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Making Learning Relevant With Case Studies

The open-ended problems presented in case studies give students work that feels connected to their lives.

To prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving process. It’s similar to project-based learning, but PBL is more focused on students creating a product.

Case studies have been used for years by businesses, law and medical schools, physicians on rounds, and artists critiquing work. Like other forms of problem-based learning, case studies can be accessible for every age group, both in one subject and in interdisciplinary work.

You can get started with case studies by tackling relatable questions like these with your students:

• How can we limit food waste in the cafeteria?
• How can we get our school to recycle and compost waste? (Or, if you want to be more complex, how can our school reduce its carbon footprint?)
• How can we improve school attendance?
• How can we reduce the number of people who get sick at school during cold and flu season?

Addressing questions like these leads students to identify topics they need to learn more about. In researching the first question, for example, students may see that they need to research food chains and nutrition. Students often ask, reasonably, why they need to learn something, or when they’ll use their knowledge in the future. Learning is most successful for students when the content and skills they’re studying are relevant, and case studies offer one way to create that sense of relevance.

Teaching With Case Studies

Ultimately, a case study is simply an interesting problem with many correct answers. What does case study work look like in classrooms? Teachers generally start by having students read the case or watch a video that summarizes the case. Students then work in small groups or individually to solve the case study. Teachers set milestones defining what students should accomplish to help them manage their time.

During the case study learning process, student assessment of learning should be focused on reflection. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s Learning and Leading With Habits of Mind gives several examples of what this reflection can look like in a classroom: 

Journaling: At the end of each work period, have students write an entry summarizing what they worked on, what worked well, what didn’t, and why. Sentence starters and clear rubrics or guidelines will help students be successful. At the end of a case study project, as Costa and Kallick write, it’s helpful to have students “select significant learnings, envision how they could apply these learnings to future situations, and commit to an action plan to consciously modify their behaviors.”

Interviews: While working on a case study, students can interview each other about their progress and learning. Teachers can interview students individually or in small groups to assess their learning process and their progress.

Student discussion: Discussions can be unstructured—students can talk about what they worked on that day in a think-pair-share or as a full class—or structured, using Socratic seminars or fishbowl discussions. If your class is tackling a case study in small groups, create a second set of small groups with a representative from each of the case study groups so that the groups can share their learning.

4 Tips for Setting Up a Case Study

1. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’ lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with many layers.

2. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

3. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

4. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the sections of the essay.

Problem-Based Teaching Resources

There are many high-quality, peer-reviewed resources that are open source and easily accessible online.

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo built an online collection of more than 800 cases that cover topics ranging from biochemistry to economics. There are resources for middle and high school students.
• Models of Excellence , a project maintained by EL Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has examples of great problem- and project-based tasks—and corresponding exemplary student work—for grades pre-K to 12.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning at Purdue University is an open-source journal that publishes examples of problem-based learning in K–12 and post-secondary classrooms.
• The Tech Edvocate has a list of websites and tools related to problem-based learning.

In their book Problems as Possibilities , Linda Torp and Sara Sage write that at the elementary school level, students particularly appreciate how they feel that they are taken seriously when solving case studies. At the middle school level, “researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.” And high schoolers, they write, find the case study method “beneficial in preparing them for their future.”

Center for Teaching

Case studies.

Print Version

Case studies are stories that are used as a teaching tool to show the application of a theory or concept to real situations. Dependent on the goal they are meant to fulfill, cases can be fact-driven and deductive where there is a correct answer, or they can be context driven where multiple solutions are possible. Various disciplines have employed case studies, including humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, law, business, and medicine. Good cases generally have the following features: they tell a good story, are recent, include dialogue, create empathy with the main characters, are relevant to the reader, serve a teaching function, require a dilemma to be solved, and have generality.

Instructors can create their own cases or can find cases that already exist. The following are some things to keep in mind when creating a case:

• What do you want students to learn from the discussion of the case?
• What do they already know that applies to the case?
• What are the issues that may be raised in discussion?
• How will the case and discussion be introduced?
• What preparation is expected of students? (Do they need to read the case ahead of time? Do research? Write anything?)
• What directions do you need to provide students regarding what they are supposed to do and accomplish?
• Do you need to divide students into groups or will they discuss as the whole class?
• Are you going to use role-playing or facilitators or record keepers? If so, how?
• What are the opening questions?
• How much time is needed for students to discuss the case?
• What concepts are to be applied/extracted during the discussion?
• How will you evaluate students?

To find other cases that already exist, try the following websites:

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science , University of Buffalo. SUNY-Buffalo maintains this set of links to other case studies on the web in disciplines ranging from engineering and ethics to sociology and business
• A Journal of Teaching Cases in Public Administration and Public Policy , University of Washington

For more information:

• World Association for Case Method Research and Application

Book Review :  Teaching and the Case Method , 3rd ed., vols. 1 and 2, by Louis Barnes, C. Roland (Chris) Christensen, and Abby Hansen. Harvard Business School Press, 1994; 333 pp. (vol 1), 412 pp. (vol 2).

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Case Study Compilation

The SEL Integration Approach  Case Study Compilation  was developed with and for educators who work in a K-12 school setting, including teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, SEL Directors, teacher leaders, & school principals, to provide examples of practice related to three questions:

• What does it mean to focus on social-emotional development and the creation of positive learning environments?
• How can educators integrate their approaches to social, emotional, and academic development?
• What does it look, sound, and feel like when SEL is effectively embedded into all elements of the school day?

When read one at a time, the case studies offer snapshots of social-emotional learning in action; they describe daily routines, activities, and teachable moments within short vignettes. When read together, the case studies provide a unique picture of what it takes for a school to integrate social, emotional, and academic learning across grade levels, content areas, and other unique contexts.

The Case Study Compilation includes:

• Eleven case studies:  Each case study highlights educator ‘moves’ and strategies to embed social-emotional skills, mindsets, and competencies throughout the school day and within academics. They each  conclude with a reflection prompt that challenges readers to examine their own practice. The case studies are written from several different perspectives, including teachers in the classroom and in distance learning environments, a school counselor, and district leaders.
• Reflection Guide for Professional Learning:  The Reflection Guide offers an entry point for educators to think critically about their work with youth in order to strengthen their practice. School leaders or other partners may choose to use this Reflection Guide in a variety of contexts, including coaching conversations and staff professional development sessions.

View our accompanying Quick Reference Guide , Companion Guides , and Educator & School Leader Self-Reflection Tools .

“We must resist thinking in siloed terms when it comes to social-emotional learning (SEL), academics, and equity. Rather, these elements of our work as educators and partners go hand in hand.”

HEAD & HEART, TransformEd & ANet

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Every School Healthy: An Urban School Case Study

Sue baldwin.

1 Buffalo Public Schools, Office of Whole Child Initiatives, 58 Lantern Ln., Amherst NY, 14211 USA

Assunta R. C. Ventresca

2 Buffalo Public Schools, 84 Lorraine Avenue, Buffalo NY, 14220 USA

In this case study, multiple participants in a large urban school district used the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model to guide development of a district wellness policy. The model's health education component is highlighted, focusing on concerns for special needs students and ones speaking English as a New Language (ENL).

Organizational structure was developed around the WSCC model and district wellness policy implementation through coordination, collaboration, and communication (3Cs) of programs, policies, and processes/practices (3Ps).

The WSCC approach guided the creation of a district wellness policy that influenced programming for students with special needs and required Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data collection. Using YRBS and School Health Index (SHI) data in planning sexual health education illustrated improvements over time. Formation of the School Health and Wellness Collaborative under WSCC improved family engagement in sexual health education programs and practices. Relationships were established with community partners to impact student's sexual risk behaviors. Finally, the district co‐created and implemented an evidenced‐based sexual health curriculum, modifying it for special education and ENL students.

CONCLUSIONS

The WSCC approach is system changing. It takes time to develop the relationships vital to improve the 3Cs and 3Ps. Success is enhanced with a district wellness coordinator, the right people at the table, valid health data, and administrative and board support.

This urban school district case study demonstrated the power of using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, a strong equitable wellness policy, and Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and School Health Index (SHI) data to support the improvement of health and education outcomes for students. This paper examines comprehensive health education, specifically comprehensive sexual health education focusing on the district's concern for students with special needs and students who speak English as a New Language (ENL).

We examined Buffalo Public Schools, the second largest school district in New York State. Demographics outlined from the US Census Bureau 1 showed that almost half of the district's children lived in poverty which ranks it the fourth worst among all the nation's major cities. As of 2018, the district supports 33,415 students, of which 35% are ENL and 21% are students with disabilities. Approximately 77% are considered to be economically disadvantaged and 96% of the district population is classified as Title I. The racial distribution of the population is 45% black, 21% Hispanic, 20% white, 10% Asian, and 4% “other.” Over 82 different languages are spoken by students in this district. For the 2017‐2018 school year, the district's 4‐year graduation rate was 64%. 2 The demographics led the Whole Child Advisory Board into discussion and concerted efforts to ensure equity in wellness policy development along with adaptation of the comprehensive sexual health education curriculum.

In this district, the Whole Child Advisory Board, Whole Child District Health Committees , and school‐level Whole Child Well‐Being Teams are managed by the Office of Whole Child Initiatives led by a seasoned District Wellness Coordinator as illustrated by the WSCC Organizational Chart (Figure  1 ). This District Wellness Coordinator assessed, planned, and evaluated the implementation of and reported progress on the wellness policy titled Making Health Academic . The District Wellness Coordinator directed the administration, analysis and reporting of YRBS and SHI (assesses all WSCC domains) data collection across the district. The Coordinator annually led all 60 schools' Whole Child Well‐Being Teams , 13 district Whole Child Health Committees , and the Whole Child Advisory Board . All teams and committees use YRBS and SHI data to create specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) committee goals to decrease student health risk behaviors. The WSCC vision, mission, roles, responsibilities, organizational chart (Figure  1 ), and the wellness policy built the WSCC model infrastructure and fostered its sustainability. 3 The coordinator ensured fidelity of implementation of the WSCC model across the district and all of its schools.

Office of Whole Child Initiatives: WSCC Organizational Chart

There are 60 schools: elementary schools supporting students in grades PK‐8, a few schools with students in grades 5‐12, and 19 high schools that accommodate students in grades 9‐12. The district is fortunate, unlike many school districts, to have a full‐time nurse at each building. Nearly all schools have a full‐time school psychologist, counselor, and social worker based on school enrollment and need. All district and school Whole Child Well‐Being Committees and Teams begin their name with “whole child.” For reader ease and readability, we have omitted the “Whole Child” wording from their titles for the remainder of this paper.

This section focuses on comprehensive sexual health education for all students with consideration for students with special needs and ENL students. We will outline how the district assessed the need for sexual health education and how the district addressed those needs through the WSCC model. Students, parents, community partners, and district personnel co‐created and supported comprehensive sexual health education. We also will review the successes of this district's wellness policy, the data that drove the changes and continual professional development across WSCC domains that supported sexual health education.

Wellness Policy Success

The strength of the wellness policy is driven by the leadership of the District Wellness Coordinator and implementation across all of the WSCC model domains (ie, parent and community engagement, school guidance, school psychologist and social workers, health‐related services, health education, and physical education). The wellness policy not only stressed coordination, collaboration, and communication (3Cs) of all district policies, programs, and practices (3Ps), but also was created through the continual use of 3Cs and 3Ps; this has become our standard of practice. Figure  2 showcases all the steps taken to accomplish wellness policy updates via the 3Cs with parents, students, community partners, and school personnel. We recognize that school districts can be successful in creating, adopting, and implementing a WSCC approach‐based wellness policy with these essential elements: administrative support, a wellness champion, and engaged parent and community partners in which health promotion “fits.” 4 A district wellness champion 4 could be a physical educator, health teacher, nurse, school administrator, parent, or anyone who has a passion to create a healthier school environment. Data is an important component and it can drive action. This case study occurred over a period of 7 years and the work continues to become institutionalized across the district and city. Research impresses that schools in districts with strong policies are more likely to implement the policy and associated practices. 5 , 6 The strength of the policy lies in strong language to indicate that action is required and includes words such as shall, will, must, require, all, comply, and enforce. 6 The policy has clearly stated goals that are able to be enforced via the District Wellness Coordinator, district whole child health committees and all 60 School Well‐Being Teams . The district wellness policy stressed the importance of district and school responses to sexual health education through the WSCC model. Numerous district and community partner actions resulted in positive student sexual health behavior change. The district activities include adopting a sexual health curriculum, curriculum adaptations for students with special needs and ENL students, condom availability program policy adoption, professional development, parent engagement and education opportunities, and the formation of the Student Engagement Committee . The Erie County Department of Health (DOH), community partners, and student groups worked collaboratively to support all students. The wellness policy stated that sexual health education be taught in a planned, sequential, and age‐appropriate manner. The policy also impressed that this education be medically accurate and culturally and linguistically responsive to student learning styles. Finally, sexual health education should be evidence‐based or grounded in research, aligned with state and/or national standards, and include the condom availability program. The condom availability program student education began in the grade 7 health courses and upon completion the students become eligible for accessing available no cost condoms in grade 9.

