Becoming a Brilliant Star
Holistic Assessment

Informal Assessments for Moral Character Development

Prepared by: W. Huitt
Last revised: September 2008

Infancy/Toddler

Early Childhood

Middle & Later Childhood

• Teacher Anecdotes, Journals, Diaries. Teachers’ anecdotal notes can be used to help evaluate the effectiveness of a character education program if they are done consistently, and if they routinely include detailed descriptions of relevant interpersonal events. Guidelines such as asking teachers to record the three most significant inter­personal events each day, positive and/or negative, and to avoid referring to any one child more than once each week might make these notes a more reliable and valid indicator of program effectiveness.

• Student Diaries and Journals. By the third or fourth grade, most students have developed writing skills to the point where they can convey their thoughts and feelings to others fairly well. Additionally, journal writing has become a rather common practice in elementary schools. Journals and diaries, therefore, provide a convenient and valuable source of information about moral affect, cogni­tion, and knowledge, particularly if students are encouraged to recount and reflect upon interpersonal and moral problems they have encountered incidentally or by instructional design each day. Most elementary children will need considerable prompting in order to fully convey their feelings and thoughts.

• Portfolios with Follow-Up Visits by Outside Evaluation Teams. The traditional “Values and Character Recognition Program” in the Fresno area initiated a voluntary evaluation program in 1988 which required each school to complete an application (Vessels, 1998). This application included five categories of questions about the school’s character education program: school planning; instructional activities; school goals, standards, and procedures; opportunities for student involvement; and student recognition. A select committee from outside the participating schools and school systems evaluated the responses to these questions along with supportive documents including handbooks, school newspapers, and announcements for special activities, i.e. a portfolio of information.

   

Early Adolescence

Later Adolescence & Adult

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