Date Approved

5-6-2004

Embargo Period

4-21-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School Psychology

Department

Educational Services and Leadership

College

College of Education

Advisor

Dihoff, Roberta

Committee Member 1

Klanderman, John

Subject(s)

Learning disabled teenagers--Education (Secondary)--United States; Moral education (Secondary)--United States

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a character education program on students with developmental disabilities. Both the experimental (n=20) and the control (n=14) groups were administered a pre-test during the same week. Following this, a six-week character education program was implemented with the experimental group. A post-test was then administered to both groups. Two hypotheses were generated; primarily, character education would improve post-test scores in the experimental group compared to pre-test scores from within that group and post-test scores from the control group. Secondarily, behavioral data would display a decrease in maladaptive behaviors for the experimental group. Data analysis showed no significant improvement in the experimental group in relation to post-test scores or behavioral data. Significant differences were noted between the mean scores on the pre-test and post-test between the two groups. Implications for further research and character education programs for students in this population are discussed.

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