2016–2017 District Wellness: Health is Academic Policy Adoption Timeline

The District Wellness Coordinator fostered trusting relationships with parent leaders, including ENL and parents of students with special needs, who have been a driving force for strengthening wellness policy development and implementation. The wellness policy language addressed students with disabilities and those with language barriers. The continuous use of the 3Cs, with over 275 community partners, led to data driven wellness policy development coordinated with a variety of partners (Figure  2 ). It took a year to redesign the policy around the WSCC model using the WellSAT 3.0 . 7 District Whole Child Health Committees formed health needs arose and initially reflected the 10 components of the WSCC model. Creating a wellness policy using the WSCC model formalized the development of specific committees. School district departments took leadership roles on these committees. For example, the Department of Food Service became highly engaged to address the obesity issue in our district, the Parent Engagement Office integrated WSCC language into their department policies, and the Department of Health and Physical Education formed the Comprehensive Health Education Committee to implement a stronger health curriculum and address risky sexual health behaviors. The Whole Child Advisory Board is composed of district and community partner co‐leaders from all 16 District Health Committees . The Comprehensive Health Education Committee was formed to assess health education needs and to identify solutions. This committee reviewed data and recognized that comprehensive health education, including age‐appropriate sexual health education enables students to master the essential knowledge, attitudes, and skills to adopt and maintain life‐long healthy sexual behaviors. The Advisory Board assessed the policy every 3 years using the most current WellSAT tool. Once all WSCC domains have been assessed for clarity, language, and comprehensiveness, District Health Committee leaders then used the assessment results with their committee to revise their designated WSCC domain of the policy. We hosted many parent, student, and large community partner meetings for these stakeholders to provide feedback on each WSCC domain of the policy. All School Well‐Being Teams completed a wellness policy feedback activity in their school at a faculty meeting to seek feedback from all school‐level staff. The Advisory Board reconvened to review and edit the feedback from all stakeholders on all domains to finalize the policy. Feedback, through collaboration and communication with the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC), impacted wellness policy language. The SEPAC chairperson was invited to sit on the Advisory Board as the policy was being evaluated and updated. The SEPAC chairperson advocated for wellness policy adoption at a school board meeting and now the policy addresses students with special education needs.

The policy was unanimously adopted by the board of education due to extensive use of the 3Cs (Figure  2 ) and its culturally and linguistically appropriate language that addressed equity issues across all policy areas, including special needs and ENL students. To be equitable every school had a Well‐Being Team , received their own YRBS school report, and participated in and obtained their SHI needs assessment. The district Advisory Board and District Health Committees (each representing the components of the WSCC model; Figure  1 ) consistently strived to include students, parents, teachers, school administrators, higher education/research partners, board of education members, health professionals, appropriate community partners, and the district medical director in their monthly meetings. All of the committees and teams that exist under the WSCC Organizational Chart (Figure  1 ) utilized data from the YRBS, the SHI, school climate surveys, county and state health reports, and any other pertinent health or educational data (ie, attendance rates, suspension rates, bullying rates) to create district and school action plans. These action plans were incorporated into the state mandated school improvement plan as part of each school's work to improve student academic and health outcomes. 9 The wellness policy mandated development of a district‐wide plan, progress monitoring and reporting of WSCC model implementation of the policy to the board of education and community.

In 2019, the district responded to the United States Department of Agriculture 9 requirement to update the wellness policy. A more robust policy continued to evolve utilizing the Rudd Institute's WellSAT WSCC 8 assessment. The WellSAT WSCC tool examined the strength of wording and comprehensiveness of policy around all domains of the WSCC model.

Parents rallied and attended a Board of Education meeting to advocate for the administration of YRBS to assess student health risk behaviors and to evaluate district health programs. Strong parent leadership led to the district administering the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) YRBS to all students in grades 6‐12, starting in 2011. Students complete the YRBS online in a census data collection format. The YRBS results guided the district as well as its WSCC community partners toward addressing identified student sexual health risk behaviors and toward fostering a culture of health and well‐being across the district and its schools. The wellness policy mandates the district to collect YRBS every odd numbered year and is led by the YRBS Advisory Board composed of higher education partners and other key research leaders in public health, social work, exercise science, nutrition, and dental medicine. The YRBS Advisory Board meets to evaluate, plan, lead, implement, and guide YRBS data collection.

The WSCC model and its emphasis on coordination, collaboration, and communication around a variety of programs, policies, and practices has reduced the fragmentation related to health and education in this district. As a result, all district high schools and middle schools have shown improvement of risky sexual health behaviors (Tables  1 and ​ and2). 2 ). Comprehensive sexual health education became the district's priority due to alarming data. According to the district 2011, YRBS middle school data, almost 16% of students reported “ever having sexual intercourse.” The data has trended down with only 8% of students reporting “having sexual intercourse” in 2017; a 49.4% decrease. Of students reporting that they “had sexual intercourse before age 11 years,” results reflect a 43.2% decrease. Students who had sexual intercourse with 3 or more partners' indicated a 57.6% change since 2011. Condom utilization has not reflected positive behavior change at this time (Table  1 ).

Middle School: Grades 6‐8 Sexual Health YRBS Survey Results Over Time

High School: Grades 9‐12 Sexual Health YRBS Survey Results Over Time

2011: Response rate: 66%—valid surveys n/a—rates varied from school to school 90%‐25%. 2013: Response rate: 61%—valid surveys 91%—rates varied from school to school 86%‐24%. 2015: Response rate: 67%—valid surveys 97%—rates varied from school to school 84%‐17%. 2017: Response rate: 69%—rates varied from school to school 88%‐32%.

The 2011 high school YRBS data report showed that half of the students who completed the survey affirmatively responded to the question that they “ever had sexual intercourse in their lifetime.” Sexual activity for high school students has consistently declined since 2011, including over a 40% drop in the percent of district high schoolers who “have ever had sex” and the percent who “had sex recently” (within 30 days of taking the survey). In prior YRBS administrations, students, in this district, were far more likely to engage in sexual activity than New York State students, but they are now about the same likelihood. In 2017, “early sexual initiation” and students “having 4 or more partners” have both dropped by more than 50% since 2011. However, district students still engage in these risk behaviors more than New York State students. Many students are not using condoms when having sex. This was the first year since 2011 that district students are no more likely to “have recently had sex” or “had a high number of sexual partners” than NYS students, and only slightly more likely to “ever had sex.” Whereas sexual activity has declined steadily since 2011, the percent of sexually active students in 2017 who “did not use a condom the last time they had sex” has risen each year, increasing by 30% since 2011 (Table  2 ). On the 2017 survey, about 16% of sexually active district high schoolers did not use any method to prevent pregnancy the last time they had sex. Ongoing evaluation of YRBS and SHI data and the management of fidelity of sexual health instruction in 60 schools are essential to continued, long‐lasting changes in student sexual health knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors for a lifetime.

Annually, approximately 200 students in the district are identified as pregnant or parenting teens. Many of these students are students with special needs. County data showed teen pregnancy rates in Buffalo were double (33.2 teen pregnancies per 1000 female population aged 15‐19 New York State versus 67.54 in this city) the state rates and were even higher in 9 identified zip codes in the city (73.32 teen pregnancies per 1000 female population aged 15‐19). 10 Also alarming to district decision‐makers was that nationally, only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age, whereas approximately 90% of women who do not give birth during adolescence graduate from high school. 11 Additionally, the children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and to drop out of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult. 12 These effects continue for the teen mother and her child even after adjusting for those factors that increased the teenager's risk for pregnancy, such as growing up in poverty, having parents with low levels of education, growing up in a single‐parent family, and having poor performance in school. 10

The district used data to determine that there was a need to address specialized sexual health education for several groups of students. School‐level YRBS data demonstrated that special education students attending an ungraded school designed for high school students with special needs up to age 21 and students in schools with high populations of ENL learners were determined to be at greater risk for unhealthy and unsafe relationships, dating and sexual violence, and to experience sexual coercion as outlined by their school‐level YRBS data. Low condom utilization as per YRBS results and high rates of teen pregnancy led the district to believe students were unaware of community health services and that students were unfamiliar with their sexual health rights and available resources to keep them safe and healthy.

The wellness policy addressed each domain of the WSCC model including health education. Through coordination, collaboration, and communication (3C's) with all district‐recognized parent groups, 2 student peer educator groups and all sexual health community partners, the Condom Availability Policy was adopted by the Board of Education (Figure  3 ). Recommended by the Comprehensive Health Education Committee , the adoption of a middle and high school health education curriculum, HealthSmart , included the condom availability policy, and an evidence‐based high school sexual health curriculum called Reducing the Risk . One of the partners worked with the district upon request of a building administrator at the school for students with disabilities up to age 21, to develop a sexual health education curriculum targeting students with special needs. Special education adaptations were made in collaboration with school special education staff, instructional coaches, parents, occupational therapy, and physical therapy staff by adapting the seventh grade HealthSmart curriculum and several high school Reducing the Risk lessons. Adaptations included ongoing sexual health education through the creation of interactive lessons while offering additional classes. After its implementation for 3 years, this curriculum is being examined for expansion to all schools housing students with special needs including in classrooms that typically have 6 or 8 students per teacher. Sexual health education will benefit disabled students and give them the knowledge and skills to seek out resources for healthy sexuality across their lifetime. 13

Using the WSCC Model: Steps Taken to Improve Student Sexual Health

Translation was determined to be an essential adaptation for ENL students learning sexual health education. Translators were secured for some of the high ENL population schools where community partners could not assist with translation. In addition, peer‐to‐peer translation was used to assist with sexual health education in several classrooms.

The School Health and Wellness Collaborative or family engagement domain of the WSCC model was formed to collaborate with the district to promote communication, collaboration, information sharing, shared decision‐making, and continued research on best practices for family engagement in school sexual health education. The School Health and Wellness Collaborative included community health worker trained parents and students, including parents of students with special needs and ENL students. These families attended and advocated for a comprehensive sexual health education curriculum and the adoption of the condom availability policy during numerous school district organized community forums. These community health workers attended, participated, and/or led their school‐based Well‐Being Teams and participate on the district Comprehensive Health Education Committee . Community health workers also engaged in wellness policy writing and advocacy efforts to ensure comprehensive sexual health education. Parents and students are highly involved in decision‐making and are empowered to participate in meaningful, open dialog. The district also recognized that parents and students have direct knowledge about the diverse family and community‐level assets and challenges that impact them around sexual health. Research has shown that parents involved in school health activities will not only impact their children's health behaviors, but also their academic achievement. 14 The School Health and Wellness Collaborative recognized that engaging with families can inform, complement, reinforce, and accelerate educators' efforts to educate the whole child.

Gaps found in the SHI, completed in all schools revealed that students were not receiving appropriate comprehensive sexual health education and teachers had not received professional development to teach sexual health education. Community partners, who were members of the Comprehensive Health Education Committee , helped address this gap, engaged in advocacy, and contributed to the success of sexual health outcomes. The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership provided professional development for teachers on the adopted sexual health curriculum, including adaptations for students with special needs and ENL students. Teachers received training on the CDC's Characteristics of Effective Health Education , 15 and health instruction that incorporated the use of HealthSmart , Reducing the Risk and the condom availability program. Professional development also provided skill development on how to utilize school YRBS data to prioritize district health education pacing guides for their buildings.

Sexual health community partners from Genesee Valley Education Partnership, Planned Parenthood of Western New York, Native American Community Services, Erie County Department of Health, and the Federation of Neighborhood Centers collaborated to supplement sexual health education instruction in seventh and ninth grade health courses. These partners assisted the committee in the creation and implementation of the condom availability policy and provided professional development to all district health teachers on how to incorporate the condom availability policy into the sexual health curriculum.

Erie County Department of Health provided professional training for all district nurses on the condom availability program as it is related to the Reducing the Risk sexual health curriculum. Another example of the use of the 3Cs with Erie County Department of Health, Cicatelli Associates, and the district resulted in federal funding of the Teen Pregnancy and Prevention grant. This $10 million grant fostered the establishment of H.O.P.E. Buffalo . H.O.P.E. Buffalo is the community‐wide pledge for teen health—a youth and community‐led collaborative of diverse stakeholders, teens, and adults, working together to promote equitable access to high‐quality and comprehensive sexuality education and reproductive health services. H.O.P.E. Buffalo values H ealth, O pportunity, P revention and E ducation and believes that teens have the right to grow into the adults they want to be—whatever that means for them. H.O.P.E. Buffalo supported student visits to community sexual health agencies and then created the H.O.P.E. Buffalo Pocket Guide , a student‐friendly resource for sexual health services. H.O.P.E. Buffalo funds purchased Be Proud Be Responsible the district's grade 7 evidence‐based sexual health curriculum. The grant also funded Raising Healthy Children , an evidence‐based youth development curriculum targeting students in grades 1‐6 that seeks to reduce childhood risk behaviors, including sexual health behaviors. Professional development on this curriculum is being provided to appropriate grade level teachers.

