Tell Me a Story: An evaluation of a literature-based character education programme

This article reports the results of an evaluation of a popular literature-based character education programme. The sample consisted of 965 first to sixth graders at two geographically remote school districts in the United States. A quasi-experimental research design was utilised. It was found that the curriculum had a positive effect on cognitive outcomes, but more mixed results were found on affective and behavioural outcomes. Regression analyses on selected classroom dimensions found that an emphasis on matters of character throughout the curriculum contributed greatly to achieving character outcomes. Finally, the important role of theory in the development and improvement of character education programmes is discussed. The lack of an explicit theoretical perspective for this and other character education curricula was noted, and the implications for interpreting research and building effective programmes was discussed.