Evaluating School Partnership Programs
Welcome to Insights & Opportunities: A Hub for Informal STEM Education! Insights & Opportunities is a twice-monthly newsletter for educators, administrators, legislators, and advocates who recognize the importance of informal STEM learning.
This newsletter is brought to you by me, Sarah Dunifon, and my team at Improved Insights. I’m a long-time STEM educator, researcher, and equity advocate. Along with my team, I now work on cutting-edge informal STEM learning research and evaluation.
Each edition of this newsletter offers exciting insights, resources, and opportunities for informal STEM learning professionals, including funding, jobs, professional development, informal STEM learning research, evaluation tips and resources, and so much more! We hope you find it valuable. Now, let’s get started.
Evaluating School Partnership Programs
In this edition of Insights & Opportunities, Dr. Sarah Dunifon reviews effective strategies for evaluating program partnerships between informal learning organizations and schools. To read the full article, check it out in our Insights. In the meantime, here’s a taste:
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This time of year, many in the formal and informal learning spaces are thinking about back-to-school.
Early in my career, I coordinated student and teacher programs for a large informal learning organization. We evaluated all our programs with internal and external evaluation resources. There are a few lessons I’ve taken from this time (and my various experiences since) that you might find helpful to apply to evaluating school partnership programs.
First, identify the collaborators you’ll want to engage. In a school partnership program, there are many possible collaborators, from teachers and school administrators to parents and family members to students to the informal learning team. Often, evaluations will focus solely on the students. But, it may be worth considering if there are other audiences you’d like to hear from in the results of the evaluation, or if there are folks you’d like to include in the planning and implementation of the evaluation. There can be great benefits to gathering data from different sources and understanding a program from many angles. Similarly, including different collaborators in the planning and implementation processes may ensure your data is more accurate and that the evaluation can be responsive to the needs of your partners.
To read the full article, check it out in our Insights.
60-Second Suggestions
Here are a few of our favorite things this month, usually pertaining to informal STEM education and evaluation, but occasionally some fun personal stuff, too.
This recent issue brief from STEM Next reflects on national learning outcomes and the role that afterschool plays in shaping student relationships with math. The brief draws from national research to create a roadmap for funders, policymakers, and cross-sector leaders to scale effective strategies drawing on the power of out-of-school-time learning.
Afterschool programs are invited to participate in Lights On Afterschool on October 23, 2025. The 26th annual nationwide event, organized by Afterschool Alliance, celebrates afterschool programs and the important role they play in the lives of children, families, and communities. Programs around the country are encouraged to register their events as part of the celebration. You can also find event planning ideas and resources here for a little bit of inspiration.
This article from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) highlights Georgia Aquarium Ocean Literacy and Community Outreach Manager Lindsay Patterson’s experience launching the first NOAA Ocean Guardian Schools in Georgia. Patterson reflects on how these school partnerships create tangible environmental change through place-based stewardship activities for students, and the impact of the program on students’ sense of empowerment and purpose.
Opportunities
Check out these new opportunities for the informal STEM learning community.
Funding:
2026 Funding Cycle, McCune Charitable Foundation, $15,000. Nonprofits, state and tribal governments, and public schools in the state of New Mexico are invited to apply for funding that promotes the priorities of the McCune Charitable Foundation: capacity building in the nonprofit sector; education transformation; strategies for rural development; and others. The grant cycle is open August 15-September 15, 2025.
Bay County Community Partnership Grants, Bay Area Community Foundation, up to $5,000. Registered nonprofits in Bay County, Michigan, are invited to apply for funding for their projects and programs. Priority focus areas are the arts, education, environment, health, human services, recreation, or community initiatives. Applications are due September 8, 2025.
Early Childhood Education and Play, Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood, variable. Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in support of new programs aimed at improving the quality of early childhood education everywhere a child learns through innovative curricula and designing imaginative play materials and learning environments. Letters of inquiry are due September 30, 2025.
