Study questions effectiveness of character education |
On Board Online • December 13, 2010
By Paul Heiser
Research Analyst
Character education programs aim to promote positive student behavior and improve student learning. But do they work?
The largest federal study ever conducted on character education programs sheds doubt on their effectiveness. The study, conducted through the U.S. Dept. of Education (DOE), evaluated seven different character education programs and found that while they increased the number of classroom activities intended to improve students’ social and character development, they had no effect on students’ social and emotional competence, behavior, academic performance, or perceptions of school climate compared with students who were not exposed to the programs.
Fourteen elementary schools in Buffalo were involved in the study – 12 regular public schools and two charter schools.
“We found no significant difference in academic and behavioral outcomes between students in the treatment and comparison groups,” Greta Massetti, one of the principal investigators on the Buffalo study, told On Board.
The results are somewhat surprising, given that the development of social competencies during middle childhood is widely considered to be an important building block for academic success.
Character education is meant to teach students about basic human values including honesty, kindness, generosity, courage, equality, tolerance and respect for others. Problem solving, conflict resolution and service learning are often integral parts of a comprehensive character education program, as well.
In New York, state law requires instruction in civility, citizenship and character education in grades K-12. This is not a mandated stand-alone program, but a requirement that such material be incorporated into the curriculum.
Controlled study
The federal study, titled “Efficacy of Schoolwide Programs to Promote Social and Character Development and Reduce Problem Behavior in Elementary School Children,” was underwritten by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the U.S. Dept. of Education’s research arm whose mission is to provide rigorous and relevant research to guide education practice and policy.
Seven different teams of researchers were selected to implement one of seven school-based character education programs – referred to as Social and Character Development (SACD) programs. The seven programs were chosen because they had preliminary evidence of success or a history of previous implementation in schools, were comprehensive, and were universal, meaning they would be administered to all students in a school.
The research teams followed roughly 6,000 students for three years from third through fifth grades – from fall of 2004 to spring of 2007. At the end of the study, researchers compared the students in the treatment group with students in the control schools – some of which continued with their own character-related activities – on 20 measures of social and emotional competence, behavior, academics and perceptions of school climate
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., was contracted to assess the impact of each of the seven character education programs, both separately and as a group. Overall, the study found that the schools taking part in the intervention significantly increased their use of character-development instruction and activities. For example, during the three years, 68 percent to 72 percent of teachers in the schools using one of the programs reported using a related activity to address a school character education goal, compared to only 20 percent to 36 percent of teachers in the control group schools.
However, the year-by-year analysis and the growth curve analysis did not find that the seven SACD programs improved student outcomes when considered together or individually by program on student behavior, academic performance or gains, and perceptions of student climate.
Buffalo part of study
One of the research teams involved in the federal study was from the University at Buffalo. Researchers there implemented the Academic and Behavioral Competencies Program (ABC), which was developed at the University’s Center for Children and Families. ABC is a school-wide intervention designed to teach social skills and behavior management. It includes classroom and school-wide programs that are implemented by trained teachers (e.g., school-wide rules, time out, behavior honor roll) as well as programs for enhancing peer relationships (social skills training, peer tutoring, peer mediation, and after-school programs) and parent-child relationships (parent training).
The finding of no significant difference in academic and behavioral outcomes between students in the treatment and comparison groups may be due to high rates of use of behavior management strategies in comparison schools as well as the treatment schools.
“In Buffalo, there are common strategies used across schools regardless of their participation in the study,” Massetti, the investigator, told On Board. “Unfortunately, there is no data to determine the exact cause of the difference, and that is one of the weaknesses of the study.”
So, should schools abandon character education programs are ineffective? Not necessarily, Massetti said.
“Keep in mind the findings are an evaluation of these seven specific program in very specific contexts, all having unique features,” she said. “Studies of this sort require replication.”
To download “Efficacy of Schoolwide Programs to Promote Social and Character Development and Reduce Problem Behavior in Elementary School Children,” go to http://ies.ed.gov/ncer/ pubs/20112001/index.asp.