Individuals who finished a map for Draw the Lines participated in an evaluation process led by ImpactED, a program at the University of Pennsylvania, which specializes in program evaluation for public and nonprofit organizations. We invite you to read their final, independent report.
Summary
The report indicates that: (1) students who participated in Draw the Lines noted an increase in feelings of empowerment to address community issues as well as likelihood to engage in civic advocacy after participating; and (2) teachers who use DTL resources believe it added value to their classroom as an effective tool to help them teach not just gerrymandering, but a range of social studies topics.
Notable Findings
- ImpactEd surveyed 250 people who completed a map. Of those who responded, 60% agreed or strongly agreed that participating in DTL made them feel like they could take action to end gerrymandering.
- On average, participants reported that their feelings of efficacy toward solving issues in their community increased from before they participated in DTL to after participating in DTL.
- Participants reported that their likelihood to engage in provided examples of civic advocacy actions (on issues that concern them unrelated to gerrymandering) increased from before they participated in DTL to after participating in DTL. Overall, the average score increased from 3.65 to 4.01 (on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being ‘not likely to participate’ and 5 being ‘definitely will participate’).
- 97% of survey respondents reported taking at least one action since participating in DTL, with 45% reporting they had taken 3 or more actions to end gerrymandering. The most popular action taken was discussing gerrymandering with friends (87%), followed by spreading the word about DTL (65%) and participating in the new DTL competition (42%). After participating in DTL, 23% even reported contacting an elected representative to discuss gerrymandering
- Phone surveys with participating teachers found that they valued the online platform and materials. They felt that the mapping exercise was an effective way to teach gerrymandering. Nearly all teachers indicated a high likelihood to repeat, and in some cases expand, the DTL programming in their classrooms.
Again, you can read the full report here.
