TPACT Evaluation Information

The America’s Legislators Back to School Program was initiated in 1999 to provide a contemporary approach for engaging the American student population in understanding the value of democracy, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Funded by the NCSL Trust for Representative Democracy, the program sponsors state legislators’ visits to schools throughout the school year. NCSL provides educational materials on representative democracy for legislators’ use in their presentations to K-12 classes.

NCSL has evaluated qualitative aspects of the program and have evidence of enthusiastic support from legislators, teachers, and students. However, no controlled studies have been conducted to examine the program’s success in increasing students’ understanding, and appreciation of, representative democracy. Therefore, NCSL has contracted with a consulting firm to conduct a thorough, research-based evaluation of the Back to School Program to determine its impact on students’ understanding of, and appreciation for, their government.

NCSL has hired TPACT, Inc. to perform the evaluation of the program. Wyoming has been selected for the pilot study, which will gauge the attitudes and knowledge of students before and after a legislator visit to the classroom. This research project is designed to assess the effectiveness of the America’s Legislators Back to School Program, and is not an evaluation of the participating teachers, students, or legislators.

For more details about the evaluation, please explore the links on the left-hand side of the page or contact Jim Pelligrini at TPACT at 406-461-5641 or Legislative Information Officer Wendy Madsen at (307) 777-7881 or by e-mail at: wmadse@state.wy.us. Participating schools can download the associated materials and instructions using the links on the left.