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Evaluation and Impact

Facing History and Ourselves has had an ambitious and strategic research and evaluation agenda for the past three decades. Independent researchers and Facing History evaluators have carried out more than 80 studies to assess the effectiveness of the program. These outcomes for teachers and students have been remarkably consistent. A landmark study funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York found that students in Facing History classrooms develop significantly greater interpersonal understanding and negotiation skills as well as reduced fighting and racist attitudes. A new major two-year experimental study, implemented by outside evaluators using cutting-edge tools in social science research, was launched in 2006. The study is designed to provide current and extensive evidence of the program's long-term effectiveness.

Additional key measures of the program's effectiveness are the extensive teacher referrals and the demand for Facing History and Ourselves' services. Facing History has been invited to be part of major school reform efforts in Boston, Chicago and Memphis and other smaller cities. Demand is also growing outside the United States. Our seminars and workshops are at capacity and the requests for Facing History to develop in-depth, model schools is growing. Facing History's website has over 40,000 visits monthly from educators around the world. The organization is a widely sought-after educational partner for bringing current issues into classrooms via film. Facing History's five-year strategic plan for global growth is designed to meet the demand in a cost-effective manner.

Evaluation studies show that Facing History promotes tolerance, social and moral development and academic growth in young people. Teachers are reenergized about teaching and find that the training increases their ability to teach history and foster social and civic responsibility in their students.

Impact on Students:

  • Reduced racist attitudes, increased awareness of antisemitism and more interest in and appreciation of other ethnic groups.
  • More engagement in learning
  • Advanced social and moral development
  • Increased knowledge of history, including the events that led to the Holocaust and other examples of collective violence
  • Increased motivation to read and write; increased ability to think critically about history and one's social and civic responsibility
  • Increased relational maturity, including the capacity to stand in another's shoes and to resolve differences with others
  • Heightened social concern and increased sensitivity to the plight of others
  • Reduced fighting behavior

Impact on teachers:

  • Revitalized interest and satisfaction with teaching and introduces them to new and effective methods
  • Promotes their capacity and motivation to promote students' awareness of racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry in themselves and others
  • Increases their commitment, confidence, and capacity to address complex social, civic and ethical issues in their classrooms

Based on the findings from the studies referenced above (citations available on request), independent experts have reviewed the evidence from evaluation research and have validated the program's effectiveness. Examples include:

  • For sixteen years, the U.S. Department of Education selected Facing History as an "exemplary program" worthy of dissemination through the federal government's National Diffusion Network (Program Effectiveness Panel, 1980,1985, 1993)
  • A 2003 study found FH professional development to be the most effective of 5 programs for promoting teachers' ability to teach American History. (University of Memphis' Center for Research in Educational Policy)
  • In 2004, an expert in civic education reviewed Facing History's program and evaluation research and concluded that the program provides quality civic education practice in keeping with field principles articulated in the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Civic Mission of Schools report.
  • A 2006 national review of character education programs by scholars at the Center for Character and Citizenship identified Facing History as a scientifically supported character education program (Berkowitz and Bier, 2006)

In 2006, Facing History was identified as a best practice in Holocaust Education by The Berman Center for Research & Evaluation in Jewish Education.

Facing History's evaluation department is headed by Dr. Dennis Barr, former researcher at Harvard University and the Judge Baker Children's Center. His highly qualified team is charged with the responsibility for monitoring the efficacy of the Facing History program and partnering with outside researchers to ensure that evaluation studies are conducted in a professional and impartial manner. Current researchers studying Facing History include Dr. Robert Selman, Harvard University; Dr. Melinda Fine, New York University; Dr. Ethan Lowenstein, Eastern Michigan University; and Abt Associates, Cambridge, MA.