How Human Skills™ Instruction Supports Character Education in Texas

For Texas districts, character education isn’t just a priority. It’s part of the instructional landscape.

Texas Education Code 29.906 requires instruction in positive character traits and personal skills for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) identify traits including courage, trustworthiness, integrity, responsibility, caring, fairness, citizenship, gratitude, respect, and school pride.

For districts already looking for ways to build these qualities into students’ everyday experience, the question isn’t whether character education matters. It’s how to make it work in real classrooms.

Making character education part of everyday instruction

Texas schools can meet the state’s character education expectations through standalone courses or by integrating the standards into existing programs and coursework.

That flexibility creates an opportunity for districts to build character development into instruction they’re already providing, rather than treating it as something separate from the school day.

That’s where Second Step^® programs can help.

Second Step K–12 digital programs are aligned to Texas Positive Character Traits across elementary, middle, and high school. That alignment connects specific Second Step lessons and learning experiences to the knowledge, skills, and attitudes outlined in Texas’ standards.

Here’s how those human skill-building lessons and character traits line up in practice:

• Trustworthiness is supported through self-awareness and responsible decision-making. ‍
• Responsibility is supported through self-management and goal-setting. ‍
• Caring is supported through empathy and relationship skills. ‍
• Fairness is supported through social awareness and perspective-taking. ‍
• Citizenship is supported through collaboration and conflict resolution. ‍
• Courage is supported through emotion regulation and self-confidence. ‍
• Integrity is supported through ethical decision-making. ‍
• Respect and courtesy are supported through relationship skills and empathy. ‍
• Gratitude is supported through self-awareness and social awareness.

This gives Texas educators a clear connection between state character education expectations and the instruction they could already be delivering through Second Step programs.

What alignment looks like in practice

The Second Step alignment charts identify specific Second Step lessons and related materials that give students opportunities to actively process the knowledge and practice the skills described in the standards for the Texas Positive Character Traits.

That means educators aren’t left to figure out the connection on their own.

Second Step programs provide a structured way to address character-related expectations through developmentally appropriate instruction, discussion, practice, and application.

For district leaders, that can make character education easier to implement consistently across grade levels while giving educators a shared framework and common language.

Backed by research, built for schools

Alignment with the Texas standards is one part of the picture. Second Step programs are also grounded in research and evaluated through independent studies.

Independent research from WestEd, representing more than 25,000 students, has found positive outcomes associated with Second Step^® Elementary and Second Step^® Middle School digital programs, including improved school climate, increased prosocial behaviors, reduced suspensions, and stronger academic motivation and performance.  

In addition, elementary students who received Second Step lessons with sufficient fidelity demonstrated measurable improvement in self-management skills.  

For Texas districts, that combination makes a crucial difference: a program that aligns with state character education standards while giving educators evidence-based tools they can use in the classroom.

From requirements to results

Meeting character education requirements doesn’t have to mean creating another layer of work for educators.

With Second Step programs, districts can connect state expectations with practical instruction that supports the development of qualities like responsibility, integrity, caring, fairness, citizenship, and respect.

It’s a way to make character education more than a requirement on paper.

It’s a part of how students learn, interact, and grow every day.

How can your Texas district put character education into action?

Explore our districtwide solution or request a demo to see how Second Step programs can help your schools support Texas Positive Character Traits standards while developing the human skills students need to thrive.

‍