standard could also include collaborative learning as a classroom activity involving interdependence, cooperation, and symbiotic relationships” (Siff-Williams, 2010).

Impact on Education

“Throughout history, and in cultures around the world, education rightly conceived has had two great goals: to help students become smart and to help them become good. They need character” (Character Education Partnership, 2008). Character not only strengthens empathy, fairness, trustworthiness, generosity and compassion it also strengths effort, initiative, diligence, self-discipline, and perseverance which help students attain academic achievement.

“From a very pragmatic view, character qualities are profoundly important to develop in young people. These qualities are often the essence of what employers look for when they hire or evaluate performance on the job. Employers want employees who are honest, dependable, responsible, punctual, and trustworthy. By teaching these qualities in our schools, we are giving your people a formula for future success. By ignoring these issues we not only fail our students, but we also fail our responsibility to society to help craft contributing citizens. We can promote academic success and ensure a productive future for our children by developing learning environments that promote character” (Rusnak, 1998).

Need for Further Research

For decades researchers have been looking at character education. “Research on the effectiveness of character education per se is just getting underway, but these data-driven studies indicate that effectively implemented character education initiatives have a positive effective on student achievement, pro-social behavior, and the reduction in risky behavior” (Beatty, Dachnowicz, & Schwartz, 2005). According to Stiff-Williams, 2010, the strategic integration of standards based curriculum and character education will be evident through unit goals and lesson objects, instructional delivery techniques, student learning tasks, performance-based student assessments, and overall classroom management and operational procedures.

Summary

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a character education program to increase student achievement in elementary school students by improving behavior. This study was implemented to investigate whether understanding student experiences and strengthening the student-school connection is essential for raising achievement and developing a culture of learning in schools. The implementation of a well-organized character education program at the elementary school level to improve student achievement can produce positive results that educators desire for their students.

Chapter III
Research Methods

This chapter will review the purpose of the research methods and procedures to be used in the study. The chapter will be divided into three sections. Research design and rationale which will explain the purpose and reasoning for choosing the instruments used by the researcher to collect data. The next section is the participants used in the study, which will provide information and demographics regarding the proposed participants. The last section, development of the research tool will explain in detail the specific instrument and what it will look like.

Research Design and Rational

This study will utilize quantitative research. “Quantitative research is based on the collection and analysis of numerical data” (Johnson, 2008). “Quantitative researchers are concerned with the development and testing of hypotheses and the generation of models and the theories that explain behavior” (Hoy, 2010). The researcher will administer a survey that uses fixed choice questions which will give each member the same response categories. Based on the initial research question: Is understanding student experiences and strengthening the student-school connection essential for raising achievement and developing a culture of learning in schools? The researcher will administer a School wide Community-Building Needs Assessment Survey. This survey will have three separate forms. The first form will be administered to the students, the second to all school staff and the third to parents. The survey will be administered on-line twice during the school year to help assess the needs of the existing school community and if those needs are being met, how they can be improved and what is currently working. The first scheduled date will be in October. Students will take the survey during the school day, the school staff will do this during a required staff meeting and the parents will take the survey during parent-teacher conferences. The second survey will be administered in April again during parent-teacher conferences.

The purpose of the survey is to gather data on student, staff, and parents perceptions and feelings about the teacher, classroom and school setting. The researcher will be informed of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. With this information current programs will be reevaluated and adjusted in order to build a stronger school community, increase student autonomy and strengthen the ability to meet student’s needs.

Participants

The researcher will administer the survey to an urban elementary school. The elementary school includes grades kindergarten through fifth. The school serves over 200 elementary students and employs over 30 certified teachers. With a homogenous population of students, the district is 100 percent African-America, 98 percent free and reduced students, students with special needs, and gifted students.

Objectives

In order to accomplish the action research project objectives, the following processes are necessary:

- Educators will design activities in which students will learn about and model conflict resolution skills to decrease disrespectful behaviors. - Faculty must discuss the survey results and understand the importance of the program - Educators will be responsible for encouraging parents and members of the school community to become aware of character education and be involved. - The entire school community must model appropriate behavior at all times.

Action Plan

The action plan for the character education program is listed below on a week-by-week basis.

Week #1: Teacher distributes and collects both student and parent consent forms.

Week #2: Teacher will administer the Student Behavior Survey (Artifact 3) and the Likert Behavior Scare Survey (Artifact 4) to the students. Teacher will distribute the Teacher Pre-Survey (Artifact 5) and the Likert Behavior Scale Survey.

Week #3: Discussion of character education issues.

Week #4-11: Activity 1- Partner Illustrations and Presentations of Personal Views

Activity 2- Curriculum Integration

Students will complete their teachers’ desired reading activity. Students will answer the following questions:

1. How has other characters disrespectful behavior have an effect on the main character? 2. How would you have handled the situation differently?

Activity 3- Students will compose a written essay explaining how this character displayed both appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. The students will then discuss how they would have acted in the same situation.

Activity 4- Students will role play conflict resolution strategies to unique situations given to them.

Week 12: The teacher will distribute the Student Behavior Post Survey (Artifact 7) and the Teacher Post Survey (Artifact 7) to the students and teachers. The results will be tallied, and the teacher will also gather discipline referral data, all to be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of a character education program on increasing elementary school student’s achievement.

Week 13: The researcher will analyze the data gathered.

Week 14: The researcher will determine the level of effectiveness of the character education program.

Development of the Research Tool

The tool that the researcher will be using is a survey created in three different forms, for students, staff and parents. All participants will be asked to complete six open-ended questions and to explain their answers.

