National History Day (NHD) is a nationwide curriculum program and competition with a community-based approach .... [I]t is the only program of its kind that involves middle and high school students in an immersive, innovative learning program about U.S. and global history -- and that works with state and federal education standards for history and language arts. Teachers incorporate the NHD curriculum into their classrooms or offer the program as an extracurricular activity.
                                                    -- National History Day Works: National Program Evaluation Executive Summary, January 2011, p. 2

The state affiliate of National History Day, HHD's curriculum framework aligns with the Department of Education's standards: Hawaʻi's Core Standards for Social Studies (HCSSS) and Common Core English Language Arts standards.

DOE Standards Alignment

​NHD equips students with college- and career-ready skills of collaboration, writing, and innovative thinking that come from a study of history and civics.

Why NHD Works

An independent study from 2011 indicates that History Day students outperform their non-History Day peers in all subject areas. 

Key Evaluation Findings

Executive Summary

Full Report

"This program meets our school's AVID standard for rigor and critical thinking. The many databases, curriculum alignment with ELA standards, documentary information, and 3 essay organizers" shared at this workshop were especially useful.

- Teacher Participant at an HHD Teacher Workshop

HHD Teacher Workshop hosted at University of Hawaiʻi - Hilo

Project Categories

Students as individuals or groups (up to 3 members) select a topic to research, and then a project category to creatively present their topic. Every project must also have a concept paper (also known as the Process Paper) of 500 words and an annotated bibliography, in MLA or Chicago format, of primary and secondary sources. Students in all categories do a 5-minute in-person interview with judges on the days of the History Day fairs.

Performance

A dramatic portrayal of ahistorical argument, research, and interpretation of a topic’s significance in history. 

–Up to ten minutes in length
–Original productions, presented live
–​May include costumes or props

Evaluation Form

Documentary

An audio/visual presentation that uses multiple source types such as images, video, and sound to communicate a historical argument, research, and interpretation of a topic’s significance in history. 

–Up to ten minutes in length
–Original productions, with technology including recording and editing equipment and video files operated by the student

​Evaluation Form

Website

A collection of interconnected web pages that uses multimedia to communicate a historical argument, research, and interpretation of a topic’s significance in history.

–Must be constructed using the NHD website editor: nhd.org/nhdwebcentral.
–May contain up to 1,200 student-composed words
 –May contain multimedia clips (audio, video, or both) that total no more than three minutes
​–Cannot link to outside websites

Evaluation Form

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Exhibit Board

A three-dimensional physical and visual representation of a historical argument, research, and interpretation of a topic’s significance in history.

 –An original production no larger than 40 inches wide,
30 inches deep, and 72 inches high.
–Up to 500 student-composed words
 –If used, media devices or electronics in an exhibit must not run for more than a total of two minutes and must not loop continuously.

Evaluation Form

Paper

A paper is a written format for presenting a historical argument, research, and interpretation of a topic’s
significance in history

​ –An original creation
–Contains between 1,500 and 2,500 student-composed words, double-spaced, with pages numbered
–May include images, maps, graphs, or primary source materials in
appendices section
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Evaluation Form

Hawaiian Language

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi projects can be in any category. They are judged and assessed by judges in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi at the district and state levels, with state-qualifying projects invited to a showcase at the National level.

​ –Projects follow the same rules for english-language projects in their respective categories
–Contains at least one ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi primary source
–Includes a short explanation on how the project topic or theme can connect to our local context of Hawaiʻi
–Student interviews are conducted in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi

​Evaluation Forms