Important Values for School-aged Children and Youth:
Preliminary Report

Citation: Huitt, W. (2004, October). Important values for school-aged children and youth: A preliminary report. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date], from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/brilstar/valuesreport.html

 

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A survey of important values, virtues, and attributes was developed and given to practicing and preservice teachers. The 154 terms were drawn from six different sources (Georgia Department of Education (1997) Character Education Curriculum, Vessel’s (1998) Character Education Curriculum, Maxwell International School's (2001) Copper to Gold Moral Character Development program, Peterson and Seligman’s (2004) Signature Strengths, Kavelin-Popov, Popov, and Kavelin’s (1997) Virtues Project, and Huitt’s (2004) Becoming A Brilliant Star framework).

 

Teachers were from a private school (N = 32), public schools in South GA (N = 85), elementary preservice teachers (N = 24), and middle/upper preservice teachers (N = 58)

 

Participants rated each term from 1 (Not important) to 5 (Critically important). Means for each term were computed and the terms were rank ordered based on the computed means.

 

Source	Private School Educ	Public School Educ	Preservice Elementary
Public School Educ	0.87
Preservice Elem	0.71	0.81
Preservice MG/HS	0.81	0.94	0.89

 

Based upon this pilot study, the survey was slightly modified and a second study completed. The revised survey included 158 items drawn from the same sources (several low-scoring items were dropped and additional terms were placed in the survey). Teachers from public schools in South GA (N = 69), elementary preservice teachers (N = 92), middle/high school preservice teachers (N = 123), and parents from public schools in South GA (N = 163) completed the survey. The correlations from this second study are shown below.

 

Source	Educators	Preservice Elementary	Preservice Middle/HS
Pre Elem	0.87
Pre Mid/HS	0.86	0.87
Parents	0.78	0.86	0.77

 

The following 30 terms were ranked in the top 10 by at least one of the groups:

 

Number of Groups Selecting as One of Top 10	Value, Virtue, Attribute
4	·         Drug-free ·         Honest ·         Respectful ·         Respect rights of others ·         Truthful
3	·         Respect self ·         Respect, accept authority ·         Responsible ·         Rule-following
2	·         Ability to work in teams ·         Accountable ·         Attentive ·         Cooperative ·         Hard-working ·         Law-abiding ·         Prompt & punctual ·         Respect for the Creator ·         Self-disciplined ·         Trustworthy
1	·         Ability see another’s perspective ·         Dependable ·         Freedom from prejudice ·         Honorable ·         Obedient ·         Positive, encouraging attitude ·         Prepared ·         Respect for own rights ·         Respect for physical health ·         Self-controlled ·         Teachable

 

Shown below are the means and rankings for these terms for each group and the average.

 

