Using the Defining Issues Test of moral reasoning, researchers gathered pre- and posttest data from educational leadership students (N = 52) and confidence levels in enacting ethical school leadership, before and after completing a master's degree program in educational leadership. On a 95-point scale, pretest, postconventional moral reasoning…

This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine whether exposure to moral development theory and dilemma discussion in the asynchronous online learning environment resulted in significant gains in principled moral reasoning (DIT N2-scores) of undergraduate elementary and secondary education students. Participants were undergraduate students…

Fifty school administrators completed Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) and Patterson's Moral Action Choice Test (MACT) as part of a study to determine how Kohlberg's theory of moral development might apply to day-to-day administrative decision-making. The respondents were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas and asked to explain what they…

Maintains that the Defining Issues Test (DIT) is now the most frequently used measure of moral judgment development. Reviews the history of DIT research. Asserts that the measurement system provided by the DIT would put the cognitive developmental approach in a better position to affect change in the moral development field. (CFR)

Reports on a study of the influence of age and formal education on the development of moral reasoning among 215 Spanish citizens ranging in age from 12 to 48. Finds that moral development is highly related to both variables, although more so with formal education than with age. Includes five tables of illustrative data. (CFR)

These conference proceedings of the Association for Moral Education contain papers on the evaluation of moral development and of moral education programs at all levels. In section I, "Evaluating Moral Education Perspectives and Examples," models of moral development that have influenced theory and practice during the past ten years are…

Many indicators point to a crisis of confidence and credibility in the role of the teacher as a professional and moral leader. In response, many educational researchers are recommending that reflective teachers examine the moral and ethical issues embedded in their everyday thinking and behavior. A study was conducted, therefore, to identify and…

Argues that effective moral education must address roadblocks in moral thinking, not merely urging moral development forward. Examines Lawrence Kohlberg's moral stages as immoral judgement marked by bias and manipulation. Views the Defining Issues Test (DIT) as a useful glimpse into the nefarious, focused on ideological content and commitment.…

The moral reasoning of teachers enrolled in education courses was examined through an administration of the Defining Issues Test. Teachers were found to be at a generally comparable level to most other adults, but below many college graduates. (JKS)

This paper examines the moral reasoning of preservice and inservice teachers; reviews and summarizes empirical studies that have examined teachers' levels of principled reasoning; relates that information to the construction of democratic classrooms, which are a critique of both authoritarian and status quo democratic systems; and presents…