Middle School Ethics Education

Middle school materials for teaching principle-based ethics and ethical decision-making are available at no cost through the generous support of the Daniels Fund.

New!

FREE Middle School Career Exploration Modules

Our new career exploration series emphasizes introspective and experiential skills as students prepare for their future careers. Each module in the series is comprised of three resources:

  • PowerPoint presentation
  • Presentation script
  • Corresponding student guide

Module components include an ethical dilemma, narrative, discussion questions, online resources, activities, and a journal prompt—everything you need for a ready-to-use lesson plan!

Access Now Educator Feedback

FREE Middle School Ethical Leadership Package

Developed with the help of the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and a middle school advisory network, these materials include comprehensive, ready-to-use lesson plans that integrate social-emotional learning geared for middle school students. The package includes:

  • 10 instructional modules about ethics
  • Ethical Leadership for Middle-Level Students course guide
  • Middle School Ethics Handbook (NEW!)

(Prior to download, you’ll be asked to complete a brief survey to help us evaluate the impact of the materials for the Daniels Fund, whose generous support allows us to offer these resources at no cost.)

Free Ethics Exam

The Ethical Leadership for Middle-Level Students badging exam is now available! The exam assesses students’ knowledge of foundational ethics concepts and skills, including the ethical principles of respect, responsibility, integrity, transparency, fairness, trust, rules and laws, and viability.

Designed for students in Grades 6–8, the test contains 30 multiple-choice items. Students who score 70% or higher on the exam earn a digital badge.

Access now: To request the free ethics exam, send teacher name, email, school, and school address to service@mbaresearch.org.

Badge Criteria

Ethics and SEL Go Hand in Hand

Teaching principle-based ethics is a proven way to help students think critically, manage emotions, develop empathy, build supportive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Download your flyer

Middle School Flyers

Ethical Leadership Course
Ethics Instructional Modules
Ethics Handbook
Career Exploration Modules

Feedback From Educators

Click here for feedback on the career exploration modules.

Click here for feedback on the ethics education lesson modules.

Middle School Advisory Network (MSAN)

We’re proud that our work is informed by middle school teachers, administrators, and counselors who served on our Middle School Advisory Network (MSAN), an advisory board of educators supporting the development of materials that bring ethical leadership to middle school education nationwide.

Resource Guide

For a full list of the resources we have scheduled for development through the 2024–25 school year, access our Middle School Resource Guide.

Learn More

Ethics Lesson Module Topics

“These are great lessons for school counselors to utilize for classroom lessons, but the sequencing of the modules [is] easy for any teacher to incorporate into classrooms to meet social emotion learning standards. Ethics education is crucial at the middle school level, and in today’s society, this could not come soon enough.”

- Middle level educator

Additional Ethics Resources

Visit our Ethics Page for a comprehensive list of our ethics education resources, including:

  • Ethics Boot Camp
  • Ethics Books & Movies List
  • Ethical Leadership Course Package
  • Gray Zone Interactive Series
  • Videos
  • And more!

Top