Say Yes to Education Buffalo , a district contracted partner organization supported 28 district community schools and aimed to increase high school and postsecondary completion rates . Say Yes school facilitators participated on School Well‐Being Teams , received professional development on WSCC implementation, and utilized YRBS data to guide their community school programming. The school facilitators assisted with wellness policy implementation, built relationships with, and linked students to appropriate sexual health service providers via the promotion of the H.O.P.E. Buffalo Pocket Guide .

Nurses provided individualized health education and made special accommodations for students with special needs. To assist ENL students with sexual health education, nurses utilized a translations phone line. School nurses assured that students accessing condoms were taught how to use them correctly and they partnered with the Erie County Department of Health to run sexually transmitted infection testing. Nurses, school counselors, psychologists and social workers received professional development on the utilization of the WSCC model, school‐level and district‐level sexual health YRBS data, comprehensive sexuality education and the H.O.P.E. Buffalo Resource Pocket Guide . These student support services personnel worked diligently to provide guidance to students on how to access community sexual health services as well as support for pregnant and parenting teens as needed.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH

Implementing a comprehensive wellness policy in a large urban setting with over 6000 employees and 34,000 students is challenging. By having a strong written district wellness policy we increased implementation across the district and its schools. 5 , 6 Wellness policies should include strong language to indicate that action is required, including words such as shall, will, must, require, all, comply, and enforce. 6 Wellness policies should also include wording in the health education domain stressing the importance that sexual health education be offered in a developmentally and intellectually appropriate manner, responsive to students and families with disabilities and designed to improve equity and reduce health disparities. Policies should guide health education to address the social determinants of health and provide for the diversified needs of students as well as varied needs of the community.

Ongoing communication, collaboration, and coordination (3Cs) of the policy development and implementation through school Well‐Being Teams, District Health Committees , families, and community partners can be realized with a knowledgeable District Wellness Coordinator. Our experience suggests employing a coordinator that has training in educational leadership, education in public/community/school health, and be employed as a certified district administrator to be most effective. Districts should dedicate fiscal resources to hiring a District Wellness Coordinator and programmatic resources to support wellness policy, WSCC model and WSCC organizational structure implementation. Resources should also be allocated for ongoing professional development in team leadership, sexual health instruction, the condom availability program, and YRBS/SHI administration in each school.

Districts should intentionally plan to develop strong partnerships and relationships across numerous WSCC domains, including parents, students, and community partners, that are fostered through trust and transparency. Trust takes time to develop. We met parents where they were at churches, community centers, at parent‐sponsored meetings, and created nonthreatening spaces across the community to hear parent voices. We partnered with the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo which offered parent training to be a part of the School Wellness Collaborative and School Whole Child Well‐Being Teams . Implementation of the health education domain of the WSCC model requires perseverance and the ability to work with and around educational and political structures to alter risky student sexual behaviors. Districts should make concerted efforts to include parents of and students with special education needs as well as ENL families when planning for programs, policies, and practices (3Ps). Consideration should be made to incorporate community health workers into WSCC model implementation.

Districts should provide continuing professional development around sexual health education to other supporting domains of the WSCC model (ie, health services, parent and student engagement, counselor, psychologists and social workers, community partners) when striving to make system changes to sexual health education that are sustainable. Moving forward, districts desiring to improve student sexual health behaviors in a sustainable manner need to provide ongoing age and developmentally appropriate sexual health education via an evidenced‐based curriculum. Ongoing, annual professional development for new as well as veteran health teachers is imperative to sexual health curriculum success. Sexual health education should be taught by certified health education teachers who desire to teach health education and who are trained to teach to state and/or national standards reflective of the community. 16 We strongly encourage schools to administer the YRBS in their district as data drives policy actions; what gets measured gets done in schools.

This case study illustrated how a strong wellness policy, YRBS and SHI data, and ongoing professional development positively altered sexual health behaviors through the WSCC domain of health education and the supporting role of parent and student engagement, community involvement, health services, student support staff (counselor, psychologists and social workers), and community involvement using the 3Ps and 3Cs. Comprehensive sexual health education empowers and protects all students and fosters healthy development, including ENL students and students with special needs. The WSCC organizational structure (Figure  1 ) provides numerous channels for communication and coordination of district and community resources so that every student will have the sexual health knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to be healthy.

Human Subject Approval Statement

Preparation of this paper did not include performing original research requiring inclusion of human subjects.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The authors would like to acknowledge the coordination, collaboration, and funding off all district and school Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child community partners and parent groups supporting WSCC model implementation throughout the years across the district, schools and the city of Buffalo, NY.

Contributor Information

Sue Baldwin, Email: moc.liamg@4242niwdlabs .

Assunta R. C. Ventresca, Email: moc.liamg@7101vatnussa .

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Teaching With Cases

Included here are resources to learn more about case method and teaching with cases.

What Is A Teaching Case?

This video explores the definition of a teaching case and introduces the rationale for using case method.

Narrated by Carolyn Wood, former director of the HKS Case Program

Learning by the Case Method

Questions for class discussion, common case teaching challenges and possible solutions, teaching with cases tip sheet, teaching ethics by the case method.

The case method is an effective way to increase student engagement and challenge students to integrate and apply skills to real-world problems. In these videos,  Using the Case Method to Teach Public Policy , you'll find invaluable insights into the art of case teaching from one of HKS’s most respected professors, Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez.

Chapter 1: Preparing for Class (2:29)

Chapter 2: How to begin the class and structure the discussion blocks (1:37)

Chapter 3: How to launch the discussion (1:36)

Chapter 4: Tools to manage the class discussion (2:23)

Chapter 5: Encouraging participation and acknowledging students' comments (1:52)

Chapter 6: Transitioning from one block to the next / Importance of body (2:05)

Chapter 7: Using the board plan to feed the discussion (3:33)

Chapter 8: Exploring the richness of the case (1:42)

Chapter 9: The wrap-up. Why teach cases? (2:49)

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What the Case Study Method Really Teaches

• Nitin Nohria

Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.

It’s been 100 years since Harvard Business School began using the case study method. Beyond teaching specific subject matter, the case study method excels in instilling meta-skills in students. This article explains the importance of seven such skills: preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgement, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence.

During my decade as dean of Harvard Business School, I spent hundreds of hours talking with our alumni. To enliven these conversations, I relied on a favorite question: “What was the most important thing you learned from your time in our MBA program?”

• Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Professor of Business Administration, Distinguished University Service Professor, and former dean of Harvard Business School.

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A case study in social change through education: Fogarty EDvance

Many developed countries struggle with educational inequalities that disproportionately affect underprivileged communities. Approximately 50 percent of young people in the neediest parts of Australia are neither in school nor working, compared with 13 percent of young people from more affluent backgrounds. 1 Rebecca Cassells et al, “Educate Australia Fair? Education inequality in Australia,” Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, June 2017, bcec.edu.au.

Such inequalities negatively affect both people and the economy. Demand for workers with advanced skill sets is already higher than supply, but workers who lack education are often poorly positioned to meet those needs. Because skill gaps are difficult to close for adults, it is imperative to improve educational outcomes  for children who are still in school.

To model effective and early ways to close the education attainment gap, the Fogarty Foundation created Fogarty EDvance, which draws on research and studies of high-performing schools in Australia to develop a framework that significantly improves school performance. Twenty-seven schools have completed EDvance’s three-year transformation program, 2 Forty-six schools have completed the three-year program; however, 27 schools have completed the program with a focus on both health and performance. Twenty-seven schools belong to Cohort 3 and Cohort 4. and almost all of them have reported improved outcomes. Approximately 60 percent of participants reported significant improvements in all areas of the National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) scores. 3 The NAPLAN score is a series of tests—focused on basic reading, writing, language, and numeracy skills—administered annually to Australian students. Participating primary schools surpassed expectations in every area of the NAPLAN for years three and five.

How to transform a school

The EDvance pilot used several principles to transform the schools in the pilot program: each school’s leaders should be positioned to oversee and facilitate effective teaching; the path to improvement should be different for each school; and sustainable change takes time.

To support these principles, EDvance employs well-regarded ex-principals as mentors for participating schools’ leadership teams.

Throughout each three-year transformation, EDvance collects data from students, staff, parents, and community members to help school leadership track their progress. Finally, a toolbox of frameworks, resources, and processes is available to school leaders who can benefit from best practices, research, and coaching.

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The program begins by assembling a cohort of schools and a strategic plan for each school. Representatives of each cohort dig into their schools’ past performance and learn about important school stakeholders’ experiences. This information informs each strategic plan. The EDvance team is tasked with providing feedback and maintaining a culture of high expectations among the cohort.

The second year is devoted to implementing the strategic plan, including upskilling staff and tracking progress and setbacks. Schools place a special emphasis on organizational health during implementation, which includes high levels of support for teachers— a healthy organization is more likely to implement and maintain successful improvements (exhibit).

Implementation and tracking continue into the third year of the program, and school leaders create another three-year plan based on the work of the previous three years. The period after the initial three-year EDvance program will be focused on further embedding effective practices for each school and improving the school’s performance beyond the bounds of the program. In addition, alumni-schools can continue to attend workshops and access the latest research.

Seven crucial ingredients of success

Most schools that improved their performance in EDvance’s initiative do seven things that boost their chances for success. The most important task is allotting enough time for the stages of transformation: making a detailed plan, learning from up-to-date research, and solidly embedding the changes in the school’s culture and operations.

Successful schools also involved the entire school in the project, allowing each school to develop a common language to understand and communicate about the transformation. And aside from a few common metrics, each school used quantifiable metrics that were unique and meaningful for them to measure changes in their organizational health and performance.

Transformation 101: How universities can overcome financial headwinds to focus on their mission

Every school focused on their organizational health , which makes improved performance sustainable. A healthy organization helps teams work toward the same goal, execute consistently to the required standards, and renew themselves as needed. Factors that contributed to high levels of organizational health include: a clear direction, transparent performance results, support for innovative classroom teaching, leadership continuity, interactions with the leadership team, and a focus on a small number of high-impact practices.

The Fogarty EDvance program continues to engage with school communities and work with new cohorts of schools every year to improve school performance at scale. EDvance leaders hope to bring their model to educators across Australia and beyond to improve educational outcomes in disadvantaged communities.

Iskandar Aminov is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Perth office, where Naveen Unni is a partner; Priyanjali Arora is a consultant in the Gurugram office.

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Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2021

Two cases about Hertz claimed top spots in 2021's Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies

Two cases on the uses of debt and equity at Hertz claimed top spots in the CRDT’s (Case Research and Development Team) 2021 top 40 review of cases.

Hertz (A) took the top spot. The case details the financial structure of the rental car company through the end of 2019. Hertz (B), which ranked third in CRDT’s list, describes the company’s struggles during the early part of the COVID pandemic and its eventual need to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

The success of the Hertz cases was unprecedented for the top 40 list. Usually, cases take a number of years to gain popularity, but the Hertz cases claimed top spots in their first year of release. Hertz (A) also became the first ‘cooked’ case to top the annual review, as all of the other winners had been web-based ‘raw’ cases.

Besides introducing students to the complicated financing required to maintain an enormous fleet of cars, the Hertz cases also expanded the diversity of case protagonists. Kathyrn Marinello was the CEO of Hertz during this period and the CFO, Jamere Jackson is black.

Sandwiched between the two Hertz cases, Coffee 2016, a perennial best seller, finished second. “Glory, Glory, Man United!” a case about an English football team’s IPO made a surprise move to number four.  Cases on search fund boards, the future of malls,  Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund, Prodigy Finance, the Mayo Clinic, and Cadbury rounded out the top ten.

Other year-end data for 2021 showed:

• Online “raw” case usage remained steady as compared to 2020 with over 35K users from 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states interacting with 196 cases.
• Fifty four percent of raw case users came from outside the U.S..
• The Yale School of Management (SOM) case study directory pages received over 160K page views from 177 countries with approximately a third originating in India followed by the U.S. and the Philippines.
• Twenty-six of the cases in the list are raw cases.
• A third of the cases feature a woman protagonist.
• Orders for Yale SOM case studies increased by almost 50% compared to 2020.
• The top 40 cases were supervised by 19 different Yale SOM faculty members, several supervising multiple cases.

