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comparative study of elementary character education programs and their levels of alignment to Florida state statute

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Date Issued:
2005
Summary:
Since the shots rang out in Columbine, the call for the return of character education in our schools has been heard all across the United States. After the September 11th travesty, the call became a cry! Nearly every state across the nation is listening. In 2002 Florida legislators strengthened the 1999 character education legislation by mandating instruction of nine core ethical values: citizenship, cooperation, honesty, kindness, patriotism, respect, responsibility, self-control and tolerance. In 2005, the Florida Department of Education released a technical assistance paper to help Florida school districts assess their compliance to four requirements: correlation to sunshine state standards and benchmarks, inclusion of kindergarten through twelfth grade, correlation to all reading initiatives, and promotion of Florida's nine core ethical values. The purpose of this study was to determine: (a) the extent to which character education programs are in use by Florida school districts, (b) the extent to which the content of character education programs align with the content of popular character education programs used throughout the state of Florida, (c) the relationship between the cost and content of character education programs and (d) the extent to which Florida core ethical core values align with the core ethical values legislated across the country. Descriptive analysis showed that 40 states, including Florida, encourage character education instruction in legislation. In 19 of these states, current legislation mandates the instruction of specific core ethical values. Clearly, the state legislators who have mandated specific character education values within their character education legislation have put a sudden end, at least in their home states, to the debate over whose and what values should be embraced. Survey results showed that nearly all of the Florida school districts have begun the important work of character education in their schools. Results also identified the most popular-publisher produced character education programs used across the state. Using Florida's nine core values as the desired content for character education programs, the tables of content were assessed to determine program content. Content analysis showed that none of the programs identified in the 2002 statute align completely with the Florida character education legislation. Implementation cost of the most popular publisher produced character education programs varied between $450 and $5000 for every 500 elementary students. No significant correlation was discovered between cost and content of character education programs. Finally, to address cost factor and alignment requirement to preferred Florida traits, this study recommends that school districts develop an inexpensive homegrown character program similar to the one in Palm Beach County. The study also recommends that content analysis of character education legislation can be used to set the standard for character education instruction in any state across the country. With the standard in place, comparison of state legislation with popular character education programs can be determined. Moreover, this study informs educators everywhere of their right and responsibility to teach ethical values. Educators need not fear character education. In fact, they should be fearful if they do not begin the important work of educating for character.
Title: A comparative study of elementary character education programs and their levels of alignment to Florida state statute.
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Name(s): Daniels, Margaret Cullen.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Kussrow, Paul G., Thesis advisor
Maslin-Ostrowski, Patricia, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2005
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 133 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Since the shots rang out in Columbine, the call for the return of character education in our schools has been heard all across the United States. After the September 11th travesty, the call became a cry! Nearly every state across the nation is listening. In 2002 Florida legislators strengthened the 1999 character education legislation by mandating instruction of nine core ethical values: citizenship, cooperation, honesty, kindness, patriotism, respect, responsibility, self-control and tolerance. In 2005, the Florida Department of Education released a technical assistance paper to help Florida school districts assess their compliance to four requirements: correlation to sunshine state standards and benchmarks, inclusion of kindergarten through twelfth grade, correlation to all reading initiatives, and promotion of Florida's nine core ethical values. The purpose of this study was to determine: (a) the extent to which character education programs are in use by Florida school districts, (b) the extent to which the content of character education programs align with the content of popular character education programs used throughout the state of Florida, (c) the relationship between the cost and content of character education programs and (d) the extent to which Florida core ethical core values align with the core ethical values legislated across the country. Descriptive analysis showed that 40 states, including Florida, encourage character education instruction in legislation. In 19 of these states, current legislation mandates the instruction of specific core ethical values. Clearly, the state legislators who have mandated specific character education values within their character education legislation have put a sudden end, at least in their home states, to the debate over whose and what values should be embraced. Survey results showed that nearly all of the Florida school districts have begun the important work of character education in their schools. Results also identified the most popular-publisher produced character education programs used across the state. Using Florida's nine core values as the desired content for character education programs, the tables of content were assessed to determine program content. Content analysis showed that none of the programs identified in the 2002 statute align completely with the Florida character education legislation. Implementation cost of the most popular publisher produced character education programs varied between $450 and $5000 for every 500 elementary students. No significant correlation was discovered between cost and content of character education programs. Finally, to address cost factor and alignment requirement to preferred Florida traits, this study recommends that school districts develop an inexpensive homegrown character program similar to the one in Palm Beach County. The study also recommends that content analysis of character education legislation can be used to set the standard for character education instruction in any state across the country. With the standard in place, comparison of state legislation with popular character education programs can be determined. Moreover, this study informs educators everywhere of their right and responsibility to teach ethical values. Educators need not fear character education. In fact, they should be fearful if they do not begin the important work of educating for character.
Identifier: 9780542052385 (isbn), 12146 (digitool), FADT12146 (IID), fau:9053 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): College of Education
Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2005.
Subject(s): Moral education--Government policy--Florida
Moral education--Curricula--Florida
Moral education--Study and teaching--Florida
Students--Florida--Conduct of life
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12146
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.