Behavior Problems :

Can Character Education Improve it?

Action Research Paper

By Jacqueline Holzer
EDU 703.22/Fall 2010
 Introduction

Behavioral problems have been a constant in the school

environment for centuries. Recently the problem has begun to
receive more attention, as the disruptiveness is impeding the
learning and safety within the school environment. Within this paper,
prior research of the concern with behavioral problems will be
discussed, theorist views on children's developmental stages,
current instructional strategies, along with the researchers
implementation of character education and improving student
behavior.
 Statement of Problem

With positive character not being effectively enforced within the school, as well as within the home, the school
environment is becoming challenged. Teachers constantly deal with disruptive behavior in a classroom,
thereby taking away from the teaching time. Some students may not be aware of why they are behaving a
certain way, while others are aware and just don’t care. Children need guidance and with Character
Education they are introduced to areas such as moral, respect and integrity. The researcher believes
through character education students will grow into mature and respectful individuals, thinking about their
actions before hand and/or resolving problems in the appropriate manner.

“Citizens are realizing that a society cannot operate unless its citizens follow certain
moral principals, and schools are realizing that without character education, which
can help establish a good learning environment, education itself may not be
effective“
 Review of Related Literature

o Although there is no thorough data, character education can produce positive results
(Winton, 2008; Skaggs & Bodenhorn, 2006)
o Children see their surrounding world and develop their character based on what they see and what they are taught
(Rynders, 2006; Brannon, 2008)
o 97% of teachers agreed that schools need discipline and behavior to grow
(Public Agenda, 2004)
o “Gradually students come to feel no moral discredit in rule violation and grow unresponsive to discipline”
(Goodman, 2007)
o By teaching students how to handle and address a potential problematic situation they are able to better control their lives
(Rynders, 2006; Gable, Hester, Hester & Hendrickson, 2005; McArthur, 2002)
o Peaceable Magnet School: Teachers and staff saw a difference in attitudes and behaviors in students as they discussed and explored “peace”
(Celia & Anstine, 1999)
o “A teacher who is motivated and persistent regarding character education is likely to believe in his or how own ability to build students’ character and
the ability of teachers in general to overcome negative influences outside of the classroom”
(Milson & Mehlig, 2002; Varham, 2005b)
o “Citizens are realizing that a society cannot operate unless its citizens follow certain moral principals, and schools are realizing that without character
education, which can help establish a good learning environment, education itself may not be effective”
(Davis, 2006)
o Each community has different values they believe in
(Bulach, 2002)
o “Character Education teaches students to do the right thing for the wrong reason”
(Davis, 2003)
o “We cannot force the issue of character development. We can only reinforce the appropriate components of character when we have the opportunity to
observe them in action”
(Milliren & Messer, 2009)
o Each community has different values they believe in
(Bulach, 2002)
o “Character Education teaches students to do the right thing for the wrong reason”
(Davis, 2003)

o “We cannot force the issue of character development. We can only reinforce the appropriate components of character when we have the opportunity to
observe them in action”
(Milliren & Messer, 2009)
 Review of Related Literature

Current Instructional Strategies

“Character Counts!”: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and Theorist
citizenship
(Rynders, 2006; Barton, Richard & Wenglinsky, 1998) Maria Montessori & Lawrence Kohlberg
“PRIDE”: address both moral and performance character concerns children develop character by exploring and
Monday: Plan for Success, Tuesday: Reading, Wednesday: Improve your
grades, Thursday: Develop your character, Friday: Enjoy your day making free choices
(Butler-Banks, 2010) (Brimi ,2009; Vardin, 2003)
“Alternative Dispute Resolution”: negotiation and mediation. Peer Mediation:
positive side of conflict, provide structure to handle conflicts, teach responsibility, Maslow: Hierarchy of Basic Needs: the need of the
develop life skills, promote understanding & sensitivity, higher level of citizenship, individual to fulfill physiological requirements
reduce disciple, increase teaching time
(Varnham, 2005a) (Smith, 2001)
“Character Matters! And The CEP”: Tolerance, respect, caring and love for one Dr. Thomas Linkona: “Eleven Principals of Character
another is practiced, taught and learned
(Winton, 2008)
Education Effectiveness”
(Bulach, 2002)
“Grimm Approach”: Fairy Tales by the Grimm Brothers (Cinderella, Hansel &
Gretel). Include moral law and general types of human experiences
(Bryan, 2005)
Character through Social Studies: Expose students to how women and men of our
history were faced with difficult, challenging situations and how they overcame it
through truth, integrity, honesty and loyalty
(Sanchez, 2006; Ellenwood, 2006)
“Judicious Discipline”: use “the language of citizenship rights and responsibilities
into class meeting to teach positive goal setting and peaceful conflict resolution”
(Landau & Gathercoal, 2000)
Character Education goal: “to help young people understand, care about and act
upon core ethical values”
(Davis, 2006)
 Statement of Hypothesis/ Research Design

HR1: Implementing character education to 15 third grade students in P.S X after school
program in Brooklyn, NY will decrease behavioral problems and produce a positive
and safe learning environment.

