The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities. Both the experimental (n=20) and the control (n=14) groups were administered a pre-test during the same week. Following this, a six-week character education program was implemented with the experimental group. A post-test was then administered to both groups. Two hypotheses were generated; primarily, character education would improve post-test scores in the experimental group compared to pre-test scores from within that group and post-test scores from the control group. Secondarily, behavioral data would display a decrease in maladaptive behaviors for the experimental group. Data analysis showed no significant improvement in the experimental group in relation to post-test scores or behavioral data. Significant differences were noted between the mean scores on the pre-test and post-test between the two groups. Implications for further research and character education programs for students in this population are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities. Both the experimental (n=20) and the control (n=14) groups were administered a pre-test during the same week. Following this, a six-week character education program was implemented with the experimental group. A post-test was then administered to both groups. Two hypotheses were generated; primarily, character education would improve post-test scores in the experimental group compared to pre-test scores from within that group and post-test scores from the control group. Secondarily, behavioral data would display a decrease in maladaptive behaviors for the experimental group. Data analysis showed no significant improvement in the experimental group in relation to post-test scores or behavioral data. Significant differences were noted between the mean scores on the pre-test and post-test between the two groups. Implications for further research and character education programs for students in this population are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Disque, Andrew"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educational Services and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dihoff, Roberta","Klanderman, John"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-05-06T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-05-06T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:04Z","subjects":["Learning disabled teenagers--Education (Secondary)--United States; Moral education (Secondary)--United States","Educational Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1140","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dihoff, Roberta","Klanderman, John"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Disque, Andrew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-21T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Services and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Learning disabled teenagers--Education (Secondary)--United States; Moral education (Secondary)--United States","Educational Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1140"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities. Both the experimental (n=20) and the control (n=14) groups were administered a pre-test during the same week. Following this, a six-week character education program was implemented with the experimental group. A post-test was then administered to both groups. Two hypotheses were generated; primarily, character education would improve post-test scores in the experimental group compared to pre-test scores from within that group and post-test scores from the control group. Secondarily, behavioral data would display a decrease in maladaptive behaviors for the experimental group. Data analysis showed no significant improvement in the experimental group in relation to post-test scores or behavioral data. Significant differences were noted between the mean scores on the pre-test and post-test between the two groups. Implications for further research and character education programs for students in this population are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An evaluation of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dihoff, Roberta","Klanderman, John"],"dc:creator":["Disque, Andrew"],"dc:date.available":["2016-04-21T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities. Both the experimental (n=20) and the control (n=14) groups were administered a pre-test during the same week. Following this, a six-week character education program was implemented with the experimental group. A post-test was then administered to both groups. Two hypotheses were generated; primarily, character education would improve post-test scores in the experimental group compared to pre-test scores from within that group and post-test scores from the control group. Secondarily, behavioral data would display a decrease in maladaptive behaviors for the experimental group. Data analysis showed no significant improvement in the experimental group in relation to post-test scores or behavioral data. Significant differences were noted between the mean scores on the pre-test and post-test between the two groups. Implications for further research and character education programs for students in this population are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1140"],"dc:subject":["Learning disabled teenagers--Education (Secondary)--United States; Moral education (Secondary)--United States","Educational Psychology"],"dc:title":["An evaluation of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Services and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:04Z"}