Supporting Expansive Growth of the Museum of the City of New York’s K-12 Programming
Client: Museum of the City of New York | Location: New York, NY | Funding: Altman Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities
Over the course of a decade we partnered with the Museum of the City of New York’s Education Department, supporting them with evaluation and strategy during a time of expansive growth in K-12 programming.
OVERVIEW
From 2007 to 2017, we partnered closely with the Department of Education at the Museum of the City of New York to help them think critically and strategically about the impact of the museum’s K-12 field trip programming over time.
During this time, the department underwent a period of growth and expansion that culminated with a major new suite of school programs for the museum’s new permanent exhibition, New York at its Core.
APPROACH
We led strategy sessions and conducted evaluation at three pivotal points in the department’s evolution over a decade:
In 2007, we conducted a strategy session with the Director of Education and a(then small) team of gallery teachers to clarify desired outcomes for students and evaluate whether those outcomes were achieved
In 2010, we conducted a rigorous quasi-experimental study to look at the museum’s field trip program’s impact on 4th grade students’ historical thinking skills, and
In 2017, we revisited the (then much bigger) department’s intended outcomes for students and teachers and conducted a summative evaluation of field trips for the museum’s new permanent exhibition, New York at its Core, which explores 400 years of New York City history.
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
Our partnership was a critical ingredient in the Education Department’s growth over time. Throughout our decade-long partnership, we helped the museum internalize an impact-driven approach to continual critique and improvement of field trips through evaluation and strategy.
The museum recognized that providing time and resources for these steps sustains the museum’s programs, builds educators’ capacity, and leads to impactful experiences for teachers and their students.
