Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Judith Merz
Committee Member
John Kellmayer
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
behavior development, caring school climate, character education, discipline, discipline referrals, elementary schools, homegrown character education model, implementation, John V. B. Wicoff Elementary School, learning environment, New Jersey, New Jersey Department of Education, positive behavior, prosocial behavior, school climate, school discipline, school improvement, social behavior, social development, student behavior, student development, teaching staff, west Windsor-Plainsboro Upper Elementary School
Abstract
The main emphasis for this applied dissertation was that the New Jersey Department of Education offered grant money to New Jersey school districts to implement character education programs that met the development needs of students by promoting prosocial student behaviors and creating a caring, disciplined school climate conducive to learning. The purpose of this applied dissertation was to improve student behavior and improve the overall understanding of positive behavior at the John V. B. Wicoff Elementary School through the implementation of a “homegrown” character education model. This writer initially implemented this model in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Upper Elementary School, and then, with the change of position in April 2002, shifted focus to the John V. B. Wicoff Elementary School.
This writer's two stimuli for his efforts included a discovery that character education, although a districtwide initiative, was not being consistently implemented at the Wicoff School, and a realization that discipline referral rates had increased over the past 4 years. Improvement in student behavior was measured by analysis of the number of discipline referrals during the period of September 2002 through January 2003. This shortened measurement period was proposed to accommodate time issues created by the change in this writer’s setting and role. The rate of discipline referrals for the 2002-2003 school year from September through January was compared to those of the full 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and the 2001-2002 school years.
All phases of this applied dissertation were carried out with varied degrees of success. Through the use of three preliminary interventions and five terminal objectives with process objectives that involved students, teaching staff members, and administrators, this writer witnessed a decrease in the number of discipline referrals at the Wicoff School.