Echoes and Reflections

This Holocaust education training program and curriculum are the result of an unprecedented partnership among three leaders in Holocaust education: the Anti-Defamation League, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, and Yad Vashem.

Designed for middle and high school teachers, Echoes and Reflections examines the ways in which Jewish communities and culture throughout Europe were impacted by the Holocaust and provides works of literature, photographs, filmed Survivor testimonials and other resources for educators to incorporate in their classrooms.

Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG)—independent evaluator of Echoes and Reflections since 2005—concluded in its Executive Summary (pdf): "It is clear that Echoes and Reflections meets a need and fills a gap for many public, private, and parochial educators by providing materials to implement and enhance a comprehensive Holocaust education program. The Anti-Defamation League, USC Shoah Foundation Institute, and Yad Vashem have developed a strong product that has been successfully disseminated thus far. Further research and refinement will help solidify its niche as a unique and premier educational resource."

These conclusions were reached after collecting and analyzing data from eleven separate formative and summative evaluation activities conducted with 200 students and more than 300 educators.

As indicated through pre- and post-survey instruments, after using Echoes and Reflections, student attitudes reflected a better appreciation for the importance of studying the Holocaust, its relevance to their own lives, and the need to act against stereotyping and racism. Teachers indicated that their students learned more about the power and responsibilities of an individual and the consequences of remaining a bystander.

The implementation of Echoes and Reflections:

• Allows educators to choose as little or as much material regarding the Holocaust as they can cover in a specific time period…and still cover the subject matter effectively!
• Engages students with lessons that include rich primary source materials and compelling video of first-person testimony from survivors, rescuers, liberators, and other witnesses of the Holocaust.
• Offers curriculum connections to contemporary issues of diversity, prejudice and bigotry, and modern-day genocide.
• Meets curriculum goals with multi-disciplinary material correlated to U.S. national and state standards in several subjects.