Cincinnati Museum Center: Final Evaluation Report

The ECSITE program was designed with the intent to reach those children most at risk for falling short of school readiness standards through the articulation of evidence-based practices for teachers, parents, their children, and the coordination of CMC and community resources with Head Start early childhood education classrooms. To accomplish these aims, ECSITE relies on an approach often described as “sciencing," which encourages the integration of science experiences across other curriculum domains through an enriched environment, planned lessons, and incidental conversations with children.

Evaluation of the ECSITE program focused on assessing both program implementation and its preliminary outcomes. The study found that:

• In most cases, implementation goals for high levels of teacher, parent and child participation, easy availability of materials and resources, and consistent replication in the integration of science inquiry approaches across multiple classroom domains were met.
• In many cases, outcome goals for increased rates of teacher comfort and competency in the preparation of science and math lessons, high rates of parent involvement and participation in transition services, appropriate developmental progress for children, and enrollment in quality preschool were met or exceeded.
• Of particular note, a large majority of parents participating in the survey (88%) reported that they believe science is either “very important” or somewhat important for their children’s school readiness.
• In addition, there were significant increases in teacher’s math and science confidence from the beginning to the end of each academic year.