CRDT compiled the Top 40 list by combining data from its case store, Google Analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption.

All of this year’s Top 40 cases are available for purchase from the Yale Management Media store .

And the Top 40 cases studies of 2021 are:

1.   Hertz Global Holdings (A): Uses of Debt and Equity

2.   Coffee 2016

3.   Hertz Global Holdings (B): Uses of Debt and Equity 2020

4.   Glory, Glory Man United!

5.   Search Fund Company Boards: How CEOs Can Build Boards to Help Them Thrive

6.   The Future of Malls: Was Decline Inevitable?

7.   Strategy for Norway's Pension Fund Global

8.   Prodigy Finance

9.   Design at Mayo

10. Cadbury

11. City Hospital Emergency Room

13. Volkswagen

14. Marina Bay Sands

15. Shake Shack IPO

16. Mastercard

17. Netflix

18. Ant Financial

19. AXA: Creating the New CR Metrics

20. IBM Corporate Service Corps

21. Business Leadership in South Africa's 1994 Reforms

22. Alternative Meat Industry

23. Children's Premier

24. Khalil Tawil and Umi (A)

25. Palm Oil 2016

26. Teach For All: Designing a Global Network

27. What's Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

28. Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

30. Project Sammaan

31. Commonfund ESG

32. Polaroid

33. Connecticut Green Bank 2018: After the Raid

34. FieldFresh Foods

35. The Alibaba Group

36. 360 State Street: Real Options

37. Herman Miller

38. AgBiome

39. Nathan Cummings Foundation

40. Toyota 2010

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Case studies.

The teaching business case studies available here are narratives that facilitate class discussion about a particular business or management issue. Teaching cases are meant to spur debate among students rather than promote a particular point of view or steer students in a specific direction.  Some of the case studies in this collection highlight the decision-making process in a business or management setting. Other cases are descriptive or demonstrative in nature, showcasing something that has happened or is happening in a particular business or management environment. Whether decision-based or demonstrative, case studies give students the chance to be in the shoes of a protagonist. With the help of context and detailed data, students can analyze what they would and would not do in a particular situation, why, and how.

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What support can I offer my students around analyzing cases and preparing for discussion?

Case discussions can be a big departure from the norm for students who are used to lecture-based classes. The Case Analysis Coach is an interactive tutorial on reading and analyzing a case study. The Case Study Handbook covers key skills students need to read, understand, discuss and write about cases. The Case Study Handbook is also available as individual chapters to help your students focus on specific skills.

How can I transfer my in-person case teaching plan to an online environment?

The case method can be used in an online environment without sacrificing its benefits. We have compiled a few resources to help you create transformative online learning experiences with the case method. Learn how HBS brought the case method online in this podcast , gather some quick guidance from the article " How to Teach Any Case Online ", review the Teaching Cases Online Guide for a deep dive, and check out our Teaching Online Resources Page for more insights and inspiration.

After 35 years as an academic, I have come to the conclusion that there is a magic in the way Harvard cases are written. Cases go from specific to general, to show students that business situations are amenable to hard headed analysis that then generalize to larger theoretical insights. The students love it! Akshay Rao Professor, General Mills Chair in Marketing at the University of Minnesota

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School Architecture: 70 Examples in Plan and Section

• Written by María Francisca González
• Published on October 08, 2023

For architects, schools are often complex structures to design. They must provide a variety of spaces for education, and also consider sports and recreational activities. But beyond its size or surface, the greatest challenge is to design an area that fosters a positive pedagogical environment for children. Below, a selection of +70 school projects with their drawings to inspire your proposals for learning campuses.

Lishin Elementary School Library / TALI DESIGN

Ratchut School / Design in Motion

Skovbakke School / CEBRA

Schoolgarden “De Buitenkans” / RO&AD Architecten

Glassell School of Art / Steven Holl Architects

Astronomical Park of Zhenze High School / Specific Architects + Unit Architects

Secondary School in Cabrils / Josep Val Ravell + Arnau Solé Simón

School of Alfa Omega / RAW Architecture

School Extension La Fontaine / LT2A

School in Port / Skop

The French International School of Beijing / Jacques Ferrier Architecture

Fênix / Arquitetura Nacional

Marlborough Primary School / Dixon Jones

Hangzhou Gudun Road Primary School / GLA

Agricultural School Bella Vista / CODE

Daishan Primary School / ZHOU Ling Design Studio

Ivanhoe Grammar Senior Years & Science Centre / McBride Charles Ryan

Bamboo Sports Hall for Panyaden International School / Chiangmai Life Construction

Elite English Training School / B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio

Ruyton Girls' School / Woods Bagot

Bio-climatic Preschool / BC architects

BAPS Swaminarayan Girls Residence School / Kapadia Associates

Wenzhou Dalton Elementary School / FAX ARCHITECTS

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos

Oak House High School Building / Trasbordo Arquitectura

Music School / BAROZZI VEIGA

Tjørring School / FRIIS & MOLTKE Architects

Xiashan Primary School / STI Studio from the Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University

Primary School Gartenhof / BUR Architekten

Collège Maxime Javelly / Céline Teddé & Jérôme Apack architectes

Bedales School Art and Design / Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

BuBaO Sint-Lievenspoort / evr-Architecten + Callebaut Architecten

Tiantai No.2 Primary School / LYCS Architecture

Eco Moyo Education Centre- Classroom and Library / The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

Axis Pramiti / The Purple Ink Studio

Akademeia High School in Warsaw / Medusagroup

Primary School La Couyere / Atelier 56S

Schools in Africa and mango trees / WAYAiR Foundation

Copenhagen International School Nordhavn / C.F. Møller

School Campus De Vonk - De Pluim / NL Architects

Simone Veil’s group of schools in Colombes / Dominique Coulon & associés

Blue School Middle School / PellOverton Architects

School Jean-Monnet / Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architects + CDA Architectes

Lycee Schorge Secondary School / Kéré Architecture

Montserrat Vayreda School / BAAS Arquitectura

Tanpo Solar School / Csoma's Room Foundation

COF Outreach Village Primary Schools / Studio FH Architects

St. Nicholas School / aflalo/gasperini arquitetos

Highgate Primary School / iredale pedersen hook architects

Bann Huay San Yaw- Post Disaster School / Vin Varavarn Architects

InsideOut School / Andrea Tabocchini & Francesca Vittorini

Augustinianum / architecten|en|en + Studio Leon Thier

Extension of the Charlie Chaplin School Complex / SAM architecture

School of Arts Calaisis / ARC.AME

Cascade High School Expansion / Neumann Monson Architects

Chiryu Afterschool / MOUNT FUJI ARCHITECTS STUDIO

Dos Plátanos School / Murmuro

Min Tu Won School / Orbe Architecture + Estudio Cavernas + INDA + W.E. Wattanachote + Lasavanic

Children Village / Rosenbaum + Aleph Zero

Animo South Los Angeles High School / BROOKS + SCARPA

New Jerusalen de Miñaro Primary School / Semillas

Maria Montessori Mazatlán School / EPArquitectos + Estudio Macías Peredo

120-Division School / WAU Design

Lanka Learning Center / feat.collective

Rehabilitation of an old School for the Flamenco Interpretation Center / García Torrente Arquitectos

Singapore International School of Bangkok - Phase II / Plan Architect

School and Community Center “B³ Gadamerplatz” / Datscha Architekten

School Hoek / ebtca architecten

Hall of Literature & Garden at Taizhou High School / Architectural Design & Research Institute of SCUT

Rural School Alto del Mercado / Ana Elvira Vélez + Juan B. Echeverri

After-School Care Centre Waldorf School / MONO Architekten

Editor's Note:  This article was originally published on October 14, 2018, and updated on September 14, 2020.

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70 years after brown v. board of education, new research shows rise in school segregation.

As the nation prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education , a new report from researchers at Stanford and USC shows that racial and economic segregation among schools has grown steadily in large school districts over the past three decades — an increase that appears to be driven in part by policies favoring school choice over integration.

Analyzing data from U.S. public schools going back to 1967, the researchers found that segregation between white and Black students has increased by 64 percent since 1988 in the 100 largest districts, and segregation by economic status has increased by about 50 percent since 1991.

The report also provides new evidence about the forces driving recent trends in school segregation, showing that the expansion of charter schools has played a major role.  

The findings were released on May 6 with the launch of the Segregation Explorer , a new interactive website from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. The website provides searchable data on racial and economic school segregation in U.S. states, counties, metropolitan areas, and school districts from 1991 to 2022. 

“School segregation levels are not at pre- Brown levels, but they are high and have been rising steadily since the late 1980s,” said Sean Reardon , the Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education at Stanford Graduate School of Education and faculty director of the Educational Opportunity Project. “In most large districts, school segregation has increased while residential segregation and racial economic inequality have declined, and our findings indicate that policy choices – not demographic changes – are driving the increase.” 

“There’s a tendency to attribute segregation in schools to segregation in neighborhoods,” said Ann Owens , a professor of sociology and public policy at USC. “But we’re finding that the story is more complicated than that.”

Assessing the rise

In the Brown v. Board decision issued on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and established that “separate but equal” schools were not only inherently unequal but unconstitutional. The ruling paved the way for future decisions that led to rapid school desegregation in many school districts in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Though segregation in most school districts is much lower than it was 60 years ago, the researchers found that over the past three decades, both racial and economic segregation in large districts increased. Much of the increase in economic segregation since 1991, measured by segregation between students eligible and ineligible for free lunch, occurred in the last 15 years.

White-Hispanic and white-Asian segregation, while lower on average than white-Black segregation, have both more than doubled in large school districts since the 1980s. 

Racial-economic segregation – specifically the difference in the proportion of free-lunch-eligible students between the average white and Black or Hispanic student’s schools – has increased by 70 percent since 1991. 

School segregation is strongly associated with achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups, especially the rate at which achievement gaps widen during school, the researchers said.  

“Segregation appears to shape educational outcomes because it concentrates Black and Hispanic students in higher-poverty schools, which results in unequal learning opportunities,” said Reardon, who is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . 

Policies shaping recent trends 

The recent rise in school segregation appears to be the direct result of educational policy and legal decisions, the researchers said. 

Both residential segregation and racial disparities in income declined between 1990 and 2020 in most large school districts. “Had nothing else changed, that trend would have led to lower school segregation,” said Owens. 

But since 1991, roughly two-thirds of districts that were under court-ordered desegregation have been released from court oversight. Meanwhile, since 1998, the charter sector – a form of expanded school choice – has grown.

Expanding school choice could influence segregation levels in different ways: If families sought schools that were more diverse than the ones available in their neighborhood, it could reduce segregation. But the researchers found that in districts where the charter sector expanded most rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s, segregation grew the most. 

The researchers’ analysis also quantified the extent to which the release from court orders accounted for the rise in school segregation. They found that, together, the release from court oversight and the expansion of choice accounted entirely for the rise in school segregation from 2000 to 2019.

The researchers noted enrollment policies that school districts can implement to mitigate segregation, such as voluntary integration programs, socioeconomic-based student assignment policies, and school choice policies that affirmatively promote integration. 

“School segregation levels are high, troubling, and rising in large districts,” said Reardon. “These findings should sound an alarm for educators and policymakers.”

Additional collaborators on the project include Demetra Kalogrides, Thalia Tom, and Heewon Jang. This research, including the development of the Segregation Explorer data and website, was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.   

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5 Benefits of Learning Through the Case Study Method

• 28 Nov 2023

While several factors make HBS Online unique —including a global Community and real-world outcomes —active learning through the case study method rises to the top.

In a 2023 City Square Associates survey, 74 percent of HBS Online learners who also took a course from another provider said HBS Online’s case method and real-world examples were better by comparison.

Here’s a primer on the case method, five benefits you could gain, and how to experience it for yourself.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is the Harvard Business School Case Study Method?

The case study method , or case method , is a learning technique in which you’re presented with a real-world business challenge and asked how you’d solve it. After working through it yourself and with peers, you’re told how the scenario played out.

HBS pioneered the case method in 1922. Shortly before, in 1921, the first case was written.

“How do you go into an ambiguous situation and get to the bottom of it?” says HBS Professor Jan Rivkin, former senior associate dean and chair of HBS's master of business administration (MBA) program, in a video about the case method . “That skill—the skill of figuring out a course of inquiry to choose a course of action—that skill is as relevant today as it was in 1921.”

Originally developed for the in-person MBA classroom, HBS Online adapted the case method into an engaging, interactive online learning experience in 2014.

In HBS Online courses , you learn about each case from the business professional who experienced it. After reviewing their videos, you’re prompted to take their perspective and explain how you’d handle their situation.

