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Programs & Strategies for Positive Behavior

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Behavior Support for Positive Student Behavior

Character Education • Effective Behavioral Supports • The Good Behavior Game • Peer Tutoring • Positive Reinforcement • Project Achieve • Project Pathe • Second Step

Programs and Strategies for Positive Behavior:
School-Wide Programs & Strategies:
Character Education

Student Population Served
School-wide or Class-wide
All grades

Program Description
Character education is a general term that is used to describe many aspects of using teaching and learning to enhance student personal development. Character education encompasses various aspects of moral education, civic education, and character development, which makes it a difficult concept to address in schools. Character education seeks to foster in students a commitment to living and acting in accordance with core ethical values such as caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect. It has demonstrated positive changes in student behavior and academic performance. School systems across the country have implemented elements of character education and have seen such results as a more civil school environment, fewer absentees, and improved academic outcomes.

There is no single script for effective character education, but there are some important basic principles. The following eleven principles by the Character Education Partnership serve as criteria that schools and other groups can use to plan a character education effort and to evaluate available character education programs, books, and curriculum resources.

1. Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character.
2. "Character" must be comprehensively defined to include thinking, feeling, and behavior.
3. Effective character education requires an intentional, proactive, and comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life.
4. The school must be a caring community.
5. To develop character, students need opportunities to practice problem-solving and positive behavior.
6. Effective character education includes a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners and helps them succeed.
7. Character education should strive to develop students' intrinsic motivation.
8. The school staff must become a learning and morally focused community in which all share responsibility for character education and attempt to adhere to the same core values that guide the education of students.
9. Character education requires strong pro-social leadership from both staff and students.
10. The school must include parents and community members as full partners in the character-building effort.
11. Evaluation of character education should assess the character of the school, staff functioning as character educators, and the extent to which students manifest good character.

Evidence of Effectiveness
Post-intervention data indicates that implementation of character education programs encourages positive student interactions, increased academic success, reduced incidents of violence, and improved teacher communications.

Training & Support Information
There are many curricula that are commercially available that include character education. Second Step, a violence prevention program developed by the Committee for Children, has included a Character Education program that follows the eleven principles that the Character Education Partnership has identified as being key in effective character education. There are also many free character education resources for educators available at www.goodcharacter.com.

Contact Information
The Character Education Partnership
1-800-988-8081
www.character.org

National Character Education Center
www.ethicsusa.com

References & Additional Resources
Cafo, Z., & Somuncuo, D. (2000). Global Values in Education and Character Education. ED449449.

Character Education Partnership & Boston University's Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character. (2000). 2000 National Schools of Character and Promising Practices Citations. Washington, DC: CEP.

Ediger, M. (1997). Character Education and the curriculum. ERIC Document ED415448.

Otten, E. (2000). Character Education: ERIC Digest. ED444932.

Schools of character: Reclaiming America's values for tomorrow's workforce. The 1998 Ninth Annual "Business Week." Awards for Instructional Innovation. NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Educational and Professional Publishing Group.

Website: http://www.goodcharacter.com/Links.html has a list of key organizations working for the advancement of character education

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