	Educators		Pre Elem		Pre MG/HS		Parents		Average
	Mean	Rank	Mean	Rank	Mean	Rank	Mean	Rank	Mean	Rank
Drug-free	4.7	1	4.8	1	4.4	1	4.7	4	4.7	1.8
Respect rights of others	4.4	2	4.7	2	4.2	6	4.7	4	4.5	3.5
Respectful	4.4	2	4.4	9	4.4	1	4.7	4	4.5	4.0
Honest	4.4	2	4.5	6	4.1	9	4.7	4	4.4	5.3
Truthful	4.3	6	4.4	9	4.1	9	4.8	1	4.4	6.3
Rule-following	4.1	16	4.4	9	4.3	3	4.8	1	4.4	7.3
Respect self	4.2	12	4.4	9	4.1	9	4.7	4	4.4	8.5
Respect, accept authority	4.3	6	4.4	9	4.3	3	4.5	19	4.4	9.3
Trustworthy	4.2	12	4.5	6	4.0	18	4.8	1	4.4	9.3
Responsible	4.3	6	4.5	6	4.3	3	4.4	27	4.4	10.5
Accountable	4.4	2	4.3	21	4.1	9	4.6	11	4.4	10.8
Hard-working	4.1	16	4.4	9	4.1	9	4.6	11	4.3	11.3
Law-abiding	4.3	6	4.4	9	4.0	18	4.5	19	4.3	13.0
Self-controlled	4.1	16	4.3	21	4.2	6	4.6	11	4.3	13.5
Self-disciplined	4.0	29	4.4	9	4.1	9	4.6	11	4.3	14.5
Attentive	4.3	6	4.4	9	3.9	25	4.5	19	4.3	14.8
Ability to work in teams	4.3	6	4.3	21	4.2	6	4.4	27	4.3	15.0
Cooperative	4.1	16	4.4	9	4.1	9	4.4	27	4.3	15.3
Prepared	4.1	16	4.4	9	3.8	28	4.6	11	4.2	16.0
Prompt and punctual	4.0	29	4.6	4	4.0	18	4.5	19	4.3	17.5
Honorable	4.1	16	4.2	30	3.8	28	4.7	4	4.2	19.5
Teachable	4.1	16	4.3	21	4.0	18	4.4	27	4.2	20.5
Respect for the Creator	4.1	16	4.7	2	3.5	64	4.7	4	4.3	21.5
Freedom from prejudice	4.1	16	4.3	21	4.1	9	4.3	46	4.2	23.0
Positive, encouraging attitude	3.8	48	4.4	9	3.9	25	4.6	11	4.2	23.3
Respect for own rights	3.9	36	4.1	39	4.0	18	4.6	11	4.2	26.0
Dependable	4.2	12	4.2	30	3.7	40	4.4	27	4.1	27.3
Obedient	3.8	48	4.4	9	3.6	52	4.6	11	4.1	30.0
Respect for physical health	3.7	64	4.6	4	3.6	52	4.6	11	4.1	32.8
Ability see another’s perspective	4.2	12	4.1	39	4.1	9	4.0	106	4.1	41.5
Average	4.2	16.4	4.4	13.0	4.0	17.1	4.6	16.4	4.3	15.7
Std Dev	0.2	15.3	0.2	10.4	0.2	16.2	0.2	20.0	0.1	9.4

 

 

Combining similar terms, the most important values, virtues and attributes seem to be

 

• Drug-free: Preservice and inservice teachers ranked this number 1; parents ranked it number 4.
• Respectful, Respect rights of others, Respect-self, Respect and accept authority: These terms were consistently ranked in the top 10 for all groups; only parents ranked respect and accept authority outside that range (#19) and only educators ranked respect for self outside that range (#12).
• Honest, Truthful, Trustworthy: These terms were consistently ranked in the top 10 for all groups. The only exceptions were educators for trustworthy (#12) and preservice middle grades and high school educators (#18). However, trustworthy was ranked #1 by parents.
• Rule-following: Ranked in the top 10 by 3 of the 4 groups; the exception was inservice educators (#16).
• Responsible: Ranked in the top 10 by 3 of the 4 groups; the exception was parents (#27).

 

It should also be noted that parents consistently rated terms higher than did preservice and inservice educators. The only term rated lower by parents that the three groups of educators was “Ability to see another’s perspective”.

 

Based on the results of the two surveys, a shortened survey was developed with 64 terms.

 

The following is a classification of the 64 identified values, virtues, and attributes using the domains and core elements of the Brilliant Star framework.

 

Brilliant Star Domain	Value, Virtue, Attribute
General	Competent
	Prepared
	Productive
	Strives for excellence
Character	Honest
	Honorable
	Integrity
	Moral
	Trustworthy
	Truthful
Personal Style	High self-esteem
	Respect for self & own rights
Spiritual	Respect for Creator
	Searches for meaning
Physical	Drug-free
	Respect for physical health
Cognitive	Attentive
	Disciplined mind
	Independent
	Knowledgeable
	Open-minded
	Teachable
Affective	Caring
	Compassionate
	Confident
	Empathetic
	Love of learning
	Optimistic
	Patient
	Positive, encouraging attitude
	Thankful
Conative/Volitional	Accountable
	Committed
	Courageous
	Dedicated
	Dependable & reliable
	Determined
	Hard-working
	Persevering
	Responsible
	Self-controlled
	Self-disciplined
Family/Friends	Ability to see another’s perspective
	Cooperative
	Considerate
	Courteous
	Faithful
	Family valuing
	Helpful
	Loyal
	Respectful
	Respect rights of others
	Respectful
School/Career/Work	Ability to work in teams
	Obedient
	Prompt & punctual
	Respect & accept authority
	Rule-following
Social/Cultural	Freedom from prejudice
	Fair
	Good-citizenship
	Law-abiding
	Respect for natural environment