Museums as Classrooms: The Academic and Behavioral Impacts of “School in the Park”

Access to community cultural institutions such as museums, zoos, and theaters has the potential to improve students’ educational experiences. This article estimates the impact of School in the Park, a museum-based educational program for low-income students that takes place within the cultural institutions and museums of San Diego’s Balboa Park. We identify the impact of participation in the program on short- and long-term academic and behavioral outcomes using longitudinal, student-level data since 1996; natural variation in the timing of program implementation at two elementary schools; and control groups of students from schools that did not receive the program. Findings indicate that participation in the program has positive short-term impacts, but program impacts were insignificant in the long run.