The student survey will have six questions. The questions will include, the degree in which students feel their classroom and school is a community, their opportunity to participate in classroom planning, decision-making and leadership roles. The next set of questions will address where students feel safe and unsafe in the school building. Questions will also pertain to the trust in and respect for their teachers, other staff member and administrators. Additional questions will do with guidelines and expectations of the students and the last set of questions will concern parent and family relationships at school. The staff and parent surveys will have the same type of questions but will be worded differently. The questions will be asking the staff and parents how they rate the school community and how they perceive their students to rate it. The researcher needs to know what these participants are observing about these students.

Assessment Method

The researcher will determine the success of the character education program by comparing responses on the Pre-Surveys with the responses on the Post Surveys, and by comparing the number of discipline referrals from before the character education program, to the number of discipline referrals after the character education program is implemented.

The results will help the researcher determine what is working and what new goals need to be set. The results will also offer information as to what obstacles need to be overcome, what is the level of commitment and what strengths and resources can be used to reach the new goals that are put in place.

Chapter IV
Project Results

Historical Description of the Intervention

The objective of this project was to examine the use of a Character Education program to increase student achievement in elementary school students. During the first week of classes, the program was introduced, guidelines and classroom rules were established and student and parent permission forms were signed. As measuring instruments, a Student Behavior Survey (Artifact 1), a Likert Scale Behavior Survey (Artifact 2) for both students and teachers, and a Teacher Pre-Survey (Artifact 3), were employed to determine a base line measurement of attitudes toward observed behavior.

Discussions took place among the students in class and with parents during Meet the Teacher to define the focus on behavior and achievement. It was clearly emphasized that the curriculum would not be decreased with the character education program. The implementations of various curriculum activities that incorporate character education were selected to produce measureable outcomes. The facilitator utilized cooperative learning and role play for character education activities. Student behavior and interaction with staff and peers was documented by the classroom facilitator.

Analysis of Results

Results of the character education effectiveness study were derived from the Student Behavior Post Survey (Artifact 4), which was administered in class at the end of the implementation. Students were asked to complete six open-ended questions and to explain their answers. The purpose of this survey was to gather students’ opinions on the program and to see if they recognized any difference in behavior and academic achievement in themselves and among their classmates. The results that follow indicate what students felt about the program and provide insight into the effectiveness of the character education program among elementary school students.

Question 1: Have you noticed a change in student behavior in this class?

Sixty-three percent of the students said they did notice a positive change in classroom behavior. Students related the atmosphere of the class to a family. Students reported that they felt comfortable reading and participating in group discussions.

Thirty-seven percent of students did not notice a change in student behavior.

Question 2: If so, what positive behaviors have you seen students exhibit?

Sixty-three percent of the students did notice a positive change in student behavior. Students respected belongings and thoughts of one another. Students also noticed the decline in disruptions during the school day.

Twenty-five percent of students did not notice a change in student behavior and achievement. Eleven percent of the students failed to verbalize their response in question 2. One percent of the students did not respond because she was no longer attending the school.

Question 3: Have you felt that your parents have been more involved in your life since the program began?

Eighteen percent of students felt that the program did result in an increased amount of parental involvement in their lives.

Eighty-two percent of students did not notice any change in parental involvement in their lives. Many of the parents have several jobs that they attend in order to support their families. Parental involvement is very low in the inner city school system.

Question 4: Which aspects of the classroom rules did you feel were most effective?

All of the students felt that all the classroom rules were effective. Each rule had its one significance and importance to the students.

Question 5: Which aspects of the program need improvement?

Seventy-eight percent of the students would have liked their parents to be more involved. According to them, the program could have more activities that involved parents interacting with their child.

Twenty-two percent of the students felt that the program does not need improvements. They believed the program made students aware of how their behavior affects their academic achievements.

Question 6: Do you have any suggestions regarding this type of classroom program?

Thirty-four percent of students did not have any suggestions for improvement in this program. They were satisfied with their behavior and the positive increase in their academic achievements.

Sixty-six percent of the students thought that students that were still disrupting the learning environment should have harsher consequences. They felt that this would make these students more accountable for their behaviors and education.

Teacher responded on the Teacher Post Survey (Artifact 5) that they noticed that disruptive behavior had decreased in the school. They noticed a higher level or respect and an increase in student achievement. Teachers did not observe excessive or inappropriately loud talking, instances of disrespect, or other inappropriate behave that distracts classroom learning. Listening skills increased, group work was completed effectively students were improving academically.

Chapter V Conclusion

Conclusion and Recommendations

Through surveys, observation, and feedback the school believes the character education program with emphasis on student achievement is a success when implemented. Students and staff members identified behaviors that disrupted the learning environment. The class focused on these behaviors in and outside the classroom, and worked on developing behaviors that were desirable and productive to the learning environment to increase academic achievement. The facilitator and other staff members observed the students demonstrating the respected behavior and academic goals.

The purpose for implementing the character education program was an attempt to combat the most recent disturbing incidents in schools today across the country. The researcher believes that this project has supported the improvement in this particular elementary schools behavior and academics. According to the students, character education is effective and would be more effective if it had more cooperative learning activities interacting with parents in the community.

As a result of this action research project, character education is effective in improving academics and behavior in the learning environment, the researcher would recommend incorporating character education in all schools. The method of presentation to the staff will be critical. Depending on the presentation, it can be embraced or overwhelming to the staff members. However, the researcher believes commitment by everyone in the school is the key to a successful program.

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