Proven Results

For years, our participants, volunteers, sponsors and staff have promoted the benefits of the Destination Imagination program. After all, in more than a decade, our program has reached more than a million students.

In 2011, researchers from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education conducted an independent research evaluation of the DI program. The evaluation focused on the program’s effectiveness, impact and participant satisfaction in areas relating to creative problem-solving, creative and critical thinking, teamwork and leadership. Among other findings, the researchers reported, “Students who participated in the activities and tournaments provided by DI outperformed comparable students who had not participated in DI on assessments measuring creative thinking, critical thinking and collaborative problem solving.”

A study of 600 students was conducted among primary, elementary, junior high and high school students at DI’s Global Finals on the campus of the University of Tennessee in 2011. Researchers collected responses and then sent the results to non-DI personnel for analysis. Of the students polled, 70 percent reported they “do better in school” because of DI, and nearly half reported DI has helped them improve their grades.

We know the benefits, and others have taken notice too. We’re excited to offer PDF downloads of third-party studies that validate what we’ve known all along.