CHISPA Summative Evaluation Final Report

Children Investigating Science with Parents and Afterschool (CHISPA) was a collaboration between the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza), and the ASPIRA Association that took place from 2014-18. CHISPA sought to address the disparity in science achievement among Latino and non-Latino children through local-level partnerships between science museums in metropolitan areas with growing Latino populations and UnidosUS and ASPIRA affiliate organizations serving the same communities through afterschool programs.

Partners included the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, American Museum of Natural History, California Science Center, Chicago Children’s Museum, Discovery Place, Explora, Liberty Science Center, Science City at Union Station, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 29 UnidosUS affiliates, and seven ASPIRA affiliates. 

Over the course of the project 5,724 children used APEX Science resources; 7,605 children and families participated in CHISPA Family Science events; and 1,366 parents participated in Padres Comprometidos con CHISPA.

Garibay Group conducted formative and summative evaluation for the project. Formative evaluation (conducted in Years 1–3) informed project decisions and improvements. Using a mixed-methods approach (Caracelli and Greene, 2001), Garibay Group conducted a summative evaluation in Year 4 to assess project outcomes.

Overall, the evaluation found that CHISPA was largely successful in its primary objectives of engaging children and families in STEM and building capacity for both affiliate and museum staff, and mostly successful in strengthening links between science museums and Hispanic-serving CBOs.