Quick answer: CharacterStrong has evidence from independent reviewers and peer-reviewed trials. Evidence for ESSA rates PurposeFull People Elementary Strong in the Academic, Problem Behavior, and Social Relationships categories, and rates CharacterStrong Secondary Promising. CASEL's Program Guide designates PurposeFull People, the Secondary Curriculum, and S.E.R.V.E. as SELect. Two peer-reviewed randomized trials of PurposeFull People measured behavior discipline in elementary schools. The evidence differs by grade band, and this guide shows which source fits which claim.
If you are writing an RFP response, a board memo, or a funding application, you have probably been asked the same question: where is the proof? Evidence claims are easy to make and hard to check, and one overreach can cost your team credibility. This guide lays out what exists, what it shows, and where its limits are, so you can cite it accurately.
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Source |
What it is |
Grade band |
Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
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Peer-reviewed cluster randomized trial: 5 elementary schools, 20 classrooms, 161 students, vs. PBIS alone |
Elementary (PurposeFull People) |
88% lower odds of at least one office discipline referral over four months (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.70). Also improved behavior expectations, character, and academic engaged time. |
|
|
Zhang, Larson and Cook (2025), Canadian Journal of School Psychology |
Peer-reviewed multi-site cluster randomized trial: 10 elementary schools, 44 teachers' classrooms, 354 students, vs. business-as-usual instruction |
Elementary (PurposeFull People) |
Outcomes include behavior discipline. |
|
Independent clearinghouse review (Johns Hopkins CRRE) of a 10-school cluster-randomized study |
Elementary (grades 2 to 5) |
Rated Strong in Academic, Problem Behavior, and Social Relationships. Effect sizes: behavior expectations +0.43, incidence of student discipline +0.49, academic engagement +0.50. |
|
|
Independent clearinghouse review of a cluster-randomized study |
Secondary (14 schools) |
Rated Promising. Effect sizes of +0.10 to +0.19 on academic engagement measures. No referral outcome. |
|
|
Independent review |
Grades 2 to 5 (RCT, 354 students) |
Designated SELect. Significant outcomes include reduced problem behaviors, improved school climate, and improved school connectedness. |
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|
CASEL: Secondary Curriculum and S.E.R.V.E. Model |
Independent review |
Evaluation evidence in grades 6 to 8 |
Both designated SELect. |
The referral results come from PurposeFull People in elementary schools. Evidence for ESSA rates the elementary program Strong and rates CharacterStrong Secondary Promising on academic engagement measures, with no referral outcome. If you serve elementary students, cite the trials, the Strong rating, and CASEL. If you serve middle or high school, cite the Secondary review and CASEL's SELect designation for the Secondary Curriculum. There is no higher level of rating than SELect!
Evidence for ESSA, from Johns Hopkins CRRE, rated PurposeFull People Elementary Strong in the Academic, Problem Behavior, and Social Relationships categories. The rating rests on a cluster-randomized study of 10 elementary schools, with effect sizes of +0.43 for behavior expectations, +0.49 for incidence of student discipline, and +0.50 for academic engagement. It rated CharacterStrong Secondary Promising, based on a cluster-randomized study of 14 secondary schools, with effect sizes of +0.10 to +0.19 on academic engagement. Strong and Promising are two of the evidence levels defined under the Every Student Succeeds Act, so read each review page and cite it directly.
CASEL's Program Guide designates PurposeFull People as SELect, which CASEL describes as showing evidence of effectiveness at the highest level, supporting growth across all five social-emotional competencies, and offering multi-year programming. CASEL lists the evidence as a randomized trial of 354 students in grades 2 to 5, with significant outcomes that include reduced problem behaviors, improved school climate, and improved school connectedness. CASEL also designates CharacterStrong's Secondary Curriculum and S.E.R.V.E. Model as SELect, with evaluation evidence in grades 6 to 8. CASEL describes these evaluations as unpublished reports, so read each program page before you cite it.
District case studies show how results look in real buildings.
Is CharacterStrong research-based? Yes. PurposeFull People has peer-reviewed randomized trial evidence in elementary schools and a Strong rating from Evidence for ESSA. CharacterStrong Secondary is rated Promising by Evidence for ESSA, and CASEL designates PurposeFull People, the Secondary Curriculum, and S.E.R.V.E. as SELect.
Is there a randomized controlled trial of CharacterStrong? Yes. A cluster randomized trial of PurposeFull People in elementary schools was published in 2023 in School Mental Health, and a multi-site trial paper followed in 2025. Evidence for ESSA also cites a cluster-randomized study of 14 secondary schools.
What is CharacterStrong's rating on Evidence for ESSA? PurposeFull People Elementary is rated Strong in the Academic, Problem Behavior, and Social Relationships categories. CharacterStrong Secondary is rated Promising.
Does the evidence show fewer discipline referrals? The 2023 elementary trial found 88% lower odds of a student having an office discipline referral, and Evidence for ESSA reports a +0.49 effect size on incidence of student discipline for PurposeFull People.