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Hi Bronwyn, CILS:
This is Rebecca Prosino writing from Sci-Port in Shreveport, Louisiana.

We have a "annual pass partnership" program which allows schools, for a
one-time fee, to purchase a membership to the center.  With that
membership they can come as many times as they like and they can have
1.5 hours of programming- either from our catalog or customized to their
needs- every time they come.  Below is a statement about that program's
efficacy that you can find in some Sci-Port literature:
"Oil City Elementary School is one of 32 Annual Pass Partners.  Students
from Oil City Elementary visited the Center under this program 42 times
in 2003 and 44 times in 2004, participating in curriculum-based programs
coordinated between their teachers and Sci-Port's Caddo and Bossier
educators.  Over this two-year period the percentage of Oil City
students scoring at Basic or above levels in science on their LEAP tests
has jumped from 33% to 71%.  

Sci-Port also conducts an SES program (Supplemental Educational
Services).  In this afterschool program we are essentially acting as an
extension of the Parish school system (SES providers have to be approved
by the state Dept of Education).  We provide math enrichment at the
center for these kids.  Below is the information we returned to the
State of Louisiana regarding the program's results.
"On average, our Elementary students increased 16 points (out of 500) on
their LEAP math tests between 2007 and 2008.  Kids who were enrolled in
the program but didn't come had an average decrease of .4 points.  Every
one of our participating Middle School students saw in increase in their
math test scores.  They had an average increase of 38 points out of 500.
By contrast, the students who were enrolled but didn't come only
increased an average of 2 points."

Last, we have some evaluation of our Outreach program from the 2008
calendar year that I'd be glad to share with you-- about impacts on
student attitudes such as evidence of increased question-asking and
engagement in science;  e-mail me and I'll share what we have with you. 

I hope this is what you're looking for.
Rebecca 
[log in to unmask]
(318) 424-8675


-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of CILS
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Impact evidence for formal-informal collaborations?

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
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Sorry for the clutter everyone. This was sent from the wrong email  
address....



Dear Colleagues,

I am writing seeking your help.

We (names below) are working on a white paper that assesses the  
current state of formal-informal collaborations.  The paper is being  
sponsored by the NSF-funded Center for the Advancement of Informal  
Science Education (CAISE).  We are looking for programs that have some  
forms of impact evidence related to ISE collaborations with schools.

By formal-informal collaborations we mean sustained partnerships or  
programs that are explicitly designed to address concerns of K12  
schools, and presumably ISEs as well, such as teacher content or  
pedagogy, curriculum, or student dispositions, awareness, learning.

We are not, in this white paper, judging the methods or validity of  
the findings that people share with us, but rather providing a  
theoretically guided basis for formal-informal collaborations and then  
providing an overview of what people have documented to date about the  
impacts of such collaborations on students, on teachers, and on  
district capacity (such as curriculum, PD, planning, etc.).

For a long time we have talked about how little data and evidence  
there is for the efficacy of these collaborations but I have been  
amazed at just how little we have been able to turn up.  If you have,  
or know of, relevant accounts of impact data (from evaluations or  
research), would you mind please letting us know about it?  We would  
like to include it in this "state of the field" report.  This paper  
will be made public and will serve to suggest the types of investments  
that the field should be making in this area in the years to come.

We are very open minded about what constitutes "evidence" -- and are  
interested in what people are valuing as outcomes  ( ...dispositions,  
visitation, skills, career awareness, science concepts, beliefs,  
collaborations, etc etc.) and what they have found when documenting  
those outcomes.

If you know of any such programs/documentation, please let us know at
[log in to unmask] 
  . We would like to include them in our report.

Thank you for your help!


Bronwyn Bevan
Director, Center for informal Learning and Schools
Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA  94123


Members of the formal-informal inquiry group for CAISE are: Bronwyn  
Bevan, Exploratorium; Kevin Crowley, University of Pittsburgh; Justin  
Dillon, King's College University; Catherine Eberbach, University of  
Pittsburgh; George Hein, Lesley University; Maritza McDonald, American  
Museum of Natural History; Vera Michalchik, SRI, International; Diane  
Miller, St Louis Science Center; Lorna Rudder, Queens Library, New  
York; Dolores Root, New Visions for Public Schols; Steve Scannel,  
National Science Foundation; Bill Watson, Smithsonian Museum of  
Natural History; Maria Xanthoudaki, Leonardo Da Vinci Museum Milan;  
Susan Yoon, University of Pennsylvania


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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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