You then get to read peers’ responses, “star” them, and comment to further the discussion. Afterward, you learn how the professional handled it and their key takeaways.

HBS Online’s adaptation of the case method incorporates the famed HBS “cold call,” in which you’re called on at random to make a decision without time to prepare.

“Learning came to life!” said Sheneka Balogun , chief administration officer and chief of staff at LeMoyne-Owen College, of her experience taking the Credential of Readiness (CORe) program . “The videos from the professors, the interactive cold calls where you were randomly selected to participate, and the case studies that enhanced and often captured the essence of objectives and learning goals were all embedded in each module. This made learning fun, engaging, and student-friendly.”

If you’re considering taking a course that leverages the case study method, here are five benefits you could experience.

5 Benefits of Learning Through Case Studies

1. take new perspectives.

The case method prompts you to consider a scenario from another person’s perspective. To work through the situation and come up with a solution, you must consider their circumstances, limitations, risk tolerance, stakeholders, resources, and potential consequences to assess how to respond.

Taking on new perspectives not only can help you navigate your own challenges but also others’. Putting yourself in someone else’s situation to understand their motivations and needs can go a long way when collaborating with stakeholders.

2. Hone Your Decision-Making Skills

Another skill you can build is the ability to make decisions effectively . The case study method forces you to use limited information to decide how to handle a problem—just like in the real world.

Throughout your career, you’ll need to make difficult decisions with incomplete or imperfect information—and sometimes, you won’t feel qualified to do so. Learning through the case method allows you to practice this skill in a low-stakes environment. When facing a real challenge, you’ll be better prepared to think quickly, collaborate with others, and present and defend your solution.

3. Become More Open-Minded

As you collaborate with peers on responses, it becomes clear that not everyone solves problems the same way. Exposing yourself to various approaches and perspectives can help you become a more open-minded professional.

When you’re part of a diverse group of learners from around the world, your experiences, cultures, and backgrounds contribute to a range of opinions on each case.

On the HBS Online course platform, you’re prompted to view and comment on others’ responses, and discussion is encouraged. This practice of considering others’ perspectives can make you more receptive in your career.

“You’d be surprised at how much you can learn from your peers,” said Ratnaditya Jonnalagadda , a software engineer who took CORe.

In addition to interacting with peers in the course platform, Jonnalagadda was part of the HBS Online Community , where he networked with other professionals and continued discussions sparked by course content.

“You get to understand your peers better, and students share examples of businesses implementing a concept from a module you just learned,” Jonnalagadda said. “It’s a very good way to cement the concepts in one's mind.”

4. Enhance Your Curiosity

One byproduct of taking on different perspectives is that it enables you to picture yourself in various roles, industries, and business functions.

“Each case offers an opportunity for students to see what resonates with them, what excites them, what bores them, which role they could imagine inhabiting in their careers,” says former HBS Dean Nitin Nohria in the Harvard Business Review . “Cases stimulate curiosity about the range of opportunities in the world and the many ways that students can make a difference as leaders.”

Through the case method, you can “try on” roles you may not have considered and feel more prepared to change or advance your career .

5. Build Your Self-Confidence

Finally, learning through the case study method can build your confidence. Each time you assume a business leader’s perspective, aim to solve a new challenge, and express and defend your opinions and decisions to peers, you prepare to do the same in your career.

According to a 2022 City Square Associates survey , 84 percent of HBS Online learners report feeling more confident making business decisions after taking a course.

“Self-confidence is difficult to teach or coach, but the case study method seems to instill it in people,” Nohria says in the Harvard Business Review . “There may well be other ways of learning these meta-skills, such as the repeated experience gained through practice or guidance from a gifted coach. However, under the direction of a masterful teacher, the case method can engage students and help them develop powerful meta-skills like no other form of teaching.”

How to Experience the Case Study Method

If the case method seems like a good fit for your learning style, experience it for yourself by taking an HBS Online course. Offerings span seven subject areas, including:

• Business essentials
• Leadership and management
• Entrepreneurship and innovation
• Finance and accounting
• Business in society

No matter which course or credential program you choose, you’ll examine case studies from real business professionals, work through their challenges alongside peers, and gain valuable insights to apply to your career.

Are you interested in discovering how HBS Online can help advance your career? Explore our course catalog and download our free guide —complete with interactive workbook sections—to determine if online learning is right for you and which course to take.

About the Author

Why did schools lose students after COVID-19?

Media inquiries, subscribe to the economic studies bulletin, sofoklis goulas and sofoklis goulas fellow - economic studies , the hamilton project isabelle pula isabelle pula former research intern - economic studies , the hamilton project.

May 16, 2024

Key takeaways:

• The share of students attending traditional public schools in 2022-23 was about 4 percentage points below pre-pandemic enrollment (2019-20).
• Public school enrollment losses are not fully explained by changes in population, charter school enrollment, or private school enrollment, suggesting that many families have chosen to homeschool after the pandemic.
• This analysis uses family satisfaction data and targeted interviews of home-educators to explore factors behind families’ decisions to homeschool.
• 11 min read

Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, its consequences are still palpable in school attendance and enrollment. While in 2022-23 the share of students attending traditional public schools (TPS) increased by roughly 1 percentage point relative to the prior year, it remains 4 percentage points below 2019-20. These enrollment losses are not fully explained by population changes or changes in charter school enrollment.  In this post, we consider the reasons families may explore schooling options for their children away from TPS and discuss their implications. We use family satisfaction data from New York City Public Schools to assess the role of perceived school quality in school enrollment decisions. Insights from targeted interviews of home-educators and professionals supporting families pursuing non-classroom-based learning help us delineate what student experience may look like in the changing K-12 education landscape.

Changing landscape of school enrollment

The enrollment declines after COVID-19 reflect a changing K-12 education landscape. The pandemic has been a wake-up call for many families. COVID-19 gave parents and guardians a window into what was happening in their kids’ classrooms and forced them to explore alternative learning arrangements, which included teaching their children at home. This helped them find out how easy or difficult it is to teach their children as well as whether their pre-pandemic schooling arrangements did a good job educating them. This realization has pushed families to consider different schooling arrangements after COVID-19. The incentives of families to explore different schooling arrangements might have been even greater when families felt that the TPS system could not deliver a high enough pace of learning for their children. This could represent families of children on both ends of the performance distribution. Families of children who may be struggling at school—including those who experienced learning losses during the pandemic—are likely to try out something new to help their child catch up.

Families of higher-performing children may also be willing to explore new arrangements. The families of these students often feel that the traditional public school does not allow them to learn fast enough, possibly because the pandemic-induced learning resulted in academic gains for these students. In either case, the combination of pandemic-induced realizations about school performance and availability of arrangements that promise accelerated learning has led parents to want to check if the grass is greener on the other side of TPS. At the same time, any alternative arrangement that families tried out during the pandemic may have stuck post-COVID-19, possibly because these arrangements work well enough for families not to change them.

Perceived school quality

We use data on family satisfaction from the annual New York City School Survey administered to parents and guardians to investigate changes in family satisfaction regarding school quality before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be a driver of willingness to consider alternative arrangements. We construct an index of family satisfaction using 13 questions related to satisfaction with the education their child receives at school, whether they report being satisfied with their child’s teachers, and whether they believe the school provides resources for and prepares their child for college, career, and success in life.

Figure 1 shows the distribution of the family satisfaction index across schools during the three years prior to the start of COVID-19 (school years 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19) and 2022-23. The results show a negative shift in family satisfaction after COVID-19. 1 In particular, more families reported lower levels of satisfaction from school quality after COVID-19 relative to before COVID-19.

Family dissatisfaction with public schools’ response to COVID-19 may be associated with public school disenrollment . Figure 2 explores the school-level association between family satisfaction and enrollment changes before and after COVID-19 in NYC. Dissatisfied families who leave public schools are not included in this investigation. Panel A of figure 2 shows the scatterplot, along with a fitted line, and a correlation coefficient between family satisfaction and the change in school enrollment over a three-year period before COVID-19. Panel B of figure 2 shows the association between family satisfaction and the change in school enrollment over a three-year period after COVID-19. The results reveal a decrease in the association between family satisfaction and school enrollment after COVID-19. 2 This suggests that as family satisfaction becomes more complicated after COVID-19 (i.e., the distribution widens as variance increases), other factors may contribute to family decisions regarding school enrollment.  

Demand for learning flexibility after COVID-19

The types of learning arrangements away from TPS that many families have considered since COVID-19 vary. Families have explored options like charter schools, private schools, and home education. A previous THP paper showed that neither population changes nor changes in charter school enrollment since 2020 fully explain the enrollment losses of TPS. Neither does the increase in private school enrollment explain away the declined enrollment of TPS. This suggests that many families may have chosen to educate their children at home after COVID-19.

In 2019, about 3.7 percent of students ages 5–17 received instruction at home. Interest in homeschooling grew rapidly during the pandemic with 11.1 percent of households with school-age children homeschooling in Fall 2020. Data from 390 districts show at least one home-schooled child for every 10 in public schools during the 2021-22 school year. No nationwide data on home education have been made available after the pandemic.

The choice of families to educate their children at home may be related to a family’s educational level and their capacity to allocate time to home education. The proliferation of flexible working arrangements after COVID-19 also may have allowed families to explore learning arrangements for their children that were previously less attainable for households with working parents/guardians.

The reasons families educate their children at home after the pandemic may differ from families that home-schooled their children before COVID-19. The nature of the home-schooling experience and the families’ expectations in terms of results may also differ. The lack of current nationwide data on home education after COVID-19 and the wide variation in reporting requirements of home education across states makes it difficult to grasp the prevalence of homeschooling and what homeschooling looks like today. To understand better what home education means after COVID-19, we spoke with home-educators and professionals who help families educate their children primarily at home. We present here what we learned.

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March 14, 2024

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October 12, 2023

Families’ motivations for home education are different after COVID-19 relative to prior the pandemic, our interviewees explained. Before COVID-19, most families educating their children at home were doing so due to ideological, moral, or religious reasons. According to 2019 data from the National Household Education Survey (NHES), 74.7 percent of families reported their motivation for home-schooling as “a desire to provide moral instruction.” Similarly, 58.9 percent of respondents reported “A desire to provide religious instruction” as a reason for homeschooling. In contrast, our targeted interviews suggest that families taking their children away from the TPS system in recent years are more likely to be motivated by a desire to improve their child’s pace of learning or provide more specialized learning.

Because families’ motivation for home education differed prior to COVID-19, the content families choose to teach their children after COVID-19 is different from before. Our interviewees report that after COVID-19, parents and guardians are less likely to deviate from standard school curriculum compared to families that home-schooled before COVID-19. Three factors support this practice. First, the reason that some families home-school after COVID-19 is precisely because their child struggled with the content taught at school. As a result, this content is the first thing the families try to tackle before considering other material. Second, parents and guardians are often not professional educators, and they are more likely to teach material for which study guides, textbooks, and curricula already exist. Third, families who are new to home-schooling are often uncertain whether this arrangement will work well for their child or whether they will be able to maintain this arrangement long-term, and they want their child to be able to re-integrate back into the TPS system. Home-schooled children who are taught standard school content may have an easier time re-joining a classroom-based instructional model.

Home-based schooling arrangements are not as isolating as one may imagine, our interviews suggested. For example , some families often arrange for a hired teacher to teach a small number of children in the neighborhood. Or some parents and guardians, while primarily teaching their children alone at home, may plan social and learning activities with groups of other home-schooled students.

An interviewee reported that charter schools that provide non-classroom-based learning or independent study, which have gained students post-COVID-19, allow families to pursue home education while still being connected online to a system that provides support to the children and their families. Families that choose to enroll in one of these non-classroom-based charters are assigned a teacher for their child and are provided with a budget for educational resources their student may need. The teacher assigned to the student will routinely evaluate the learning progress of students at home, ensuring that they are still meeting state or local required educational standards. Non-classroom-based charter schools are more common in Alaska and California .

Homeschooling regulations vary widely across the US. While it’s legal in all 50 states, tracking and oversight differ. Some states do not require families to notify school officials, while others require an official notice once or annually. Requirements vary for parent qualifications, assessments, subjects taught, and immunizations. Access to special education and extracurriculars also varies. To the extent that staying connected to a school while home educating can be part of regulatory requirements, non-classroom-based charter schools offer a legal vehicle for home education.

The connection with a school is important to many families who are new to homeschooling or to students who need learning support services or those who plan to later return to more traditional schooling options. Some families report non-classroom-based schools working well for their young elementary-aged children and their middle school children but describe their high-school aged child to have a desire for things a non-classroom-based schools are not usually able to provide, such as clubs or sports teams.