Institutional Challenge Grant, William T. Grant Foundation, $650,000. Partnerships between research institutions and public agencies or nonprofit organizations focused on reducing inequality in youth outcomes are invited to apply for funding to support these research-practice efforts. Grantees will pursue four goals: growing existing institutional partnerships; pursuing a joint research agenda to reduce inequality in youth outcomes; creating institutional change to value research-practice partnerships; and enhancing the capacity of partners to collaborate on producing and using research evidence. Youth-serving areas can include education, justice, mental health, workforce development, and others. Applications are due September 15, 2025.
West Michigan Youth Programs, The Gerber Foundation, up to $10,000. Nonprofits in the West Michigan region are invited to apply for grants to fund youth programming. Special emphasis will be placed on programs in the target areas of education (including STEM education), early childhood services and literacy, life experiences (agricultural science education, 4-H, FFA, etc.), among others. Submissions are due September 15, 2025.
Jobs and Fellowships:
Education Curator, North Carolina Aquariums (Manteo, NC), $39,000. The Education Curator will provide guidance, leadership, support, and supervision for education staff, interns, and volunteers. Key responsibilities will include directing marine and environmental education learning opportunities, developing activities and curriculum to accompany school programs, and coordinating educational programs internally and externally. Applications are due August 19, 2025.
Education Director, Sciencenter (Ithaca, NY), $80,000. The Education Director will oversee and lead the education team in the development and implementation of facilitated experiences in STEM topics, including onsite and offsite programs, local, regional and national partnerships, and volunteer programs. Applications are due September 11, 2025.
Education Manager, Mystic River Watershed Association (Arlington, MA), $65,000. The Education Manager will lead school and youth-based education programming throughout the watershed. They will refine curriculum and teach interactive content, and collaborate with community educators and volunteers to expand program capacity and effectiveness. Applications are due August 18, 2025.
Executive Director, John Bunker Sands Wetland Center (Combine, TX), $80,000. The Executive Director will work with the Wetland Center Team in all operational aspects of the nature center. Primary responsibilities will include fund development, earned revenue, community and partnership collaboration, research development, access and trail enhancement, and wildlife conservation.
Learning Engagement Specialist, Alaska SeaLife Center (Seward, AK), $18.50/hour+. Education Specialists will be responsible for developing and delivering engaging interpretive learning experiences emphasizing conservation, empathy, scientific inquiry, and inclusivity, highlighting Alaska's unique ecosystems, wildlife, and cultural heritage. They will engage diverse audiences through onsite programs, virtual learning, and community outreach. Salary enhancements are available for Education Specialists with previous experience in educational roles, with coordinating and planning learning programs, curriculum development and instructional design, and familiarity with state and national K-12 education standards.
Professional Development:
Fall 2025/Spring 2026 Mission Patagonia Expedition, Mission Patagonia Nature Guardians, November 2025 or March 2026 (Southern Chile). Mission Patagonia is an immersive environmental education program designed to foster a deep connection with nature while promoting an ecosystemic approach to conservation. Participants will engage in hands-on conservation activities and explorations of ecosystems in Castro City and the Melimoyu Elemental Reserve in southern Chile. The program will take place in either November 2025 or March 2026, depending on availability and interest. Applications must be submitted by August 31, 2025.
MAAM Annual Conference, The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM), October 28-30, 2025 (Pittsburgh, PA). MAAM will host its annual conference in Pittsburgh, PA, from October 28-30, 2025. The conference is dedicated to fostering excellence in museums by providing high-quality professional development, networking opportunities, and special events for museum professionals in the region.
NAAEE 54th Annual Conference: Forward Together, North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), November 3-6, 2025 (virtual). Join NAAEE for their virtual 2025 Annual Conference and Research Symposium: Forward Together. The conference will bring together over 1,000 environmental education professionals to reflect on the power of collaboration in tackling the world's most pressing social and ecological challenges. Pre-conference workshops will take place throughout October, followed by a research symposium on October 30. The main conference will be held November 3-6, 2025.
Virtual Panel: Shifting Math Narratives Through Afterschool, STEM Next Opportunity Fund, August 20, 2025, at 12:00 PM ET (virtual). Join STEM Next for a virtual panel exploring how afterschool and summer programs are helping to reimagine math learning nationwide. National experts will share how OST programs are creating new math narratives, building youth confidence, and connecting learning to real-world relevance. The panel will take place on August 20, 2025, at 12:00 PM ET.
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