A study of Lessons in Character: The effect of moral development curriculum upon moral judgment.
DeVargas, R. C. (1998). Dissertation Abstracts International, 59 (11-A), 4042. (UMI No. 9913706).
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examining61Students, grade5
Lessons in Character Intervention Report - Character Education
Review Details
Reviewed: September 2006
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Please see the WWC summary of evidence for Lessons in Character.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Moral development |
Lessons in Character vs. unknown |
ANCOVA |
Grade 5;
|
2.20 |
2.17 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Texas
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted in Fort Worth Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas.
Study sample
Fifth-grade students selected from nine intervention and six comparison schools, with 21 classrooms and 31 students from the intervention schools and 17 classrooms and 30 students from the comparison schools. No information was reported on the sample’s racial/ethnic composition or socioeconomic characteristics.
Intervention Group
Teachers provided the instruction with the help of the school counselor, who acted as a trainer/facilitator. In some cases the counselor alone instructed the various classes in his/her school on a rotational basis. No information is reported about the fidelity of the implementation other than the author’s assumption that the implementation of the Lessons In Character curriculum was similar across classrooms and across schools.
Comparison Group
The comparison schools were selected from the same geographic area as the intervention schools. Detailed information on the comparison condition was not provided.
Outcome descriptions
The only outcome investigated in this study was moral judgment, as measured by the Sociomoral Reflection Measure—Short Form. (See Appendices A2.1, A2.2, and A2.3.)
Support for implementation
School counselors acted as trainers or facilitators to the teachers during the implementation period.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).