Preparing all students for a future beyond the classroom.

“Participants noted that the training process, although intended to impact the students directly, also created more connection and unity among the teachers, administrators, and support staff by providing a common mechanism to improve the learning environment. This unity was credited with creating a more positive and supportive culture.”

“85% of teachers report they know and use the seven habits in daily life” and “95% report that they pause and respond based on principles and desired results.”

A teacher participating in the Leader in Me program said that “LIM helps you grow as a person and builds your confidence.” In addition, it “has transformed this school. This is someplace you want to be. You can feel it when you walk in. It is comfortable, safe, and fun.”

“Several teachers said you cannot teach the 7 Habits if you are not living them” and reported that habits “such as Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood helped them listen more empathically to one another.”

In reflecting on their participation in the Leader in Me program, “many believed they had grown personally and professionally from the experience” and felt “more in charge of themselves and the outcome of their performance at school.”

Leader in Me schools experience significant drops in behavior referrals. In this study, “one school’s behavior referrals were cut in half their first year in the Leader in Me process, while another school dropped from 127 behavior referrals before becoming a Leader in Me school to a mere 18 behavior referrals after their first year implementing Leader in Me.”

In a school where the staff was trained in Leader in Me, “student behavior either improved or relationships between teachers and students improved and teachers were able to manage behaviors in the classroom without administrator involvement.”

Schools participating in the Leader in Me program “are predicted to have 58% of the discipline incidents they would have had had they not adopted Leader in Me.”

“The reduction in disciplinary incidents is 22.84% greater for Leader in Me schools, which is the equivalent of 3.12 fewer disciplinary incidents per school.”

When considering the reduction in the number of referrals during subsequent school years, “it appears that the Leader in Me has been successful in influencing the overall discipline of the school.”

The data gathered in this research study demonstrates that the Leader in Me character program “provides a system and structure resulting in some positive behavior outcomes and an overall positive school culture and climate.”

In describing the results of Leader in Me, one administrator explained, “Our students think about others more than themselves, they are kinder to each other, they try to help the teachers, they take ownership and know there are consequences for their actions.” He went on to say that he was convinced “the program is shaping students’ behaviors and actions.”

The results of the collective case study suggest that for “some students with challenging behavior or those that dislike school, the positive effect of LIM can be dramatic.”

Schools that had been Leader in Me schools for at least a year or longer noted that they were “enjoying more parental involvement. More importantly, parents were involved in positive ways, not just coming in to complain or to answer for their child’s behavior.”

A survey of principals at schools participating in Leader in Me found that 83% reported “a positive impact on attendance, parent satisfaction, and parent attendance at conferences, … and 58 percent replied there was a positive impact on parent involvement.”

Parents in this study reported that the Leader in Me “helped students become more independent and conscientious in their work both at school and at home.” In addition, it helped students to “feel like they belong, they’re a part of something.”

This study found that “migrant families would make sure they came back to this area just so they could put their children in the Leader in Me.”

A student testimonial in this study noted that The 7 Habits had helped him “see that he could help her (his mom) and do things for her at home so that when she got home she wouldn’t have to do them and that he could help her achieve her dreams, too.”