The evidence base for Facing History and Ourselves is limited: only one of eight reviewed studies met WWC evidence standards, and it used a quasi-experimental rather than randomized design¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2006 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Of eight studies reviewed, only one quasi-experimental study met WWC evidence standards with reservations; the other seven did not meet WWC evidence screens. → What Works Clearinghouse 2006
Evidence¶
What Works Clearinghouse 2006¶
What Works Clearinghouse. (2006). WWC Intervention Report: Facing History and Ourselves. U.S. Department of Education. www.facinghistory.org. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/InterventionReport/169
q2 · i? · review · r2
WWC review of the evidence base: seven studies failed screens for lacking valid or reliable outcome measures, lacking a comparison group, or lacking a quantitative design. The single qualifying study included 346 eighth-grade students in 14 FHAO and 8 comparison classrooms in the northeastern U.S.
"Eight studies reviewed by WWC investigated the effects of the Facing History and Ourselves program. One study (Schultz, Barr, & Selman, 2001) was a quasi-experimental design that met WWC evidence standards with reservations."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Three of seven knowledge, attitudes, and values outcomes favor Facing History and Ourselves, including relationship maturity (best response) with effect size 0.45, but none remain statistically significant after WWC corrections — related
- Facing History and Ourselves shows no discernible effects on student behavior, with self-reported fighting differences neither statistically significant nor substantively important — related
- Only three of twelve identified OLI studies met WWC group design standards — related
- Only one of eight unit outcomes in the qualifying study met WWC evidence standards; seven were excluded — related
- Thirteen of 14 reviewed studies of the program fail WWC evidence standards or eligibility screens, most for lacking comparison-group designs or non-equivalent quasi-experimental groups — related
- The evidence base for first year experience courses consists only of quasi-experimental studies meeting WWC group design standards with reservations — related
- Only one of seven eligible studies of I CAN Learn® met WWC group design standards, and it met them only with reservations — related
- Four of seven knowledge, attitudes, and values outcomes favor the comparison group, including ethnic identity (effect size -0.19) and both moral reasoning measures, none statistically significant — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
fhao-limited-evidence-base-one-quasi-experiment |
title |
The evidence base for Facing History and Ourselves is limited: only one of eight reviewed studies met WWC evidence standards, and it used a quasi-experimental rather than randomized design |
description |
The evidence base for Facing History and Ourselves is limited: only one of eight reviewed studies met WWC evidence standards, and it used a quasi-experimental rather than randomized design |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2006 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-07 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — what-works-clearinghouse-2006 |
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