Public charter schools that allow for students to learn primarily at home also open a window for families who wanted to try home-schooling but felt that it was financially inaccessible, our interviewees suggested. The cost of books, lesson plans, and learning materials can add up. The financial strain of those resources often impacts families’ decision to homeschool. Through non-classroom-based charter schools, the financial burden of home education shifts from the individual household as these students receive similar funding to those enrolled in classroom-based public schools.

Implications

Families’ demand for flexibility regarding schooling arrangements and pedagogical approaches is higher after COVID-19 relative to pre-pandemic. The motivations of families for taking their children out of traditional public schools might have changed post-pandemic. After COVID-19, many families feel that what public schools offered before COVID-19 is not enough now. We believe this helps explain the enrollment declines we see in TPS.

Of course, preferred school arrangements outside the TPS system look different from household to household, and some of these arrangements likely existed even before COVID-19. In some of these learning arrangements, such as the home-based ones, it is hard to know whether students learn at a faster pace than they would in TPS. In many states, standardized testing is optional, while colleges and universities often waive the test score requirement in admission applications. This means that student performance data availability is limited but also the data available may be skewed toward test takers who are more likely to do well as they can use their scores to improve signaling in their college applications.

A key implication of our investigation is that more data are needed to understand the demand for more flexible or personalized learning arrangements after the COVID-19 pandemic and the learning efficacy of these arrangements. Particularly, data on how many students flow toward non-classroom-based learning arrangements, what are the demographics of these families, and what are the demographics of those left behind are much needed to understand the equity implications of declined enrollments. From a planning perspective, more complete and accurate measurement is needed to design policies and programs that help students learn, regardless of where they learn.

Declining enrollment in brick-and-mortar schools may mean that eventually fewer of them are needed. School closure or consolidation is likely to adversely affect families who do not have access to learning arrangements away from TPS. Without knowing how permanent the new equilibrium of the K-12 education landscape is, one may worry that lost school infrastructure and decreased capacity in student seats will hurt those who will rely on TPS in the future.

The Brookings Institution is financed through the support of a diverse array of foundations, corporations, governments, individuals, as well as an endowment. A list of donors can be found in our annual reports published online here . The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this report are solely those of its author(s) and are not influenced by any donation.

• Results are similar when data from the 2020-21 school year or the 2021-22 school year are used.
• The results are similar when the family satisfaction index in 2019-20 is used instead of the family satisfaction index in 2020-21 in the investigation of the association between family satisfaction and school enrollment changes after COVID-19.

K-12 Education

Economic Studies

The Hamilton Project

Melissa Kay Diliberti, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo

Jamie Klinenberg, Jon Valant, Nicolas Zerbino

May 7, 2024

The Brookings Institution, Washington DC

8:30 am - 4:30 pm EDT

Exploring the significant problems confronting secondary schools history education: a baseline study

• Open access
• Published: 14 May 2024
• Volume 3 , article number  52 , ( 2024 )

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• Fekede Sileshi Fufa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6035-8205 1 ,
• Abera Husen Tulu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0408-9028 2 &
• Ketebo Abdiyo Ensene   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8492-9340 1  

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The purpose of this baseline study is to determine the significant problems confronting history education in secondary school. The researchers employed qualitative research methods and case study design. The techniques that were employed to acquire credible data were document analysis, interviews, and classroom observation. Six experienced history education teachers and eight top-ten students from Sebeta town public secondary school were interviewed, and academic achievement statistics of 174 students in history education were analyzed. In addition eight lesson observations were carried out to validate the information gleaned from the interviews and document analysis. The study's findings show that the primary challenges influencing history education in Sebeta town public secondary schools were teaching strategy, a lack of awareness about implementing participatory teaching methods, a lack of comprehensiveness of the contents of history education teaching materials, and the issue of the bulkiness and scope of history education texts being covered on time. The findings also indicate the significance of training history education teachers to use participatory teaching tactics, as well as the need for curriculum experts to better coordinate the range of history education content and teaching strategies. The findings of this study will help teachers, practitioners, scholars, policymakers, and educational professionals find solutions to significant problems in secondary school history education, as well as develop effective techniques for teaching history education in secondary schools that involve twenty-first century skills and abilities.

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1 Introduction

History education as an academic discipline has a long history in the world. In the nineteenth century a German historian Leopold von Ranke an indispensable contribution to modernizing history writing [ 1 , p. 2, 2 , p. 171]. Ranke (1795–1886) not only established history as a major discipline, but he also established the idea that all accurate history must be based on primary sources and rigorous methodology [ 1 , p.13, 3 ]. As a result, he is regarded as the father of modern historiography [ 1 , p. 2]. Since the nineteenth century, history education has developed as an independent discipline across the world.

In terms of teaching strategies, evidence shows that teaching approaches play an important role in any subject of study in enhancing students' academic achievements [ 4 , p. 601, 5 ]. Many research findings demonstrate that the approach employed to develop any operation significantly determines the end product [ 6 , p. 7]. Several factors influence students' academic achievement; evidence suggests that teachers are the most essential ones in terms of students’ education and achievements [ 7 , pp. 2633–34]. According to the research findings conducted on student learning, the way teachers engage their pupils is crucial in the teaching and learning process [ 8 , p. 39]. The approaches used by the teacher should be matched to the demands of the students [ 6 , p.7]. Students’ motivation and achievement are mostly dependent on the teachers’ activities [ 9 , p. 15). Several researches have indicated that among the subjects offered in schools, students do have not much interest in history education [ 10 , p. 45]. According to a study conducted on secondary schools, history education has been taught through lectures rather than participatory and student- centred strategies [ 11 , p. 1). According to Kiio [ 11 , pp. 1–2], effective implementation of participatory teaching and learning methodologies can increase students' interest in history education. Issar [ 10 , p. 49] also emphasized the significance of learning history education, stating that learning history education should help students understand the complexities of human lives, the diversity and relationships between different groups, the changes and continuities and connect the past, present, and future events.

Scholars confirm that constructive learning approaches allow students to participate actively in the lessons [ 12 , p. 35]. Since 1980, the theory of social constructivism has been advocated as an effective way of learning and teaching [ 12 , pp. 35–36]. It is a theory developed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), which holds that individuals are active participants in the creation of their knowledge [ 13 , p.783]. Vygotsky’s social constructivism focuses on pedagogies that encourage active learning, effective and meaningful learning, constructive learning, and learning by doing [ 13 , p.783]. Current research in the field of history education supports the notion that participatory approaches to teaching the subject at the secondary school level are the preferred method for developing the skills required to handle the world's future historiographical needs [ 14 , p. 81]. In several works of literature, interactive teaching approaches are vital in increasing student academic achievement. The purpose of this baseline study is to investigate the significant problems confronting history education in Sebeta government secondary schools.

2 Statement of the problem

History education is frequently a source of public debate, a source of unrest, and a site of struggle over what and how should be taught in schools in Ethiopia [ 15 , p. 2]. National history is taught as a compulsory subject in different countries. Several countries believe that knowing the country’s history is a requirement for all citizens [ 16 , pp. 1–2]. In the case of history education teaching in Ethiopia, for the first time, a history syllabus was included in the education curriculum after 1943 [ 17 , p.87]. However, no specific research on significant problems confronting history education in Ethiopian secondary schools has been conducted. Researchers who have studied the problem of education in Ethiopia have directly and indirectly addressed the issue of history education [ 18 , pp.18–19].

According to research conducted by Resource and Guide [ 19 , p. 8], teaching is important by incorporating 21st-century skills such as critical thinking skills, problem-solving, language proficiency, communication and collaborative skills, cognitive skills, adaptability skills and the ability to make decisions. Furthermore, student-centred teaching method fosters students' comprehension, deep learning, problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication [ 20 , p. 4]. Research conducted on history education has discovered a link between teaching approaches and students' attitudes towards history education [ 21 , p. 3]. A scant study has been conducted on significant problems confronting history education in Ethiopian secondary schools and on approaches more appropriate for teaching history.

This motivated the researchers to conduct research on major problems confronting history education in Ethiopian secondary schools in Sebeta town. To fill this gap, the researchers used a variety of tools to analyze significant problems confront history education in Ethiopian secondary schools in general, and Sebeta town public Secondary School in particular.

Thus, this study attempts to answer the following questions:

What are the most significant problems facing history education at Sebeta town public secondary school?

What are the most common teaching strategies employed at Sebeta town government secondary school?

How is the student’s academic achievement in history at Sebeta public secondary school?

3 Objectives of the study

To find out the most significant problems facing history education at Sebeta Town Government Secondary School.

To identify the most common teaching strategies employed at Sebeta town government secondary school.

To determine a student’s academic achievement in history at Sebeta government secondary school.

4 Literature review

Any research project needs theory to provide direction and help on how things are implemented. Theoretical foundation aids in deciphering the way phenomena happen and the basis of specific actions [ 22 , p. 75]. This research is founded on Vygotsky’s social constructivist learning theory, which supports historical thinking. According to a social learning theory developed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), individuals are active participants in the development of their knowledge [ 23 , p. 395]. This social constructivism approach places a strong emphasis on pairs and small groups [ 24 , pp.13–15]. According to this theory, students learn primarily through interactions with their classmates, instructors, and parents, whereas teachers are expected to facilitate dialogue in the classroom [ 25 , p. 243]. According to Richard [ 26 , p. 380], good teaching and learning are strongly reliant on interpersonal interaction and conversation, with the primary focus on the student’s understanding of the topic.

Scholarly works reveal that there is very little study on the significant problems confronting history education. The existing scholarly works on teaching approach and students’ learning, on the other hand, demonstrate that there are strong relationships between the effects of teaching strategies and students’ achievement. Sugano and Mamolo [ 27 , p. 827] conducted a study on the “Effects of Teaching Methodologies on Students’ Attitude and Motivation,’’ found that teaching methods had an enormous positive impact (Cohen’s d = 0.379) on student attitude. The study also found that cooperative learning had a greater power than traditional teaching methods in improving students’ positive attitudes, motivation and interest.

History teaching should not only be mastery of the basic content (substantive knowledge) but also enhance the acquisition of subject skills and competencies that will make students learn on their own and manage their own lives and carry it through the adversities of life in society [ 26 , 28 ]. Luka [ 14 , p. VII] discovered in his study, “The Impact of Teaching Methods on Attitudes of Secondary School Students Towards Learning of History in Malawi,” that students in secondary schools have negative attitudes towards learning history. One of the reasons he highlighted is that student-centred techniques of teaching are not regularly used in the subject of history education ( Ibid , [ 29 ]).

Moreover, Mazibuko [ 30 , p. 142] revealed that teaching methods in history education greatly contributed to students' negative perceptions of the subject. He discovered that traditional methods of teaching history utilized by teachers contributed to students decreasing interest in the subject ( Ibid ). Besides, Zhu and Kaiser [ 31 , p. 191] discovered that teaching methods influence students’ motivation, attitudes towards school, willingness to do homework, and confidence in their learning.

In his study on effective teaching in history, Boadu [ 8 , p. 39] discovered that effective teaching of history should bring the subject closer to students’ lives, hearts, and minds. He argued that effective teaching cannot emerge from traditional history teaching, because the teacher lectures on the subject intensely, and students are forced to take and memorize notes.

Silver and Perini [ 32 , p. 16) argued that teachers who use a variety of teaching techniques have well-behaved and motivated students, resulting in high student academic achievement.

Adding to this, according to [ 33 , p. 74], the quality of teaching strategies influences student learning and contributes to a 15 to 20 times improvement in student achievement. These researches highlighted that effective teaching strategies played a crucial influence on student motivation, developing students’ positive attitudes, and improving students’ academic achievement more than traditional teacher-centred approaches. There has been no research undertaken in Ethiopian secondary schools to determine which methodologies could be better appropriate for teaching history. Using the designed study instruments, the researchers examine and determine the significant problems confronting history education in Sebeta government secondary schools.

5 Research methodology

The study was conducted using the constructivist paradigm view with the qualitative research approach. In this study, the researchers utilized a qualitative research approach. The qualitative research approach allows the researchers to conduct an in-depth investigation of the problem under study [ 34 , pp. 177–179, 35 , p. 12]. The qualitative research approach has different specific designs. These are Phenomenology, Ethnography, Narrative inquiry, Case study, Grounded theory and Historical research [ 36 , p. 49]. In this study, the qualitative case study design was used. Case studies are ways to explain, describe, or explore phenomena. According to Hatch [ 37 , p. 37], case studies are the type of qualitative work that investigates a contextualized contemporary phenomenon within specific boundaries. This study was carried out using document analysis, interviews, and classroom observation techniques.

