Legislating the Good: A Survey and Evaluation of Character Education Laws in the United States

In this article, the authors trace the historical context of character education legislation in the United States, analyze and evaluate current legislative trends, and discuss the inherent dangers in legislating the good. The survey concludes that at no other time in history have Americans attempted...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational policy (Los Altos, Calif.) Calif.), 2006-07, Vol.20 (3), p.525-550
Main Authors: Glanzer, Perry L., Milson, Andrew J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Curricula
Education policy
Educational History
Educational policy
Educational sciences
Evaluation Criteria
Laws
Legislation
Morality
North America
Policy, reform, legislation
State laws
Surveys
Trend Analysis
United States
Values
Values Education
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Summary:In this article, the authors trace the historical context of character education legislation in the United States, analyze and evaluate current legislative trends, and discuss the inherent dangers in legislating the good. The survey concludes that at no other time in history have Americans attempted to legislate such a specific vision of character education. The authors evaluate this legislation using the criteria of local choice, programmatic integration, comprehensiveness, community involvement, K-12 implementation, and allocation of staff development resources. Their evaluation reveals that few state laws meet these criteria and that some laws even contradict the spirit of comprehensive character education. They conclude that these inadequacies are fatal flaws in current attempts to legislate character.
ISSN:0895-9048
1552-3896
DOI:10.1177/0895904805284115