December 2023 Monthly Research Brown Bag

Summary of GBH U.S. History Collection Impact Study

A study to assess the impact of GBH’s PBS LearningMedia U.S. History Collection showed that students gained historical knowledge and thinking skills after being taught with resources from the Collection. The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial and collected data from more than 1,200 students in 86 classrooms across 17 states. Teachers’ classes were randomly assigned to either be taught with the resources (“treatment”) or be taught as they would have otherwise (“business-as-usual”). All students completed the same pre- and post-assessment, and teachers also answered pre- and post-surveys and completed weekly implementation logs. (Read the full report here.)