Museums at their core are educational institutions. EdCom believes that a museum’s educational service to their communities is strengthened when organizations have in place a document that clearly states their educational philosophies and principles and/or guides their decisions about the development and delivery of this educational role.

In 2018, EdCom formed a Task Force to test whether there is a general field-wide agreement in support of all museums having a document that clearly states their educational philosophies and principles and/or guides their decisions about the development and delivery of their educational role; and, if so, what the common elements of such a guiding document are. A survey of nearly 1000 museum professionals showed that 77% of the field believes there should be a core document related to education work in a museum.

The Task Force is now sharing a draft White Paper as well as Draft Core Document Requirements with the field at large to gather feedback and ensure transparency with the field as the process moves forward. We welcome your candid thoughts, reactions, and suggestions below.


Education Plan Core Document Requirements (First Draft- percentages below indicate percentage of survey respondents who indicated this should be included in a museum's Education/ Visitor Engagement plan)

1) Explicitly connects to organizational mission (93%),  articulates core beliefs (94%), and a clear link to broader organizational strategic plan (87%).
2) Identifies audiences served (84%) and potential new/ under-served audiences (79%), with focus on DEAI objectives (85%)
3) Makes explicit connection between audience and programs (82%)
4) Clearly outlines core content (83%) and goals and objectives/ desired outcomes (76%) of education efforts/ public engagement.
5) Includes measurement against objectives and describes evaluation (87%)
6) Organizational accountability (structure for who is responsible for which pieces of the plan)
7) Date of latest plan