Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Character Education Program in a Single-Sex, Urban Charter High School: Learning from Teacher and Student Perceptions of Its Implementation.
Students who are taught the Illinois State Board of Education’s social and emotional learning standards are granted skills that help them make positive contributions to society. Well-rounded individuals have acquired abilities that allow them to make sound decisions, interact with others, and develop self-awareness skills. Adept individuals who have the skills to teach students strategies that help them to develop an emotional intelligence should implement character education programs using evidence-based strategies. Students who attended a single-sex charter school in an urban area participated in a program evaluation to determine if it was being implemented with fidelity. Students and program implementers completed surveys and participated in focus groups. Focus group participants were chosen using random assignment. An open coding method and grouping the data into themes were used to analyze the qualitative data. Using percentages, quantitative data was streamlined into graphs. I used the Character Education Program evaluation to determine that the program was not implemented as designed, there was a lack of staff and student buy-in, and that teachers lacked essential capacities required for execution. These findings could assist schools in developing and implementing high-quality character education programs. Executing character education programs in schools across the country will help accelerate social change, as members of society will be competent, capable of making sound decisions, and managing adversity
