Demographic characteristics: 

• 96% of participants are employed in schools, 63% as teachers.  30% teach 6th - 8th grade and 70% teach 9th - 12th grade. 78% teach in the public sector.
• 38% teach in schools with 1001-2000 students, and 25% teach in schools with fewer than 500 students.  53% teach in suburban districts, 29% in urban districts.  35 % teach in the South and 34% in the Northeast.
• 66% teach in schools with predominantly white students (38% of them with 60-80% white students), and 20% “nearly all white students”), whereas 26% teach in schools that are 60-80% or “nearly all” students of color (15% and 9% respectively). 
• 37% of the respondents are age 51-60 and 46% aged 31-50.  77% self-identify as female, 72% as White or European American, and 96% as heterosexual.  The mean number of years K-12 education is 15. 
• 81% report having taken the course to become culturally competent when working with diverse populations.

Course evaluation results:  

• Many to most course completers report that the logistics for the online course were clear and that course elements were very helpful. Over 50% agree strongly (with over 75% agreeing somewhat or strongly) that they had experienced and endorsed the course objectives in the modules of the course.
• Over 90% report that the modular sequence made sense to them, that overall the online course was user-friendly, and that it was easy to access the required course readings.
• 72% find the dramatic video scenarios very helpful overall, and 79% find other people’s stories “very helpful”.
• 90% agree “strongly” or “somewhat” that the course helped them to engage students in diversity-related discussions, to understand their own racial identity in interactions with students, to name specific ways that their life experiences influenced their view of others, and to think that students’ understanding of racial identity influenced student behaviors and attitudes.
• 70% agree “strongly” that the course increased their understanding of inclusive language.

Overall satisfaction:

• 70% of survey respondents were “very satisfied” and 97% “very” or “somewhat” satisfied with overall course knowledge and insights.

Professional value:

• 61% of respondents found the course “very” valuable to their professional development as educators, and 94% found it “very” or “somewhat” valuable.

Course-related actions taken since completing course:

• Over 75% of the respondents had applied course-related skills or knowledge in their interactions with students.  This includes having thought about the influence of social identity on classroom reactions (91%), discussed the MDC course with colleagues (86%), confronted classroom bias (80%), thought back onto at least one dramatic scenario from the course (79%), or considered the role of student identity on student classroom behavior (76%).
• 65% of respondents had incorporated anti-bias resources into their curriculum.
• Over 55% of the respondents had drawn upon course-related resources.

Learning outcomes:  

• 48% agree “strongly” that the course had enhanced their awareness of diversity, social identity, cultural differences, prejudice and discrimination.  This increases to 91% when including those who “somewhat” agree.
• 49% agree “strongly” that they feel more confident in confronting classroom bias, with 90% agreeing “somewhat” as well as “strongly.”
• 42% agree “strongly” that the MDC course helped them recognize prejudice in themselves and discrimination in institutions, with 90% agreeing “somewhat” as well as “strongly.”

Implementation of Action Plans:

• 32% of respondents had looked at their Action Plan since developing the plan in the MDC course.
• 25% had revised or considered revising their Action Plan.
• 11% had implemented “most” of their Action Plan since the MDC course, with 72% having implemented “some” or “most” of the plan.
• Of the 72% who had implemented some or most of their Action Plan, 17% found the Action Plan “very” valuable to their work as an anti-bias educator, with 74% saying “somewhat” or “very” valuable.
• Of the 86% of respondents who had implemented “some” or “none of the Action Plan, 26% had plans to implement it this year and 53% had plans to implement it next year.

Excerpted from Final Evaluation Report for Making Diversity Count, prepared for the Anti-Defamation League by Maurianne Adams, Ph.D., Elizabeth A. Williams, Ph.D., and Alison George, doctoral candidate, School
of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Published April 2008.