A significant result of the efforts of CEP are its Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education . Developed to provide a model for schools from which they may devise their own plan for character education, the Principles framework is clear and user friendly. There is no single script for effective character education, but there are some important basic principles. The following eleven principles serve as criteria that schools and other groups can use to plan a character education effort and to evaluate available character education programs, books, and curriculum resources. Education Principle 1 .
Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character.
Character education holds, as a starting philosophical principle, that there are widely shared, pivotally important core ethical values such as caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect for self and others that form the basis of good character. In a school committed to developing character, these core values are treated as a matter of obligation, as having a claim on the conscience of the individual and community. The school makes clear that these basic human values transcend religious and cultural differences and express our common humanity. Principle 2 . In an effective character education program, character is broadly conceived to encompass the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of the moral life.