IMLS Early Learners Collaborative: Year Two Evaluation Report

This report summarizes the evaluation findings of the second year of the Science Beyond the Boundaries Early Learners Collaborative (ELC). The three-year project, funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), connects science centers and children’s museums to enhance early learner programming. In Year Two, the ELC brought together 16 institutions to collaborate directly through regularly scheduled conference call discussions. During these discussions they shared their program experience, ideas on early childhood programs, and their thoughts on current early learner research. This evaluation, conducted by the Research & Evaluation Department of the Saint Louis Science Center, was designed to assess the effectiveness of the collaborative. The main objectives of this evaluation were to gather information about the programs delivered by each partner in order to look into the similarities between programs that may inform program developers and to assess the Year Two Collaboration and understand what the partners have gained from the ELC. Appendix includes survey and coding schema.