Now more than ever, legislators and funders need to know just how your museum impacts your community. Let your legislators know that museums are critical partners in education. You can start with a just few key pieces of information to personalize and complete our basic template. Then get creative – add your museum or organization’s letterhead, add photos of students participating in programs at the museum, or add additional data that helps make the case about the educational mission of your museum.

See samples from across the field.

Basic Template

EDUCATIONAL IMPACT STATEMENT
for
[Name of Your Institution]

Amount spent by museum on educational programming:  $__________

Number of schools participating in class trips: __________

Number of visits by schoolchildren each year: __________

School Districts Served: __________

List of schools participating in class trips: __________

Curriculum topics taught in cooperation with local school system: __________

Admission fee, if any: $__________

Number of educators that participated in teacher training programs: __________

In your own words: [Do you have letters from visitors that capture the educational value of your museums (from schoolchildren, teachers, veterans, families with special-needs children, seniors, or from someone who pursued an education or a professional career after being inspired at your museum)?]

Museums are essential partners in education:

• Museums spend more than $2 billion each year on education activities; the typical museum devotes three-quarters of its education budget to K-12 students.
• Museums receive approximately 55 million visits each year from students in school groups.
• Museums help teach the state and local curricula, tailoring their programs in math, science, art, literacy, language arts, history, civics and government, economics and financial literacy, geography, and social studies.
• Facilitated classroom visits to art museums have a measurable impact on key aspects of student learning.
• Children who visited a museum during kindergarten had higher achievement scores in reading, mathematics, and science in third grade than children who did not. Children who are most at risk for deficits and delays in achievement also see this benefit.
• At a time when elected leaders are trying to advance scientific literacy and compete globally in all sectors, museums are sparking the next generation of scientists, artists, political leaders, historians, and entrepreneurs.
• Teachers, students, and researchers benefit from access to trustworthy information through online collections and exhibits, although most museums need more help in developing their digital collections to meet this need.
• Americans view museums as one of the most important resources for educating our children and as one of the most trustworthy sources of objective information. According to a study by Indiana University, museums are considered a more reliable source of historical information than books, teachers, or even personal accounts by grandparents or other relatives.