Educational Research: Evaluation of Traveling Through Time, a School Program of the Museum of the City of New York

With funding from Atlantic Philanthropies, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate the Traveling Through Time (TTT) program, a 90-minute fieldtrip program facilitated by museum educators that explores the early history of New York City through objects and inquiry. The study explores whether and to what extent the TTT program affects students' attitudes about history and history museums, history knowledge, and history-related skills. In the last 30 years, there has been little rigorous research that investigates the outcomes (particularly learning outcomes) of one-time fieldtrip experiences, so this study presented a unique opportunity to fill the knowledge gap. RK&A administered questionnaires and interviews to a treatment group and control group of fourth-grade students in New York City public schools; the data are quantitative. The study revealed that the single visit fieldtrip, the TTT program, had positive effects on students' attitudes and ideas about history as well as positive effects on students' achievement of history-related skills, including historical knowledge, historical inquiry, historical perspective, and historical reasoning. However, the study also revealed that students' achievement of history-related skills overall was modest, indicating that students have not reached their full potential in the classroom and at the Museum. This report includes the rubrics used in the study.