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Building Decision Skills aims to raise middle and high school students' awareness of ethics, help them gain practical experience in developing core values, and give them practical strategies for dealing with ethical dilemmas. Building Decision Skills consists of 10 lessons that can fill two consecutive weeks of daily lessons or be drawn out over a longer period. Using readings, handouts, and overheads, the teacher covers key concepts. Students are encouraged to think about the key concepts through small-group activities, class discussions, and homework assignments. The program also includes schoolwide components (such as group discussions, seminars, and assemblies). And it can be combined with service learning.
One study of Building Decision Skills met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations. This study included nearly 300 high school students attending a large suburban high school in St. Louis, Missouri, and examined results on students' knowledge, attitudes, and values.1
Building Decision Skills, combined with service learning, was found to have potentially positive effects on students' knowledge, attitudes, and values.
| Behavior | Knowledge, attitudes, and values | Academic achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | Not reported | Potentially positive effects | Not reported |
| Improvement index2 | Not reported | Average: +14 percentile points Range: +3 to +30 percentile points |
Not reported |
|Institute of Education Sciences
Character Education