Teacher perceptions of which school culture factors are most important to effective implementation of a character education program

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The purpose of this study was to identify perceptions of teachers regarding the factors of school culture that relate to the implementation of character education in rural schools. The relationship school culture has with the implementation process of character education has yet to be fully examined. In this study, the researcher administered the Degree of Implementation Scale survey (CSD, 1999) and the School Culture Survey (Gruenert & Valentine, 1998). The six factors of school culture (collaborative leadership, teacher collaboration, professional development, collegial support, unity of purpose and learning partnership) were analyzed for predictive relationships with the ten essentials of character education implementation (character education policy, defined traits, integrated curriculum, experiential learning, evaluation, adult role models, staff development, student involvement, and sustaining the program). Several significant predictive relationships were identified.