1. (a) Introduction.

   1. (1) Character education introduces students to character traits that empower them to be good citizens who are trustworthy, responsible, and caring. The character traits reflect positive beliefs, attitudes, and mindsets; provide opportunities for self-reflection; and permit students to apply effective strategies to make decisions, solve problems, and behave responsibly.

   2. (2) The standards for positive character traits are comprised of four strands: trustworthiness, responsibility, caring, and citizenship. Each strand consists of the following character traits.

      1. (A) Trustworthiness: loyalty, integrity, reliability, and punctuality.
      2. (B) Responsibility: accountability, perseverance, diligence, and self-control.
      3. (C) Caring: kindness, empathy, charity, generosity, patience, consideration, and compassion.
      4. (D) Citizenship: respect, courtesy, concern for the common good and the community, fairness, freedom from prejudice, justice, patriotism, school pride, respect for authority and law, and gratitude.
   3. (3) Students are expected to develop an awareness of self-identity as well as recognize multiple perspectives, difference and diversity, biases, and the social and cultural context in which they live.
   4. (4) The knowledge and skills for positive character traits are organized in the following grade bands: Kindergarten-Grade 2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12. However, due to the complexity of the concepts, student expectations and knowledge and skills statements cannot be taught, discussed, or viewed in isolation.
   5. (5) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

2. (b) Knowledge and skills.

   1. (1) Trustworthiness. The student understands how personal choices and actions relate to character building. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) describe how personal choices lead to personal actions;
      2. (B) explain what it means to be trustworthy; and
      3. (C) identify personal actions that build trustworthiness, including being honest and punctual.

   2. (2) Responsibility. The student understands the concept of responsibility and how personal actions demonstrate responsibility. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) describe and give examples of how feelings and beliefs influence personal actions;
      2. (B) describe how to make personal choices before speaking and acting; and
      3. (C) define self-control and identify instances in which self-control is important.

   3. (3) Caring. The student understands how personal actions demonstrate characteristics of caring. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) define patience and identify actions that demonstrate patience; and
      2. (B) explain and identify examples of how actions can demonstrate kindness to others.

   4. (4) Citizenship. The student understands how personal actions can demonstrate good citizenship. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) define fairness and identify examples of fairness in a variety of situations;
      2. (B) define and identify examples of patriotism;
      3. (C) explain what it means to demonstrate respect and courtesy and why it is important to demonstrate respect and courtesy to others; and
      4. (D) define good citizenship.

Source Note:The provisions of this §120.3 adopted to be effective August 1, 2021, 45 TexReg 7423.