Taxonomy of character education outcomes organized from broad student/other levels to specific cognitive, affective, and behavioral constructs¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The report develops a hierarchical taxonomy for classifying outcomes measured in character education research, built iteratively from WWC, WWCEP, and PCEP classification approaches and refined as the review proceeded. "The broadest level distinguished between student-level outcomes and “other” level outcomes" including teacher, school, parent, and community outcomes; the mid-range distinguished "student affective, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes"; and finer levels separated constructs such as student knowledge and reasoning from prosocial and risk behaviors. The taxonomy structures the report's crosswalks between constructs, programs, and measures (Tables 2 and 4, Appendix B).

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A structure allowing conceptually similar outcomes to be grouped together across studies of diverse programs

Constraints¶

• The assignment of constructs to the affective, behavioral, or cognitive domain does not fully recognize the complex, multifaceted nature of some developmental outcomes, and the taxonomy is not exhaustive for programs outside the review

Target Learners¶

• K-12 students in character education programs

Target Learning Objectives¶

• character development outcomes across cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains

Claims¶

• Among specific student constructs, academic content, discipline issues, and interpersonal competencies were the most frequently measured outcomes in character education program studies [+W]
• Studies of character education programs most often measure student-level outcomes, with behavioral outcomes measured for 31 of 36 programs, affective for 28, and cognitive for 25 [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Outcome-domain organization of social and character development measures

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Person, Ann E., Emily Moiduddin, Megan Hague-Angus, and Lizabeth M. Malone (2009). Survey of Outcomes Measurement in Research on Character Education Programs (NCEE 2009-006). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/survey-of-outcomes-measurement-in-research-on-character-education-programs