Case method teaching has been the core pedagogy at Harvard Business School (HBS) for decades, favored by students and teachers alike. Building on this record of success, HBS Professor David Moss in 2013 introduced a case method course called History of American Democracy, developed mainly for undergraduates. The course quickly became one of the highest-rated classes at Harvard College. Students described the teaching method as highly engaging and credited it with helping them to learn and retain course material more effectively. Many also reported that taking the course had inspired them to become more civically engaged. As one Harvard student put it, “If this class didn’t make every student in it a better citizen, I don’t know what class would.”

As excitement about the course and the case method began to spread, Professor Moss was approached by high school teachers looking to try the cases with their students. This led a handful of high schools to experiment with Moss’s cases in the 2014-15 school year.

In response to positive feedback from this 2014-15 trial, formal pilot programs were launched during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years to test the effectiveness and appeal of the case method in a high school setting. The first pilot included 21 teachers and reached a total of approximately 500 students, while the second pilot engaged an additional 49 teachers, reaching approximately 2,000 students in total. Together, the two pilots involved teachers from 10 states, representing urban, suburban, and rural communities, as well as public, private, and charter schools. Participating teachers came to HBS for a multi-day workshop to kick off each program, and they agreed to teach approximately four cases to their high school classes during the school year. Teachers typically allotted 3-5 class sessions to each case; and because each case replaced existing material in U.S. history, government, and civics courses, teachers found they could substitute cases without altering their normal teaching schedules.

The pilots yielded very strong results. In formal surveys, both students and teachers indicated that the case method was a highly effective teaching approach that increased student energy and engagement in a diverse array of history, civics, and government classrooms. Many students expressed a clear preference for the case method over traditional teaching approaches and textbook readings. Teachers also discovered that the case method, when combined with the proper scaffolding, can make material written for a college audience accessible to students at all reading levels. Recognizing that the pilots had demonstrated proof of concept, the Case Method Project significantly expanded its cohort of partners for the 2017-18 academic year.

Today the Case Method Project is working with teachers in more than 800 schools in 48 states and the District of Columbia. It is accelerating its efforts by developing new cases and additional supporting materials, increasing the availability of teacher workshops, and enhancing support for the over 1000 teachers currently participating in the program. While the majority of teachers are adding cases to existing curricula, a growing number of instructors are now developing and implementing full semester or year-long civics courses comprised entirely of History of American Democracy cases.

For more information on participating in future workshops or bringing the Case Method to your school or district, please contact our team.