This paper delves into the intricate dynamics of trust-building between museums and community organizations, proposing a paradigm shift in understanding professional relationships, likening them to personal relationships with their inherent complexities. The authors examine the common perception of "soft skills", as well as prevailing…

Informal science learning centers (ISLCs) like zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens are trusted community assets and perceived as critical sites for learning outside the classroom for multigenerational learners. Moreover, their role in engaging the public in critical topics, such as climate change is widely recognized. As extreme weather events…

In living history museums, where young people work and volunteer as historically dressed interpreters, participate in field trips, and attend summer camps, young people can simultaneously represent the past, the present and the future. In these spaces, they also shape the past through their questions, their retellings, and their reimaginings based…

Lack of funding, equipment, and expertise tops the list of reasons standing in the way of many smaller cultural heritage organizations digitizing their archival collections. Expanding on existing relationships with regional public libraries and museums, a pilot project was developed to address these reasons, partnering a university library's…

This study focused on the impact of COVID-19 on K-12 access to community education organizations such as museums, theaters, and art studios. Participants from five community education organizations were interviewed to explore and understand their experiences of developing and promoting virtual resources. While each organization responded…

The William Penn Foundation launched Philadelphia's Informal Learning Initiative (ILI) to support the development of literacy-rich programming for families with children aged 3 to 9. The initiative was designed as a network of partnerships in which a cultural organization--usually a museum--paired with one or more, community-based organizations…

Neighborhood North, a play-oriented community museum in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, had just opened when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and schools closed. The museum's mission is to increase educational equity in the community. Neighborhood North leaders immediately saw a need to support students at risk of falling behind in school with academic…

Purpose: This study responds to major administrative and policy priorities to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education by investigating a multi-sector ecosystem of regional organizations that support a STEM pipeline for education and careers. Design/methodology/approach: We use social network analysis to…

How do informal learning organizations work with schools as part of a broader educational ecology? We examined this question through a comparative case study of two collaborative efforts whereby informal arts education organizations, a children's museum and a community-based organization, worked with an urban school district to redefine the…

Partnering with a community organization for service-learning is a meaningful approach to higher education curriculum. Service-learning is a pedagogy centered on service, combining structured opportunities that link the course content to critical self-reflection for the acquisition of values and skills that lead to enhanced citizenry in addition…

This publication presents in-depth profiles of six high-performing partnerships funded by the Partnership for a Nation of Learners (PNL) and short profiles of the remaining grantees. The partnerships illustrate a range of examples of how museums, libraries, public broadcasters, and other vital community organizations can collaborate to address…

Co-author of the popular titles "Booktalking Bonanza" and "The Early Literacy Kit", Betsy Diamant-Cohen brings together 18 examples of successful outreach partnerships that children's librarians and administrators can adapt to their own situations. Contributors from the U.S and Canada explain how they partnered with schools,…

The Exploratorium is home to XTech, a science education program which began in 2006 and was primarily funded by a three-year National Science Foundation grant (Award # 05-25217) through its ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) initiative. XTech provided project-based afterschool activities in science, engineering,…

The 21st century's information economy is creating more jobs that require not only a college education but also at least some expertise in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, collectively known as STEM. Across the country, schools and communities are finding that the hours after school are particularly conducive to…

This article examines the nuances of conducting evaluation of and in nonformal education programs and settings. The author examines a set of universal evaluation issues--evaluator role, stakeholder involvement, program theory, capacity building, strategy selection, and evaluation use--as they occur and interact within nonformal education…