Shelly K. Stalnaker, Project Director
West Virginia Department Of
Education
Nancy E. Brown , Assistant Director
West Virginia Department Of
Education
Dr. Michael Corrigan
Marshall University
Session Goals/Objectives
 Explain the “three-legged” approach taken by four
rural schools in developing character in students.
 Discuss the unique efforts taken to integrate
character education into the school climate as well
as the instructional setting.
 Provide insights on how instruction changes,
student attitudes and behavior is impacted and
overall school climate improves when a school
fully integrates character education.
West Virginia Department of Education
 WVDE received its second USDE grant in 2005 to
fund character education projects through 2009
 Grant was written by Dr. Michael Corrigan and
Lisa Burton
 Four rural counties are involved in grant: Boone,
Clay, Summers and Tyler
 Quasi-experimental design with four control
schools and four experimental schools randomly
selected from the participating counties (4
elementary schools, 2 middle school, 2 high
school)
Purpose
 To design and implement effective character education
programs, that can be integrated into existing curricula, to
teach students character elements such as caring, civic
virtues, justice and fairness, respect and responsibility
 To create a “three-legged” approach in developing character
in students; this includes schools, parents and the
community becoming a part of the character development
process
Integrating Character Education
Principle 6 of the Character Education Partnership’s Eleven
Principles of Effective Character Education (Lickona,
Schaps, and Lewis 2003) states that “…effective character
educators look for the natural intersections between the
academic content they wish to teach and the character
qualities they wish to develop. These “character
connections” can take many forms, such as addressing
current ethical issues in science, debating historical
practices and decisions, and discussing character traits and
ethical dilemmas in literature.”
Community
Students learn character by practicing the traits
taught in the home and the school. Therefore, it is
essential to involve the community in the development
and implementation of the Character Education effort,
and also through service learning projects. These
projects help reinforce what is taught in the school and
the home. In addition, communities should support
and embrace character education.
Parents
Research indicates that the dominant impact on the
development of moral values occurs within the home.
However, this does not divorce the schools from
attempting to further develop a child’s moral compass. It
is essential for parents to be involved at the beginning of
the effort and throughout the entire
implementation process.
School
All of those associated with a school not only need to
teach the importance of living a life of good character,
but they need to be models of good character. Character
education is truly not a stand alone program, but an
integrated approach that uses the existing curriculum
and programs to help support and emphasize good
character.
Objectives of WVDE Project
Objective One: Resource Manual
Objective Two: Crosswalk
Objective Three: Rigorous Scientific Research
Objective Four: Involvement of Stakeholders
Objective Five: Professional Development
Objective Six: Ongoing Technical Assistance
Objective Seven: Link between academic achievement
and character education
WV Character Education Manual
 The WV Character Education Manual is in the process
of being developed. This manual illustrates the stepby-step journey of four schools that have planned and
implemented a comprehensive character education
model that has positively impacted school climate,
staff and student morale, and student success.
 The electronic WV Character Education Manual is
projected to be available on line at the
http://wvde.state.wv.us/osshp/main/http://wvde.state
.wv.us/osshp/main/ by the end of the 2008-09 school
year.
Integrating Character Education Crosswalk
The Crosswalk is a correlation between the WV 21st
Century Content Standards and Objectives (CSOs)
and the character education virtues of respect,
responsibility, caring, citizenship, fairness and
trustworthiness.
WV Character Education Crosswalk
 Link to the electronic WV Character Education
Crosswalk
Rigorous Scientific Research
Michael Corrigan
Co-Evaluator
Marshall University
Dimensional Model
Link Between Academic
Achievement and Character
Education
Findings of research conducted by:
Dr. Michael Corrigan
Co-Evaluator
Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and
Human Development
Marshall University
Stakeholders
 Community
 Parents/Guardians
 School (students, staff)
Professional Development
 Experimental Schools
 Two sessions annually for the Character Development Teams
(CDT)
 Summer Conference annually for entire staff
 Control Schools
 Summer Conference for entire staff at the end of the third year
Ongoing Technical Assistance
 The Project Director and Assistant Project Director
provide technical assistance at the experimental
schools during the first three years of the grant.
 The Project Director and Assistant Project Director
provide technical assistance at the control schools
during year four.
 Dr. Phillip Vincent provides technical assistance to
experimental and control schools throughout the
grant period.
School Highlights
 Student achievement is more than scoring well on a
high stakes test. It is about students learning to be not
only educated in the core subjects, but educated in
life. One can not be successful in life just by being
smart. In order to be successful – truly successful in
life, one must be proficient in the qualities that make a
person good.
Shelly K. Stalnaker, Project Director
Office of Healthy Schools
West Virginia Department of Education
1900 Kanawha Blvd., East
Building 6, Room 309
Charleston, WV 25305
(304) 558-8830
Fax (304) 558-3787
THANK YOU!
Nancy Brown, Assistant Project Director
Phone: 366-9445
Email: neharry@access.k12.wv.us
Dr. Michael W. Corrigan
Assistant Professor
Educational Foundations and Technology
Marshall University
122 Jenkins Hall
Huntington, WV 25755
304-696-2961
corrigan@marshall.edu