The researchers received the accreditation letter from their institution and submitted it to the relevant authorities to confirm the legality of the research. The letter was then submitted to the Sebeta town’s education office and Sebeta secondary schools to acquire authorization to collect primary data from sampled respondents. The data collection process was started after getting all relevant permits from the authorities. Before interviews with respondents, the researchers described the goal of the study to the participants to acquire their permission. The researchers told participants that the study's primary aim was to collect data for the research titled "The significant problems confronting history education in history education in Sebeta town public secondary schools, Ethiopia." After extensive verbal discussions with the respondents, interviews were conducted with those who expressed full interest in participating in the study.

5.1 Sampling procedure

This study employed a purposive sampling technique. In the first stage, the study site was chosen purposively, which is Sebeta town. In the following step, this baseline study was confined to two out of four government secondary schools in Sebeta town with similar standards, a higher number of students and staff than the others. The schools that were purposely selected for the study are those that have been in existence for a long time, have more experienced staff than others, and are expected to provide firsthand information. Purposive sampling was used to select knowledgeable research participants [ 38 , pp. 512–513]. Because it allows the researcher to select the research participants who were believed informed sources of information, thoughtful, informative, articulate, and experienced with the problem under the study [ 35 , p.142, 39 , pp. 100–114]. The researchers selected individuals who have a good source of information about the issue under study (history education teachers and students [ 39 , p. 100]. In the selected two secondary schools, there are six history education teachers, five males and one female. These teachers were purposefully included in the study. The researchers believed that the experienced teachers who were chosen were useful as a primary source of data because they were familiar with the subject's contents, as well as its problems. Eight top-ten grade ten students from the two schools also took part in the study directly. The researchers believed the top-ten students were able to explain the area of study more accurately than the others. Grade ten students were purposefully chosen for the study. The following are the grounds for choosing grade ten students: First history education in Ethiopia begins in grade nine. Students began studying history education grade nine onwards. Because it is assumed that grade ten students know more about history education contents than grade nine students. Second, it is assumed that grade ten comprises all types of students (higher achievers, moderate, and slow learners), as well as grade 10 students who will choose a major (social sciences and natural sciences) in their future grade eleven. As a result, the researchers opted to gather the finest information from grade ten students to establish their perspectives toward history.

6 Results and discussions

6.1 what are the significant problems facing history education in sebeta town government secondary school, 6.1.1 interviews analysis.

For explanation, the abbreviation SSST stands for “Sebeta Secondary School Teacher”, similarly, BSSST stands for “Burka Sebeta Secondary School Teacher” and the numbers denote the order. As shown in Table  1 , six history education teachers were interviewed for this study. Of the six teachers interviewed, five had more than 15 years of teaching experience. Five of these teachers hold a bachelor's degree and one has an MA in history. Five of the teachers interviewed were male and one was female. During the interviews, the teachers revealed to the researchers that three of the six teachers had an MA in another academic discipline (Table 2 ).

For clarification, the abbreviation SSSS stands for, “Sebeta Secondary School Student”, BSSS, “Burka Sebeta Secondary School Student” and the numbers represent the order. Eight students’ four males and four females from both schools were chosen for the interview of this study.

An interview is one of the data collection instruments that were used to explore the significant problems confronting history education in government secondary schools. An interview allows the researchers to gather information that is directly related to the research objectives [ 40 , p. 411]. It is typically conducted one-on-one with informants who have firsthand experience with the research topic [ 25 , p. 144]. An interview was conducted with six experienced history education teachers, and eight secondary school students to gather adequate data about the topic under investigation.

The researchers began their interview with teachers by asking, “What are the significant problems facing history education in Sebeta town government secondary school?” The researchers interviewed teachers concerning the organization of the history education curriculum. Teacher SSST1’s response to this question is as follows: “I have been teaching history education for 18 years but I have never seen or read the curriculum of history education until today.’’ Furthermore, BSSST1 shared the same point of view saying: “So far, I have not read any history education syllabus or seen what it contains except students’ textbook. There is no available history education syllabus in secondary school for teachers. ” Teacher SSST2 also made a similar note: “We do not have a history syllabus, and the teaching materials that we use to teach students are only students’ textbooks.”

All of the teachers interviewed stated that they did not have a history curriculum and had never utilized it. The researchers found that teachers do not see contents, structures, recommended teaching aids, and methodologies in the history education syllabus and teachers’ guide.

Teachers explained that the history education textbook is divided into three parts: world history, African history, and Ethiopian history. According to the teachers interviewed, the history of the Ethiopian peoples are not written inclusively in students’ textbooks, and Ethiopian history education does not adequately addressed the political, social, and economic history of the Ethiopian people (BSSST1, BSSST2, SSST1, SSSS2, SSST3). However, research work suggests that in multi-ethnic countries, all students should be able to learn about themselves and their culture from the books they learn from Hodkinson et al. [ 41 , p. 3] stated that “all learners must be able to find themselves and their world represented in the books from which they learn.”.

In addition, teachers were asked as history education teaching materials in the same way as other Subjects. To this question, all of the teachers interviewed consistently said no. Teachers claim that “since our country’s political changes, textbooks for all disciplines have been updated three to four times, but history education has not been updated in the same way” (BSSST1, BSSST2, SSST1, SSSS2, SSST3, SSSST4). They demonstrated this to the researchers by referring to the textbook they were using. In this instance, a history grade 10 students’ textbook was published in 2002 GC/1994, reprinted in 2005/1997 and renewed in 2023 after 18 years. According to the teachers interviewed, there has been no detailed reform of history education in terms of adding or removing content, implementing new teaching strategies, or keeping up with the 21st-century world. One interviewed teacher said, ‘’I have been teaching history for 18 years and have not observed any changes in history education contents since I started teaching history education.’’ (SSST1).

The researchers continued their interview with teachers by asking, is the content of the history education curriculum appropriate for the student's abilities? This question is to gather evidence to understand that the content of the history curriculum is appropriate for the student's abilities. Teachers and students were asked this question. When asked about the content of history education in grade ten, teachers made two comments:

Students who did not study history as a subject in elementary school (1st grade to grade eight) may find it more difficult when they begin studying history education as a subject in grade nine (SSST1 and SSST2).

They have been studying in their mother tongue in primary school (grades 1 to 8) and studying in English from grade 9 onwards will make it difficult for students to understand the contents (SSST1 and SSST2). The students interviewed strongly agree with the latter. According to the students, “the content of history is very difficult to understand, history is not like other subjects, it requires proper knowledge of English” SSSS1, SSSS2, BSSSS1 and BSSS2).

Follow-up questions were also raised for teachers, to determine the teaching methods included in the history education curriculum. However, teachers were unable to respond to this question because they were not implementing the teaching practices outlined in the history education curriculum due to a lack of a history syllabus. A well-designed teaching strategy has a crucial role in improving students' academic achievement [ 42 , p. 51–64]. Therefore, teachers teach history using their own teaching and learning methods. When asked what teaching method they used, the teachers stated that they used the lecture teaching method (SSSS1, SSSS2, BSSSS1 and BSSS2). The reason they use lecture methods more than other teaching and learning methods is that the content of history lessons is extensive and the time allocated for history lessons is 80 min per week (SSSS1, SSSS2, BSSSS1 and BSSS2).

6.1.2 Classroom observation analysis

The researchers used lesson observations to obtain firsthand and ‘real' facts and data about the significant problems confronting history education in Sebeta government secondary schools. This is because many people do not want to discuss all topics during an interview [ 43 , p. 117]. The researchers employed the lesson observation checklist, which included activities such as the teacher's teaching strategies, teacher and student activities throughout the session, teacher-student interaction during the lesson, student seating arrangements, and teaching aids used. Using this checklist, the researchers observed the teacher’s teaching practice during the lesson. The researchers observed four different classrooms. The primary aim of this observation was to strengthen the data obtained from teachers and students during an interview. The teachers in all of the classrooms first ask students what they learned in their last class. Aside from that, they only used to give notes and lectures to the students in every class.

Another point that the researchers visited in the classroom was the teachers’ and students’ activities during the lesson. The teachers gave notes, and lectures and many students were busy writing notes. When the teachers lecture the content some students do not pay attention and instead take notes. Some students do not take notes, do not listen and look elsewhere. As observed by the researchers, teacher-student interaction during the lesson is very weak. Based on the observation students' seating arrangements were traditional in that three students' seats occur on a wave which is not convenient for group discussion, group work and collaborative learning.

During classroom observation, there are no teaching aids used in all classrooms visited by the teachers to make the lessons practical.

Finally, based on the findings of the study through classroom observation, traditional methods of teaching and learning in history classrooms are still the dominant teaching strategies in the twenty-first century. Researchers who research teaching strategies confirm that participatory teaching is an effective way to improve students’ academic achievement. Madar and Baban [ 42 , pp. 51–64] also discovered that participatory teaching is a good strategy to develop students’ skills and increase their academic achievements. They added that participatory teaching strategies put students at the centre of the teaching and learning process (p. 51). However, through interviews with teachers, students, and lesson observation, the researchers discovered that teachers are not employing student-centred approaches that are fitting for students' learning and achievement.

The responses of teachers and students are consistent with the literature on strategies for teaching. Researchers who conducted studies on teaching strategies found that the teacher- centred method is a traditional strategy that is not very effective in enhancing student achievement. The findings of this study also agree with Mohammed [ 44 , p. 11] who conducted a study on, “strategies in the teaching of geography …” , and stated that the lecture method of teaching has a negative effect on students’ creativity, critical thinking, ability to produce new ideas, and academic achievement of students. Similarly, this study’s findings also concur with Ezurike [ 45 , pp. 1120–124] conducted a study on, “The Influence of Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Teaching Methods on Academic Achievement of Students,” which discovered that poor methods, mostly teacher-centred and conventional teaching methods used by teachers, are one of the major factors contributing to students’ poor achievement.

Finally, it is better to conclude that teaching strategies can positively and negatively influence students' academic achievement. If teachers only employ the lecture approach without involving students in the lesson, it may result in low student academic achievement in contrast if teachers employ student-centred strategies students can understand the main point of the lesson and enhance the academic achievement of students.

6.2 How do teaching strategies influence students' academic achievement in Sebeta secondary schools?

To answer this question, the researchers conducted interviews with teachers and students, as well as document reviews and classroom observations. This issue was addressed by both teachers and students. Methods of teaching have a wide range of effects on the academic success of learners. When asked this question, they all had similar answers. According to teachers, good teaching strategies play a significant role in improving students’ academic achievement. They state this as follows:

Using collaborative teaching practices can significantly improve students' academic achievement. Because collaborative instruction is a teaching technique in which students learn together by assisting one another. Higher achiever students support the low achiever learner in this instructional learning process. However, if teachers utilize traditional teaching methods without involving students in the teaching-learning process, students' academic achievement may suffer (BSSST1, SSST2, and SSST3).

However, for a variety of reasons, teachers do not use collaborative teaching strategies to improve the academic achievement of their students. Rather than focusing on improving the academic achievements of students’ teachers are only concerned with completing their content. Furthermore, the student stated that teaching strategy can positively and negatively influence students' academic achievement. According to students:

…if teachers employ interactive teaching strategies during teaching lessons, students can understand the main point of the lesson and profit much from it. In contrast, if teachers exclusively employ the lecture approach without involving students in the lesson, it may result in low student achievement in the subject. Furthermore, students responded with two statements: excellent teaching strategies encourage students’ interest in the subject and are also, critical for improving students' academic achievement (BSSSS1, BSSSS2, SSSS1, SSSS3, and SSSS6).

The teachers were interviewed about teaching methods they implement when teaching a history education lesson. The teachers were asked to mention teaching methods that they always use in teaching history. The majority of the teachers claimed to use lecture approaches when teaching history education lessons. Teachers noted: “huge class sizes and low time allotted to history subjects, making it difficult to apply participator/student-centred methods (BSSST3, SSST, and SSST2). Furthermore, when asked about their teachers’ teaching methods in history class, students stated that “teachers only use teacher-centred strategies (lecture, dictation, note-giving and reading notes on the blackboard)” (BSSSS3, SSSS1, SSSS2).

During the interview all interviewed teachers acknowledged the use of the lecture method in their teaching. The justifications provided for the use of the lecture method include saving time, the convenience of covering content on time and the nature of students. Teachers said, “A lecture method helps the teacher to cover a lot of content in a short period” (SSST1, SSST2, SSST3, SSST4, BSST1, and BSST2). The findings of this study are consistent with the findings of a study conducted by Luka [ 14 , p. 30] on the topic of “the impact of teaching methods on attitudes of secondary school students towards learning of history in Malawi,” which discovered that teachers use boring lecture methods to complete their courses rather than focusing on students' results.

History teachers' perceptions of the use of the participatory approach were very low. Based on the interview conducted with history education teachers they were not interested in using student-center teaching strategies (BSSST1, BSSST2, SSST1, SSST2, SSST3, and SSSST4). Teachers claimed that participatory teaching strategies were time-consuming and unsuitable for large-class settings ( Ibid ). Instead of using participatory teaching strategies teachers choose teacher-centred methods to cover a large portion within a given time.

