Research-Based Character Education

TLDR

Character education has existed for decades, yet its effectiveness has been studied only sporadically, leaving most applications uninformed by a scientific knowledge base. The article introduces a scientific perspective on character education and summarizes the research base examining the student impact of school‑based character education. The authors synthesize existing studies on the student impact of school‑based character education to provide a methodological framework. They derive general principles of effective practice and offer actionable suggestions for practitioners and policymakers.

Abstract

Whereas character education is not new, scientific study of its effectiveness has been only sporadically implemented during the past thirty-five years. Much of the application of character education is therefore not informed by a scientific knowledge base. This article introduces a scientific perspective on character education and a summary of the research base examining the student impact of school-based character education. From this research base, general principles of effective practice are derived. This in turn is used to offer suggestions to practitioners and policy makers for the improvement of school-based character education.