Facing History and Ourselves

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Designated
SELect
Indicates that a program demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at improving student outcomes at the highest level, supports students’ social and emotional growth through all five competencies, and offers multi-year programming. For a full list of SELect student outcomes see SELect designation.
Program description

Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) provides a lesson-based approach to SEL with academic integration with social studies. It includes programming for grades 6-12 and demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at grades 7-10. Several of FHAO’s major resources are translated into Spanish, with some materials also available in Czech, French, and Hungarian.

Strategies supporting educational equity

FHAO offers strategies for understanding context, working with bias, customizing for context, and youth action projects. This includes centering the program’s training around helping teachers to create student-centered classrooms with established norms that promote an equitable learning environment. Additionally, FHAO offers a professional workshop series focusing on unpacking bias, equity, and social justice as well as creating opportunities for students to collaborate to create change in their school and local communities.

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      • Instructional practices
      • Relationship building
      • Positive classroom management
      • SEL generalization
      • Shared agreements
      • Student voice
      • Adult SEL
      • Group structures
      • Peer mentoring
      • Student Voice
      • Service-learning
      • Community partnerships
      • School Involvement
      • Activities and Resources for Home
    • Onsite in-person training
    • Virtual training
    • Offsite training
    • Train the trainer model
    • Administrator support
    • Coaching
    • Technical assistance
    • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
    • Online resource library
    • Self-report tools for monitoring implementation
    • Observational tools
    • Tools for measuring student success

Evidence of effectiveness

Results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in the 2007-2009 school year (unpublished report written in 2013) supported the effectiveness of FHAO for secondary school students. This evaluation included 694 students in grade 7 and 8 enrolled in rural schools in the U.S. Northeast (63% Black/African American, 19% other/mixed race, 16% Hispanic; 16% of students’ mothers did not complete high school). This evaluation found that students who participated in the program self-reported greater prosocial behaviors, empathy, perspective-taking skills, and participatory citizenship beliefs (i.e., whether students were inclined to get involved in their communities), as well as fewer self-reported conduct problems (e.g., losing temper, lying) compared to students in the control group (outcomes measured six months after pre-test while controlling for outcome pre-test). Additionally, students who participated in the FHAO program self-reported experiencing more positive classroom and school climates, including greater student-teacher respect and student interpersonal relationships, compared to students in the control group.

Results from an RCT (published in 2015) supported the effectiveness of FHAO for public, private, and charter high school students. This evaluation included 1,371 students in grades 9 and 10 in multiple cities and states (36% Hispanic, 32% white, 13% Asian American, 13% Black; 40-90% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL)). This study found that students who participated in the program self-reported greater civic self-efficacy (i.e., how efficacious one feels in understanding and/or engaging in civic matters), political tolerance, and historical thinking skills (i.e., comprehension of historical facts) compared to students in the control group (outcomes reported approximately one year after baseline while controlling for outcome pre-test). Additionally, students who participated in the program reported improvements in their teachers’ practices; more specifically that FHAO teachers increased their use of practices that are promotive of civic engagement and an open, respectful classroom climate compared to students in the control group.

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  • Evidence shown in grades
    7, 8, 9, 10
    School characteristics
      • Rural
      • Urban
      • Northeast
      • Southeast
      • Midwest
      • West
    Student characteristics
    • Asian / Asian American
    • Black / African American
    • Hispanic / Latinx
    • White
    • Multi-racial / other
    • Low income
    Percentage Low Income
    • Eligible for FRPL: 90%
    • Low parent education levels: 16%
    Study design type
    • RCT
    Greater than 350 students included in study design type
    • Yes
    Multiple school districts included at study design type
    • Yes
    • Improved academic performance
    • Reduced emotional distress
    • Improved identity development and agency
    • Reduced problem behaviors
    • Improved school climate
    • Improved school connectedness
    • Improved social behaviors
    • Improved teaching practices
    • Improved other SEL skills and attitudes

How does Facing History and Ourselves support SEL implementation across multiple settings?

“Facing History provides professional learning, curricular resources and strategies, helping 6-12th grade educators to create equitable learning environments, promote SEL, and civic and academic growth. The model is integrated into academic disciplines, and is flexible and responsive to the needs of individual teachers, whole schools, and districts.”

Get info and pricing on the provider’s website

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References

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