The researchers interviewed history teachers at Sebeta secondary schools about the challenges that they confront when implementing the participatory approach. The interviewed teachers stated that the time allotted for history education did not correspond to the content (BSSST1, BSSST2, SSST1, SSST2, SSST3, and SSST4). They were unwilling to utilize student-centred teaching methodologies because they believed it would be time-consuming and difficult to cover the contents of the student’s textbooks within the academic year. According to the teachers, the time allotted to history education every week was only two periods (80 min), although history education included more than 246 pages ( Ibid ). Students also stated that teachers frequently employ lecture methods when teaching history lessons. Both teachers and students agree that collaborative learning methods are more beneficial than traditional teaching methods in improving students’ academic achievement (SSST1, SSST2, SSST3, SSST4, BSST1, and BSST2). Teachers claim that "due to the wide range of topics covered in history education, we use lecture methods of teaching rather than participatory approaches" (SSST1, SSST3, BSST1, and BSST2).

6.3 How is the student's academic achievement in history at Sebeta government secondary school? To answer this question, the researchers used document review

6.3.1 document analysis.

Document analysis is part of the qualitative data collection strategy that every researcher engages in throughout the research period. In this research researchers reviewed, history education students’ textbooks, published articles and roasters of students (students’ mark list). The history education achievement of 174 Sebeta government secondary school students scored in grade 9 in 2020/2021 was compared to look at their achievement in grade 10 in 2021/2022. As a result, one student achieved less than 50% out of 100%, 39 students’ scores ranged from 50 to 60 out of 100%, 98 students scored from 61 to 70 out of 100%, 27 students scored between 71 and 80 out of 100%, 8 students scored between 81 and 90 out of 100%, and 1 student scored between 91 and 100, in grade nine. In grade 10, 11 students scored below 50, 103 students scored between 50 and 60, 45 students scored between 61 and 70, 9 students scored between 71 and 80, 4 students scored between 81 and 90, and 2 students scored between 91 and 100 out of 100%.

Based on this analysis, we can witness students’ achievement in two ways. The first is that in grade 9, 138 out of 174 students scored less than 70% out of 100% and the results of students scoring from 70 to 100% declined significantly. The second point to mention is that student achievement in history education has been highly declining at the subsequent grade level. In Grade 10, the number of students scoring less than 50% grew, and 159 out of 174 students scored less than 70% in history education. This indicates students' achievement in history in grade 9 decreased in grade 10. This suggests that students' achievement in history education was inadequate. Following the analysis of student achievement, interviews were conducted with students and teachers to identify why students' achievement in history education was so low.

7 Conclusion and recommendations

Research shows that teaching strategies are a crucial aspect in successful learning because they enable learners to learn, create, and take a proactive attitude towards learning. The significant issues confronting history education have been identified were teaching strategy, a lack of awareness about implementing participatory teaching methods, a lack of comprehensiveness of the contents of history education teaching materials, and the issue of the bulkiness and scope of history education texts being covered on time and Lack of teachers’ understanding of employing creative teaching strategies to improve students’ academic progress. Despite this, the study found that teachers in Sebeta government secondary schools use the teacher-centered lecture approach rather than interactive or student-centered strategies, which are recommended for students' learning. Teachers were cognizant of student-center teaching and learning improved student achievement. Conversely, teachers are hesitant to adopt participatory teaching methodologies due to the vastness of history textbooks and the lack of time provided to history education to cover bulky texts. As a result, they employ teaching approaches that they believe will allow them to complete the history education contents in the allocated time rather than focusing on enhancing students' academic achievement.

Furthermore, the study also found out that teachers are reluctant to use participatory student-centred learning methods because the two periods per week allocated (80 min) to teaching history education are not enough to cover a wide range of history education content. They believe participatory student-center teaching is ineffective in large classrooms and takes more time than the lecture method. Such thinking stems from a lack of understanding (imparting knowledge) on the use of innovative teaching strategies. The researchers examined the lecture teaching approach that students had learned as well as their results. Several students' achievement in history education shows below 70% out of 100% at Sebeta government secondary schools. The main reason for this low achievement is the teachers’ teaching strategies (the use of teacher-centred approach) to teaching history education to complete a wide content within the allotted time. Teachers do not consider which strategies could improve students’ achievement rather than focus on completing their content. This has also resulted in students’ negative attitudes towards the subject.

The outcomes of this study can serve as the foundation for future research in academic and professional studies. This discovery is notable for the fact that teaching and learning approaches influence students' academic achievement in both directions. Accordingly, if teachers only employ the lecture approach without involving students in the lesson, it may result in low student academic achievement in contrast if teachers employ student-centred strategies students can understand the main point of the lesson and enhance the academic achievement of students.

Thus, for future studies intervention exprimental research in history education is required to measure the extent to which participatory methods of instruction increase the academic achievement of students over teacher-centred strategies. More research, according to the researchers, should be conducted using participatory teaching methods in one classroom and lecture methods in others to determine to what extent participatory teaching methods improve the academic achievement of students when compared to teacher-centred strategies. Following the findings, researchers provided the following recommendations: national and regional education experts should collaborate closely in making history education content inclusive, as well as training history education teachers in the use of participatory teaching approaches. Curriculum experts should effectively organize the breadth of history education contents. To ensure that students learn successfully, the relevant authorities should rigorously monitor the state of the teaching and learning processes in general and history education in particular.

Data availability

The data of this study is the primary source, which is the roster of students' results and education policies. The student results/ marks analyzed for this study are from two Sebeta town public secondary schools: Sebeta secondary school and Burka Sebeta secondary school and Ethiopian education policies. So, the data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request from anyone.

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Corresponding Author of the article: Fekede Sileshi Fufa. Abera Husen (PhD, Assistant Professor). Ketebo Abdiyo (PhD, Associate Professor). Authors’ contribution statements 1. Initially, Fekede Sileshi convinced Abera Husen and Ketebo Abdiyo as the study should be conducted. 2. Then, Abera Husen devised the study's theory. 3. Fekede Sileshi and Ketebo Abdiyo verified the analytical methods of the study. 4. Abera Husen encouraged Fekede Sileshi to investigate the study. 5. Ketebo Abdiyo supervised the overall findings of this work.

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Fufa, F.S., Tulu, A.H. & Ensene, K.A. Exploring the significant problems confronting secondary schools history education: a baseline study. Discov Educ 3 , 52 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00132-8

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EAST CENTRAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT Job Announcement 2024-2025 High School Social Studies Teacher – Potential Opening The position of a High School Social Studies Teacher will potentially be available at East Central ISD for the 2024-2025 school year. All individuals (district employees included) who are interested in this position must apply online through Frontline via the district website. The deadline for submitting an application is until the position is filled.

POSITION FUNCTION/PURPOSE: Provide students with appropriate learning activities and experiences in the core academic subject area assigned to help them fulfill their potential for intellectual, emotional, physical, and social growth. Enable students to develop competencies and skills to function successfully in society.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Develop and implement lesson plans that fulfill the requirements of the district’s curriculum program and show written evidence of preparation as required.
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Education/Certification: Bachelor’s Degree Valid Texas Teacher’s Certificate Social Studies 7-12 or 8-12 Special Knowledge/Skills: Ability to instruct students and manage their behavior Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills

EQUIPMENT USED: Personal computer and peripherals; standard instructional equipment

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PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT: 2024-2025 School Year SALARY: Based on Board-approved salary scale for 2024-2025 school year

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New dean of School of Nursing and Health Studies named

By Robert C. Jones Jr. [email protected] 05-15-2024

Amid a setting of sutures and stethoscopes, bandages and blood pressure cuffs, medical successes and sometimes setbacks, Hudson Santos found his calling at the tender age of 9: nursing.  

His mother, unable at times to arrange childcare for her young son, would sometimes bring him along to the hospital in northeastern Brazil where she cared for patients on her rounds as a licensed practical nurse. “Her professionalism was imprinted on me at a very early stage of my life,” Santos recalled. “She inspired me and nursing became our shared passion.”  

So he followed in his mother’s footsteps, becoming a nurse and caring for marginalized groups at clinics in Brazil and in the United States before conducting nursing-related education and research as an internationally renowned academician.  

Now, Santos, vice dean for research at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies , has earned what he says is “the greatest honor of my professional career.” He has been named the next dean of the University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies.  

“In Dean Santos, we have a proven leader whose prolific portfolio is matched only by his passion for guiding colleagues and students to excellence in research,” said University President Julio Frenk. “His is precisely the type of vision our School of Nursing and Health Studies needs to continue its ascent to the top echelon of nursing programs nationally.”

Santos joined the University of Miami faculty two years ago as a tenured professor and the inaugural Dolores J. Chambreau Endowed Chair in Nursing. He was formerly the Beerstecher-Blackwell Distinguished Term Scholar and a tenured associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he led the Biobehavioral Laboratory and was the founder and director of the Health Resilience and Omics Science Hub for identifying genetic risk factors affecting the neurodevelopment of children. He was also the Director of Training and Mentorship Division for the Institute for Environmental Health Solutions at the Gillings School of Global Public Health.  

Over the past 15 years, he has conducted extensive research on families, studying how early life stressors affect perinatal health and child developmental outcomes in high-risk populations as well as across socioeconomic status levels and racially and ethnically diverse communities.  

For Santos, it is an area of investigation that began when he was a nurse working in a clinical setting in northeastern Brazil and noticed that mothers with psychological issues and their developmentally delayed children were being treated at separate outpatient facilities. “I saw children who were struggling developmentally, and I wanted to know what was affecting their mothers. But the health care system was fragmented; they were being seen separately and at different locations,” he recalled.  

And that sparked his desire to learn more about maternal-child health and to raise awareness that the health of children begins before they are even born.  

Santos also has examined how environmental factors such as climate change can influence the health outcomes of mothers and their children. “Heat can negatively affect health, especially the health of families who lack basic necessities and are facing other adversities. So, we want to understand that and be able to use that information for prevention,” he said. “The whole idea is to foster a healthier family ecosystem early on instead of having to treat families for serious conditions later in life.”  

Santos is spearheading an ambitious $23.57 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) study examining how social and economic inequities as well as other stressors experienced by parents can biologically and psychologically impact their children. As part of that seven-year grant, the largest ever awarded to the Coral Gables Campus, the School of Nursing joins the NIH’s Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program and will enroll a racially and ethnically diverse group of some 1,250 pregnant mothers from Miami-Dade County, following their offspring from birth to age 7.  

Miami-ECHO is recruiting participants through UHealth—the University of Miami Health System, and Jackson Heath System, and will join several other cohorts across the nation to create a group of over 50,000 children and their parents. “While the big picture is to understand how early environmental factors impact child health and development, we’ll also be able to answer questions that are specific to Miami,” Santos said.  

Through his leadership, the School of Nursing and Health Studies has risen dramatically in national rankings—from 24th to 16th in NIH funding—nearly doubling its research footprint from $3,396,294 in FY 2022 to $6,061,945 in FY 2023.  

And over the course of his career, he has authored more than 110 scientific publications, securing upwards of $47 million in research funding as a principal investigator or co-investigator.  

“Dean Santos is an internationally known nurse leader and scientist who has transformed research at the School of Nursing and Health Studies in his short two years at the school,” said Guillermo “Willy” Prado, interim executive vice president and provost. “I am confident that his leadership and his vision for the school’s academic programs and research will elevate the school as a premier destination for both nursing students and faculty across the country.”  

Beyond his significant research portfolio, Santos has also demonstrated effective leadership, serving as acting director of the Ph.D. in Nursing Science program and interim associate dean of the Graduate School, Frenk and Prado pointed out in their message on Santos’ appointment to the University community emailed on Wednesday.  

Santos is passionate about diversity and inclusion, a philosophy deeply rooted in his own background as a Latino male nurse, a first-generation college student, and an immigrant to the United States. Born into poverty in Brazil, he and his siblings were confronted with severe adversity. “Survival was an achievement for us and thriving seemed beyond reach,” he said. “Yet, I discovered the transformative power of education in lifting individuals out of poverty.”  

As dean he will lead a nursing school that is home to the five-story Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education (S.H.A.R.E.) with on-site virtual and extended-reality simulation opportunities in a variety of clinical, research, and educational settings.  

Among his goals are to enhance the relationship of the nursing school with UHealth and Jackson Health System, expand the school’s strong national and international presence, and amplify its visibility by promoting innovative education, research and scholarship, he said.  

Santos currently serves as president of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics and is also a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, where he serves as chair-elect of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science National Advisory Council.  

He begins his deanship on June 1, succeeding Cindy Munro, who last year announced she was stepping down as dean at the end of the academic year after leading the school for nearly seven years.

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