Character Education Programs and Student Suspension Rates from School: Do Character Education Programs Decrease Student Suspensions from Regular Instructional Public Elementary Schools in Texas?

The purpose of this study was to determine if character education programs impact the suspension rates of students from regular instructional public elementary schools in Texas. The data was also examined to determine if the number of years since a school's implementation of a character education program has an impact on the effectiveness of the programs as measured by the suspension rates of students from school. Finally, the study sought to determine if the socio-economic status of the schools has an impact on the effectiveness of character education programs as measured by the student suspension rates. A random sample of 135 regular instructional public elementary schools in Texas was collected. The principal of each school completed a questionnaire that was used to sort schools into three groups: schools with "direct" character education programs, schools with "indirect" character education programs, and schools that have implemented no type of character education program. A two-year history of suspensions was obtained for each school. The data was analyzed using one-way and two-way ANOVAs. The results of the analyses indicated that the implementation of character education programs, no matter what type, did not produce statistically significant differences in student suspension rates from school. Furthermore, the data revealed that neither the number of years since the implementation of the character education programs nor the socio-economic status of the schools had an impact on the effectiveness of the character education programs as measured by the student suspension rates from school.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2005

Author dc:creator

• Grinage, Adam L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hudson, Johnetta
• Young, Jon I.
• Brooks, John
• Horany, Ernest

• Student suspension -- Texas.
• Moral education -- Texas.
• Elementary schools -- Texas.
• ANOVAs
• socio-economic status
• character education programs
• student discipline
• student suspension rates

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Grinage, Adam L.
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 61884793
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4778/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc4778

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc4778