School of Education
character education, assessment, teacher perceptions
Curriculum and Instruction | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Elementary Education
Hickman, Sarah, "Teacher Perceptions of Assessments in Character Education: A Case Study" (2019). Senior Honors Theses. 913.
Since the time of Aristotle, educators have emphasized character as a necessary part of a student’s education, and currently, many states mandate character education by law. Because of this historical and legal emphasis, there is a growing discussion on the necessity of assessments in character education to ensure that character education programs are effective. While there is research on the large-scale effectiveness of programs with different assessments, there is little research about how teachers perceive assessments and measurements in character education. This study was conducted to begin to address this gap in the research. Through the research design of an embedded single case study, the researcher sought to answer the questions of how teachers perceive assessments in character education and how their answers differed when speaking about different grade levels. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with six different teachers and were analyzed through methods of grounded theory. The findings suggest that teachers believe that measurements for character would be a helpful tool, but they are concerned about the practicality and plausibility of assessments. These findings should encourage researchers, policymakers, and administrators to consider the voices and concerns of teachers while reviewing other research about authentic and effective methods for character education assessment.