Photo by StockPlanets/Getty Images
RAND, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, is seeking middle and high school social studies and English language arts (ELA) teachers to test high-quality, vetted lessons about Jewish identity and history in their classrooms. Topics covered in the lessons include the Holocaust, present-day and historical antisemitism, Jewish immigration to the United States, and others.
According to one organization that tracks Holocaust education legislation, 30 states already mandate some type of instruction about the Holocaust. These states include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Teaching students about challenging topics like persecution, genocide, and discrimination can be difficult, but high-quality, engaging materials can help.
The goal of this study is to understand how lessons about Jewish history and Jewish people build students’ knowledge about these topics and how effective these lessons are in combating antisemitism. Study results will be used to identify high-impact lessons and improve lessons for future use. The names of participating districts, schools, and teachers will remain confidential.
Participating teachers will receive up to $700 in gift cards for completing study activities, which includes implementing vetted lessons with students and sharing basic information about their experiences teaching those lessons. Teachers will also be asked to administer a brief, 15-minute pre- and post-online survey to students. As part of the process, teachers will be provided high-quality, vetted lessons created by Jewish history education content experts that will be ready to use off-the-shelf. These include lesson plans, teaching resources (e.g., videos, articles, primary sources), and implementation supports (e.g., brief videos or articles to support teacher knowledge).
If you have questions about the study and would like to learn more, please contact our team.
Project Leaders
Ashley Woo: awoo@rand.org
Anna Shapiro: ashapiro@rand.org
