Melinda C. Bier

Research-Based Character Education

Whereas character education is not new, scientific study of its effectiveness has been only sporadically implemented during the past thirty-five years. Much of the application of character education is therefore not informed by a scientific knowledge base. This article introduces a scientific perspective on character education and a summary of the research base examining the student impact of school-based character education. From this research base, general principles of effective practice are derived. This in turn is used to offer suggestions to practitioners and policy makers for the improvement of school-based character education.

Personal Empowerment in the Study of Home Internet Use by Low-Income Families

AbstractThis article describes the personal transformations experienced by participants during a study of home Internet use by low-income families. The study was designed to collect data related to the barriers, benefits, and perceived worth of the Internet to low-income families. Specifically, it asked what families designated as informationally disadvantaged would actually do online given unrestricted home Internet access. This research project provided the prerequisite resources necessary for “ideal” home Internet use to six low-income urban families. The experiences of these participants between December 1994 and January 1996 provide research-based evidence affirming the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (1995) thesis that many of those “most disadvantaged in terms of absolute computer and modem penetration are the most enthusiastic users of online services that facilitate economic uplift and empowerment” (p. 3). The ethnographically informed results of this study indicate t...

Getting Universal Primary Tobacco Use Prevention Into Priority Area Schools A Media Literacy Approach

The impact of any prevention intervention depends on its ability to influence health risks and behavior change and the extent to which the target audience has access to and participates in the program. In this article, the authors make the case that media literacy–based tobacco prevention education can be integrated into the middle school curriculum in a way that delivers on both counts. They describe Missouri’s successful development and dissemination of the Youth Empowerment in Action! Tobacco Education, Advocacy, and Media curriculum to schools serving populations that are most vulnerable to tobacco-related health disparities. They make three recommendations to support health program developers’ efforts to motivate and prepare teachers to implement and sustain universal tobacco prevention education in areas of highest need.

A Psychometric Evaluation of a Revised School Climate Teacher Survey

The concept of school climate has been an important topic for education and it has been studied extensively over the past several decades. One of the challenges in such a research effort is to develop instruments that effectively and efficiently measure the construct. Literature has documented a number of school climate instruments, most of which target students’ perceptions. A review of recent literature on school climate suggests that it is imperative to assess teachers’ perceptions of school climate. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure and reliability of a revised version of a teacher survey instrument designed to measure school climate. Based on the data from a comprehensive character education project implemented in an urban school district in 2007 (n = 380), 2008 (n = 305), and 2010 (n = 277), results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a seven-factor structure across 3 years, indicating a stable factor structure of the revised form. The scales in this abbreviated form demonstrated similar reliability to those of the original form.

Evidence of the Value of the Smoking Media Literacy Framework for Middle School Students

BACKGROUND Susceptibility to future smoking, positive beliefs about smoking, and perceptions of antismoking norms are all factors that are associated with future smoking. In previous research, smoking media literacy (SML) has been associated with these variables, even when controlling for other known risk factors for smoking. However, these studies were performed with older teenagers, often in high school, not younger teens at a crucial developmental point with respect to the decision to begin smoking. METHODS This study uses survey data collected from 656 American public middle school students representing multiple zip codes, schools, and school districts. RESULTS Smoking media literacy levels for middle school students were similar to those of high school students in earlier studies. Higher SML levels were associated with lower susceptibility to future smoking and predicted susceptibility to smoke when controlling for other risk factors. This suggests that the same relationships found with teenagers may exist with middle school students. CONCLUSIONS Although follow-up studies using larger and more controlled administrations of the SML scale are warranted, this study suggests the utility of the SML framework and scale in the development and investigation of media literacy as a prevention strategy in students this age.