The Character Education Partnership is a national advocate and leader for the character education movement. Based in Washington, D.C., CEP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fostering effective character education in our nation's K-12 schools. CEP is an umbrella organization for character education, serving as the leading resource for people and organizations that are integrating character education into their schools and communities. CEP focuses on defining and encouraging effective practices and approaches to quality character education and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas. The site has a fairly well developed and easily navigated resources page. Included in the resources are sample lesson plans from National Schools of Character, research reports, and links to tools that will help assess individual students, teachers and schools. There seems to be a wealth of information available (even if some of the book length resources are not free).

Positive Action is a nationally recognized, evidence-based program that improves academics, behavior, and character. For over 25 years, more than 13,000 families, schools, and community organizations have benefited and continue to grow through Positive Action. Out of 41 character education programs evaluated by the U.S. DoE What Works Clearinghouse, Positive Action is the only program found to have “positive effects” for improving both academic achievement and behavior. No other program received this top rating in either category.

The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) is a long term study that looks at the development of positive and problem behaviors among adolescents and young adults. J. David Hawkins is the Principal Investigator of the study. SSDP began in 1981 to test strategies for reducing childhood risk factors for school failure, drug abuse and delinquency. First graders in five Seattle schools were assigned to intervention or control classrooms. Each year through the elementary grades parents and teachers in intervention classrooms learned how to actively engage children in learning, strengthen bonding to family and school, and encourage children's positive behaviors. In 1985, when the original first graders entered the fifth grade, the panel was expanded to 808 students from 18 Seattle elementary schools. These participants and their parents have been interviewed regularly since 1985. We are currently interviewing our participants at age thirty-three. The information gathered in the interviews is used to examine many aspects of youth development such as substance use, delinquency, violence, school dropout, risky sexual behavior, and health outcomes. In addition we look at the causes and consequences of these behaviors. We also focus on positive youth and adult development. The Seattle Social Development Project is based at the University of Washington in the School of Social Work. It is one of approximately ten ongoing projects at the Social Development Research Group.

A part of the University of Missouri - St. Louis School of Education, the Center for Character and Citizenship generates and disseminates knowledge and research about how individuals develop moral and civic character and provides scholars, educators and organizations with the tools they need to contribute to this development.

The Developmental Studies Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to children's academic, ethical, and social development. DSC programs help build children's capacity to think clearly and critically while simultaneously deepening their commitment to the values of kindness, helpfulness, personal responsibility, and respect for others. The Center is responsible for the Child Development Project, a character education program recognized by the US Department of Education and the Character Education Partnership as highly effective. The DSC continues to revise the Child Development Project, and has changed its name to the Caring School Community Initiative. There are abundant resources and research available on this site, but it is not most intuitive or easy to use. When in doubt use the sites search engine.

The first generation of children born under China’s one-child-family policy is now reaching adulthood. What are these children like? What are their values, goals, and interests? What kinds of relationships do they have with their families? This is the first in-depth study to analyze what it is like to grow up as the state-appointed vanguard of modernization.

The Developmental Studies Center (DSC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to children's academic, ethical, and social development. Since 1980 the DSC has developed research based curricula and provided professional development services to help schools and after-school programs become caring, inclusive communities and stimulating, supportive places in which to learn. The DSC programs build students’ academic skills while simultaneously deepening their commitment to the values of kindness, helpfulness, personal responsibility, and respect for others. The DSC publishes much of its resources and links to those articles are on the site, as well as descriptions of the various programs they continue to develop. The US Department of Education has recognized several DSC programs for their foundation in research and their efficacy.

Founded by Kevin Ryan, on of the forces by the character education movement of the 1980s, the Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character fosters research into character and moral development, trains and provides resources for educators, and participates in the national dialogue about character education. There appears to be a wide range of resources available on the site, including a reading list and links to other organizations involved in character education.

The Bonner Center is part of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at the California State University, Fresno. The center's website has a series of useful pages with extensive resources, including book reviews, promising practices, curriculum materials, relevant research, and external links. These sources are logically arranged and the site is easy to navigate. The material seems to reflect a commitment to scholarly, research-based discourse, but there does appear to be a preference toward a few authors. Whether this indicates an ideological bias or the narrowness of the field is unclear. All in all, though, this site has a wealth of resources and information, and should be useful to anyone wnating to learn more about character education.

The What Works Clearinghouse offers a range of publications that evaluate character education interventions and instructional strategies designed for use in elementary, middle, and/or high schools. These interventions and strategies are intended to improve student outcomes related to positive character development, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. You can use the search tool to find descriptions of and reviews of research into specific character education programs.