Future City Evaluation: 2015-16 Report

DiscoverE hired Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) to conduct an independent evaluation of the Future City program. Future City has been operating since 1992. According to DiscoverE, the Future City program is “a national, project-based learning experience where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Students work as a team with an educator and engineer mentor to plan cities using SimCityTM software; research and write solutions to an engineering problem; build tabletop scale models with recycled materials; and present their ideas before judges at Regional Competitions in January. Regional winners represent their region at the National Finals in Washington, DC in February.” 

In 2014, DiscoverE received a grant from the Project Management Institute to integrate the principles of project management into the Future City process. DiscoverE completely redesigned the Future City competition handbook to incorporate project management processes and concepts. The handbook was pilot tested during the 2014-15 school year, subsequently revised, and then field tested during the 2015-16 school year.

CEG conducted an evaluation of the field test. This report summarizes the field test findings and makes recommendations for enhancing the program.