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How will Virginia 4-H address CHARACTER COUNTS!?
CHARACTER COUNTS! In The Commonwealth of Virginia
In 1999 Senator Edwards of Roanoke sponsored State Senate Bill 817. The bill required each public school system in the State of Virginia to teach character education. Senate Bill 817 was adopted on April 7, 1999 with the Governor's recommendations and became effective on July 1, 1999. To see a copy of the bill click here. Bill 817 (word document)
Virginia's 4-H program has been teaching youth character development and promoting ethical behavior throughout its 85 year existence. Indeed, character development is central to the 4-H program in the Commonwealth.
CHARACTER COUNTS! was initiated in Virginia in 1994 by the Virginia Tech 4-H Collegiate Club. The Club under the leadership of Dr. Bob Meadows, Associate Director of Virginia 4-H, conducted the first youth focus group in the nation with teenage youth from five counties of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, and Prince William. Special guests for the day included Michael Josephson, founder of CHARACTER COUNTS! and Tom Selleck, a national spokesperson for the program.
Since that time Virginia 4-H has directly trained hundreds of individuals on CHARACTER COUNTS! and indirectly trained thousands through our train-the-trainer network. Due to Virginia 4-H efforts, the CHARACTER COUNTS! program exists in over 45 school systems in the Commonwealth. CHARACTER COUNTS! has the largest curriculum enrollment of all 4-H curriculum areas.
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Problem Identified
Far too many children and youth
are not learning or practicing basic values of good character in America. Unacceptable
high numbers of young people steal, lie, and cheat on the job, in school, and in personal
relationships. For too many youth, there is a disturbing willingness to resolve conflict
with physical force. The following factors were found in a 1996 survey of youth 12 years
of age and older: *
- Two-thirds of high school students (65%) admitted they had cheated on an exam in the previous year; about half, or 47% said they had done so more than once.
- Seven out of 10 (73%) high school students said they had lied to a parent more than once in the previous 12 months.
- 42% of high school males, and 31% of high school females, said they had stolen something from a store within the previous 12 months.
- Nearly one in three high school respondents (29%) confessed that they had stolen something from a parent or relative in the previous 12 months-17% said more than once.
- More than half the male high school youth (55%) and one-third of the females (36%) said it is sometimes justified to respond to an insult or verbal abuse with physical force.
(*Michael and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics. 1996 Report Card on American Integrity. Marina del Ray, CA)
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Virginia 4-H Response to Problem
Virginia 4-H has adopted a pro-active plan utilizing the CHARACTER COUNTS! framework to address the awareness and need for exercising character within the Commonwealth.
The CHARACTER COUNTS framework is designed to meet and address the challenges that our youth face today with their character development. It is a proven and practical program that contains 'how to' approaches to establish and conduct character education through partnerships with school systems, civic groups, businesses, other youth serving organizations, and communities.
CHARACTER COUNTS! is an approach that translates Six Pillars of CharacterSM into practical ground-rules for everyday living. The Six Pillars are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship, and fairness.
It is not something that is done to young people. It is something in which they actively participate. The essential elements of CHARACTER COUNTS! include teaching by example and creating an environment in which these messages are pervasive.
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Plan of Action
Each year, Virginia 4-H offers statewide training for individuals wishing to learn more about the CHARACTER COUNTS! program. The training covers the fundamentals, lessons, and delivery of the program. The training is offered at an extremely low cost to particpants. In exchange for the low cost training, participants are asked to serve as trainers back in their respective geographic area. Teams of trainers "pay-back" a number of programs to schools, youth organizations, and others by assisting them with the CHARACTER COUNTS! program.
CHARACTER COUNTS! is not a stand-alone program; rather, it is designed to be incorporated into existing learning activities. Our trained teams will show you how to integrate CHARACTER COUNTS! into your curriculum and programs. Find out who the trainers are in your area of the Commonwealth by clicking here.
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Evaluation
Virginia Cooperative Extension 4-H/CHARACTER COUNTS! Program Evaluations Yield Positive Results in Elementary Schools
For the past two years, the 4-H/CHARACTER COUNTS! (4-H/CC!) Program, administered by Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE), has been evaluated in elementary schools participating in the program across Virginia. The results show that the program has been successful in increasing behaviors among students that reflect positive character development.
The Evaluation Process
The evaluation process involved teachers of elementary schools reporting observed classroom behavior before and after implementing the CC! framework on a set of indicators reflective of the six pillars of character development in the program. The pillars and behavioral indicators observed were:
Trustworthiness
- Stand up for beliefs about right and wrong
- Respond in truthful and honest ways
- Do what you say you will do
- Cheating
Respect
- Act polite and courteous
- Use "put downs"
- Use threats, physical force, or anger when settling disputes or disagreements
- Judge others on merit instead of race, gender, or physical/mental conditions
Responsibility
- Help others
- Think before you act
- Set a good example for others to follow
- Blame others for your mistakes
Fairness
- Listen to others' viewpoints before making decisions
- Treat everyone in the group fairly
- Admit and correct your mistakes
- Play by the rules and use the same rules for others
Caring
- Propose ideas and projects to help others
- Do kind acts for one another
- Act sensitively to the feelings of others
- Show caring to those hard to like
Citizenship
- Cooperate to make your group/class/community better
- Respect the authority of teachers and leaders
- Obey rules and laws
- Protect common property or take care of property you are allowed to use
Evaluation Results
In 2001, surveys were returned from 55 schools representing 7,014 elementary school students. Of the 24 behavioral indicators for the six pillars, statistically significant differences at the .05 level were found from pre to post measurement in all but the following indicators: cheating (trustworthiness), using threats, and judging others (respect). However, differences in pre to post measurements for these indicators were in the appropriate direction. When a composite score was calculated for each of the six pillars, statistically significant differences at the .05 level were found from pre to post measurement for all six pillars.
In 2002, surveys were returned from 27 schools representing 462 classrooms and 7,740 elementary school students. Of the 24 behavioral indicators for the six pillars, statistically significant differences at the .05 level were found from pre to post measurement in all indicators. When a composite score was calculated for each of the six pillars, statistically significant differences at the .05 level were found from pre to post measurement for all pillars.
Overall, this data indicates that the 4-H/CC! program is making a significant impact in elementary schools in increasing behaviors that reflect positive character development. Further CC! evaluation efforts will include a third round of elementary school evaluations in 2002/03, as well as evaluating outcomes at the middle and high school student level, and perspectives from school administrators.
For more information contact:
Dr. Michael Lambur
1-540-231-9423
lamburmt@vt.edu
Mr. Joe Hunnings
1-540-231-6372
hunnings@vt.edu
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