title: Museums, zoos, and gardens: how formal-informal partnerships can impact urban students' performance in science.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Informal science education institutions (ISEIs) are critical partners in public science education, as they support the science efforts of school systems by providing authentic opportunities for scientific inquiry. This study reports findings from an evaluation of urban advantage (UA), a collaboration between the New York City Department of Education and eight ISEIs designed to improve science education in New York City (NYC) middle schools. Now in its 10th year, the program harnesses the resources and expertise of NYC's ISEIs to (a) enhance the science content knowledge of middle school science teachers, (b) develop teachers' skills at using inquiry-based approaches in their classrooms, and (c) improve the science achievement of middle school students.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examine whether the UA program has led to increased student achievement on the eighth-grade New York State standardized science exam for students in participating schools; in supplemental analyses, we examine the effects on longer term (ninth-grade) outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We use a difference-in-differences framework with school fixed effects to estimate the impact of attending a UA school in eighth grade on science achievement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our key outcome is performance on New York State's eighth-grade intermediate-level science assessment; longer term outcomes include enrollment at specialized science, technology, engineering, and math high schools as well as taking and passing the high school (Regents) science exams.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We find that attending a UA school increases student performance on the eighth-grade science exam by approximately 0.05 SD, and there is some evidence of small effects on Regents taking and passing rates.
authors.affiliation: Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY, USA meryle.weinstein@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Meryle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weinstein
authors.affiliation: Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Emilyn Ruble
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Whitesell
authors.affiliation: Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY, USA Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, New York, NY, USA Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Amy Ellen
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004522:Educational Status; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D009144:Museums; D009519:New York City; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D013334:Students; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: informal science education institutions; professional development; science education; urban education