Character education specialists seem to know it when they see it, but what it means to call something a character education program remains unclear. One possible source for this uncertainty is the manner in which character education has been defined. By identifying certain features as necessary, existing definitions fail to encompass the universe…

Roughly 30 years ago, American educators stood at a crossroads, with a decision to make about the future of education. With their ears ringing of warnings that they were facing a "rising tide of mediocrity" and recognizing unacceptable gaps in achievement between disadvantaged students and others, educators set off down a path of reform…

Male perpetrated sexual aggression has long been recognized as a serious problem on college campuses. The purpose of this multiple regression correlation study was to assess the relationship between levels of moral development (measured by the Defining Issues Test) and the degree to which first-year college men (N = 161) ascribed to rape…

Partnerships between schools, families, and communities provide a support net for each student and play a role in promoting academic success (Epstein, 1995; Shapiro, Ginsberg, & Brown, 2002) and moral development. This article is based on a qualitative study of a secondary school with numerous partnerships selected from a southern Ontario…

Six stages of moral development are outlined and the moral development of 16 ex-offenders living in a halfway house is examined. Usable Defining Issues Test profiles obtained from eight subjects suggest that discussion involving moral dilemmas is a fruitful area for counselors to explore with ex-offenders. (NRB)

Moral development can be fostered through the use of "moral dilemmas," activities in which the child is asked to suggest courses of action to help fictional characters with their moral problems. (MB)

Six years ago, students at Birch Meadow Elementary School (Reading, Massachusetts) were polite to adults, but callous and uncaring toward each other. Today, thanks to a "Just Community" approach modeled on Lawrence Kohlberg's philosophy, students feel a sense of school ownership and responsibility for their classmates. (MLH)

Reviews literature arguing for the moral education of gifted students. Bibliotherapy and group dynamics activities are advocated as strategies for promoting moral development. An approach to using stories in bibliotherapy is suggested in appended material. (Author/RH)

Research on the effects of education on adolescents' contraceptive behaviors is summarized and 27 teaching strategies, each related to a particular contraceptive problem adolescents encounter, are outlined. (JMF)

Sets forth a theory of social development (represented by Maslow), a theory of moral development (represented by Kohlberg), and then synthesizes these theories to develop a set of student needs and teaching techniques for each stage of social and moral development. (CT)

Discusses Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development and suggests procedures both for analyzing moral issues in a story and for discussing these issues with children. (DD)

This monograph was written to examine the significance of recent moral development theory and research for college student development and to demonstrate ways in which these findings can be incorporated into student affairs programs and services. Although the monograph includes some review and discussion of research and theory in values…

Focuses on the structure as opposed to the content of moral judgment and discusses gender differences in moral reasoning. Contrasts Kohlberg's and Gilligan's theoretical positions on moral development and facilitates the ability of the secondary school counselor to identify the counselor's and client's context and level of moral development. (JAC)

This character-education guide, for grades Pre-K through 12, presents field-generated, field-tested ideas for integrating character education with daily learning. The ideas are varied in design, scope, and developmental levels, and range from half-hour lessons to schoolwide events to year-long courses. Each unit (50 in all) is built on particular…

Suggestions for writing moral dilemmas for elementary school history students include presenting an analogy of the subject matter, having a central character, creating a clash of basic principles, and constructing a dilemma students can relate to in their own lives. A sample dilemma is provided. (KC)