A study of the implementation of the character education program and students\u27 attitude toward the program in three school districts in North Carolina

The problem of this study was to examine the implementation of selected character education programs and students, attitudes toward the traits comprising the program in each selected school district in North Carolina. The school districts selected for this study were Cumberland (School District A), Hoke (School District B), and Wake (School District C) Counties. The methodology included an examination of documents from character education summits, literature compiled from committees, mission statements, and character curriculum packets. The implementation process included the following observations among the districts: conducted research, formed task forces, provided staff training, established collaborative community efforts, and adopted common character traits. A likert scale survey was used to gather data from a convenience sample of six hundred and six respondents. The survey enclosed five categories which included statements that were constructed from explanations of the implemented character traits. The test of chi-square determined a significant relationship with students\u27 attitudes and grade, age, gender, and location of school district. The elementary students, the younger age group, agreed more positively toward the character program than the middle-high, older age group, level. Findings showed a consistency with students, attitudes and the developmental theory of Lawrence Kohlberg, which indicated that early-school-age children were dominated by concerns about the consequences of their behavior. The Analysis of variance indicated that the most rural school district had the highest mean score among the school districts. The most urban school district had the lowest mean score. Results of the study indicated that the selected school districts established programs to educate children on character. A recommendation for future study would be to examine the long-range effect of character education in these school districts to determine whether students continue to accept the character education program. In addition, the study expansion should include all grade levels in one or all of the schools