No Child Left Behind and the teaching of character education.

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the perceptions of administrators and educators and to ascertain if the No Child Left behind Legislation is having a negative impact on students in terms of character building and moral development. Middle school administrators and educators from public and Catholic schools completed a 17 item questionnaire and interviews to obtain the views of the legislation. The questionnaire was a 4 point likert scale with the opportunity for comments. A total of seventy-six teachers and administrators involved in the study. They were given the survey to complete and asked if they would consider a face to face interview. A total of 162 educators invited to participate 76 responded expressing the need for the legislation however they noted that the changing of the curriculum has posed a real challenge in terms developing character and moral development.