Inspiration, identity, learning: the value of museums. Second study. An evaluation of the DCMS/DCSF National/Regional Museum Partnership programme in 2006-2007

Since 2003 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), now the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), have jointly sponsored a partnership between national and regional museums in England that is designed to increase and deepen relationships between museums and schools and to strengthen relationships between museums and communities. The emphasis of the programme has been in quality and innovation rather than increase in volume of use and, as a result, museums, schools and communities have been able to try new things, take risks and explore possibilities in a way that could not otherwise have happened. RCMG was commissioned to evaluate the programme during 2006-2007. Twelve national museums with over fifty regional museum partners were together involved in seventeen discrete projects across England. All the projects were complex and multi-faceted with a number of partners and a range of activities. The findings from this research study could also be considered in relation to findings from three previous evaluations undertaken for DCMS and MLA. Together the four studies give an overview of the impact of museum education capacity-building programmes over the past five years with data collected from 64,063 pupils and 3,579 teachers, and additionally from community audiences. The key findings highlighted in this publication illustrate that the programme has been highly successful with: - A strong emphasis on working towards social inclusion - Effective and deepening partnerships between the educational sector and the museum sector - Powerful learning outcomes for pupils including evidence of increased attainment - The potential for strong partnerships between museums and communities - An increase in participants with museums recording contacts with 47,511 pupils and 23,786 community participants across the programme. There are encouraging findings that suggest museums can play a significant role in national life through contributing to state educational provision and through shaping and strengthening self-identities and increasing inter-cultural knowledge and tolerance. [text from the RCMG website