By Cecily Hill
Since 2017, the NEH for All team has documented and communicated the impact of National Endowment for the Humanities funding, which has included working with project directors to survey ongoing NEH-funded projects. NHA’s Humanities Impact Survey Toolkit was developed from these efforts.
The Humanities Impact Survey Toolkit includes tips for evaluating the public impact of humanities programs in community and higher education settings, survey questions organized by impact, and fully-developed surveys for a number of humanities programs. We recently updated the toolkit, adding surveys that we have developed and implemented over the past several years. These include surveys for:
- Professional development programs for K-12 educators. Adapted from a three-part survey of NEH-funded professional development programs, these surveys can be used across a range of humanities disciplines. The survey sequence is meant to be implemented before, immediately after, and one year after the program. Together, the surveys measure content and pedagogical strategies learned, and cohort creation, continued learning, and professional development among participants.
- Conversations about race and place. This survey was developed to assess the impact of participating in public humanities programs that explore Black histories and experiences in relation to a geographic region. In addition to collecting information about what brings participants to these events, the survey measures if the event enhanced appreciation for local history, the value of exploring underrepresented history, and motivation to continue learning. The survey is meant to be used immediately after a public humanities program.
In addition to these new surveys, the toolkit includes surveys for:
- Professional development programs for higher education faculty.
- Summer bridge programs for incoming college students.
- Community archiving projects.
- Local history lecture series.
- Public programs about veterans’ experiences.
- Discussion programs for veterans.
- Conversation programs about COVID-19.
The Humanities Impact Survey Toolkit is free for you to use and available on our website.
Posted on April 22, 2021
Photo Credit
Thumbnail image: Photo courtesy of the Clemente Course.