Teaching Primary Sources Impact Study

Challenge

Since 2006, the Library of Congress’s (Library’s) Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program has supported the use of Library resources in K–12 classrooms to enhance student engagement, improve literacy and critical-thinking skills, and build content knowledge. Hundreds of thousands of teachers across the country and, by extension, their students have participated in the program, receiving teacher professional development, curriculum resources, and coaching to use primary sources well in the classroom and community. After 15 years, the Library wanted to understand the TPS program’s impact on student learning, teacher practice, and partner organizations’ effectiveness.

EDC’s TPS Impact Study explored the ways in which TPS professional development and materials have advanced the Library’s goal of engaging, informing, and inspiring Americans. EDC worked to identify the various elements—Library resources, teaching practices, and other program features—that have contributed to the impact of the program. The team had a special focus on identifying strategies that the Library has successfully used to create deep and broad connections with diverse communities, educational organizations, and teacher and student populations.

Key Activities

The project carried out the following activities:

Identified the impacts that Library of Congress collections and materials have had on students, teachers, and educational communities
Identified the strategies and practices that led to greater programmatic impact
Wrote a summary report that described program impact for students, teachers, and TPS participant organizations and recommended program improvements

Impact

The study provided the Library of Congress with an analysis of its impact on student learning and teacher practice throughout the country and made recommendations for strengthening those impacts.