Changes in Texas public school teachers' perceptions of student behavior followign a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach

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2008-08

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Character education is one method to address perceived negative behavioral trends among American youth that include an increase in school violence, a decrease in civility, and an increase in academic dishonesty. This study examined the perceptions of teachers regarding student behavior in order to identify possible changes associated with a character education curriculum implemented in a kindergarten through twelfth-grade rural public school in Texas. The character education curriculum was designed using a comprehensive approach to Character Education following the guidelines of the Eleven Principles of Character Education (Lickona, Schaps, & Lewis, 2003). This quantitative study considered character education from the teachers’ point of view, and gathered data using an instrument designed to measure six scales of student character (a) trustworthiness, (b) respect, (c) responsibility, (d) fairness, (e) caring, and (f) citizenship. Perceptions of an experimental group of teachers were compared to perceptions of a control group of teachers to identify possible changes that may have occurred during a one-year implementation of a character education program. Results seem to suggest that character education professional development positively influences teachers’ ratings of students’ behaviors. Based on these findings, it might be inferred that students’ behaviors did improve as a result of the character education treatment, and that a character education curriculum, embedded in daily instruction, may have a positive influence on students’ character behaviors. Limitations related to measurement and samples are discussed.

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