In May 2021, the Evaluation Report on the Caixa d’Eines [Toolbox] and EducArts Programmes was presented. It was initiated in the 2017-2018 academic year as part of the Barcelona Neighbourhoods Plan, with the support of the Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICUB), the Barcelona Education Consortium (CEB) and the Municipal Institute of Education (IMEB).
These two programmes were carried out as part of the government measure “Towards a Public Policy for Culture and Education” and they share the aim of introducing and reinforcing the arts in schools, considering them to be socio-educational and development tools.
The report, produced by Ivàlua, the Catalan Institute of Public Policy Evaluation, assesses their level of implementation, the effects and achievement of the initially-proposed goals, and shows the results of a survey aimed at the managing bodies of educational centres.
It also reveals the inequalities in terms of opportunities for accessing educational teaching in the City of Barcelona.
This report is an example of good practice in terms of evaluating public projects and policies: it combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies, carries out an exhaustive documentary review of the programmes and the literature on the relationship between education and the arts, and summarises the existing evidence based on twenty similar studies and experiences in other programmes evaluated.