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, book, and curriculum resources. Character education promotes core ethical values as 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. In an effective character education program, character is broadly conceived to encompass the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of the moral life.
Good character consists of understanding, caring about, and acting upon core ethical values.
As people grow in their character, they will develop an increasingly refined understanding of the core values, a deeper commitment to living according to those values, and a stronger tendency to behave in accordance with those values. Effective character education requires an intentional, proactive, and comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life. Schools committed to character education look at themselves through a moral lens and see how virtually everything that goes on in school affects the values and character of students. An intentional and proactive approach plans deliberate ways to develop character, rather than simply waiting for opportunities to occur. The school must be a caring community.