Quasi Experimental: Nonequivalent Control Group Design

One single group pretest- posttest design
One single group is pretested (O), exposed to treatment (X), and post tested (O)

Symbolic Design: OXO

Groups are not randomly assigned
 Participants/ Instruments

Participants
• 15 third grade students in an after school program at P.SX in Brooklyn, NY
– 11 female and 4 male
• 1 teacher/researcher

Instruments
• Heartwood “Character Counts” curriculum- two times a week for six weeks
• Parent & Principle consent form
• Parent Pre-survey- 10 questions to asses the adult in the participants lives and the exposure to positive
morals
• Pre-Post-Survey- 15 questions to asses the traits of the participants
Possible Threats to Internal/External Validity
Threats to Internal
History
Being a follower, desire to be accepted,
act out to gain attention
Maturation
Overtime experience a difficult time &
default back to behavior problems,
curriculum can become repetitive
Testing/Pre-test Sensitization
May not answer honestly can affect
results, knowing they are being
surveyed may result in temporary
behavior change
Differential Selection of Subjects
Each child has different personalities
& outlooks
Selection-Maturation Interaction
Some students mature faster than
others
Threats to External
Ecological Validity
Different views based on their
atmosphere & up-bringing
Pretest Treatment
Testing before the treatment may affect
results
Selection-Treatment Interaction
Upon agreement from family member,
students are not given an option of
participating
Experimenter Effects
Passive elements- some students may
respond & engage more than others.
Gender can be a threat to response &
participation
Reactive Arrangements/Participants Effects
Hawthorne Effect- students may
change their behavior if they think they
are being studied. Present as a way to
get to know them.
 Procedure/Results

Procedure
 “Character Counts”- forty minutes- two times a week for six weeks
 Read aloud- “Fly Away Home”, Magical Hands”, “Even That Moose Won’t Listen To Me”,
“Teammates” etc
 Lessons included writing, listening, team work, drawings
 Example lesson- students draw a web identifying the main attributes of the character in a story, discuss
about their own experience
 Example discussion- speaker holds the line of string and passes to the next person who wishes to speak
 Touched on the Heartwood attributes
 Courage, Loyalty, Justice, Respect, Hope, Honesty, Love

Results
 Positive-Weak correlation between the parent/guardian implementing positive character attributes
and the effectiveness of “Character Counts” in the classroom
 Researcher compared the parent responses to question 10 to the student responses to
question 1
 Pre-Survey & Post- Survey Data

Parent Pre-Survey Question #10- Are positive morals are enforced in our household?

Student Post-Survey Question #1-Do you take responsibility for you actions?
Post Pre Parent
Student (X) (Y)
x y
4 3
3 4
3 3
2 1
2 1
2 2
3 4
3 2
3 3
3 3
3 2 Rxy= 0.688976004
1 1
3 2
4 3
3 3
 Pre-Survey Post-Survey
Average of Data

Average of each survey question from the parent

and student pre-post-survey

Student Pre Student Post Average Answers

Parent Survey Average Survey Survey
3.5

x y x 3

Average of survey scores

2.5
3.1 2.2 2.8
2 x

2.8 2.1 2.4 1.5

y
x

2.7 2.4 2.6 1

0.5
1.9 1.8 2 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
2.5 2 2.4 Number of Students

2.1 2 2.2
3.2 2.7 2.9 *Figure 2- the blue represents the student post-survey;
2.5 2 2.4 the pink presents the student pre-survey and the yellow
represents the parent pre-survey.
2.5 2 2.7
2.8 2.2 2.4
2.2 1.9 2.2
2 1.9 1.9
2.8 2 2.6
3.2 2.4 2.8
3.1 2.3 2.6
 Discussion/ Implications

Discussion
 The statement of hypothesis was not proven wrong, but was not proven to be 100% successful
 Analyzing the data you can see the trend line is moving in a positive direction
 There was minor improvement in the students behavior
 The results show that parent involvement does not prove to have a significant impact
Implications
 Time & Place- if the study was conducted during regular school hours the researcher believes there would
have been a stronger correlation
 Different schools/different students- the program is mixed between PS.X and a nearby school
 Surveys- wrong choice of wording. If asked different questions or presented in a different way the results
could have had accurate responses
 Prior expose to curriculum- student participants are exposed to Character Counts in their nearby
school
 Parent post-survey- this would have assessed their change in addressing behavior and exposing their
child to positive morals
 Comprehension/writing- if participant has difficulty writing and comprehending the lessons would have
been frustrating due to the assignments
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