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Excellent point about developing programs based on the needs of the
audience - they are our customers. I would be very interested in reading the
Forum discussions. Thanks Bill.
Peggy
P.S. Are you familiar with the Smithsonian Naturalist Center, in Leesberg,
Virginia?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Watson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 10:39 AM
Subject: Re: After school and accountability
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Peggy -
>
> I think informal science institutions always have the flexibility to
> develop
> whatever kinds of programs they want. However, those programs should also
> be
> based on the needs of the audiences that the institution serves and,
> realistically, most of the time respond to the needs/desires of the
> funding
> source. I would guess that an after school program that is not
> specifically
> linked to a particular school or district and/or is not developed with
> "formal education" funding would have more flexibility to develop programs
> that aren't as pressured to adhere to narrowly-defined standards for, and
> measures of, success.
>
> The broader issue of being, as you say, "doomed to improve student test
> scores", is a more complex one. In the Field Trips forum on ASTC Connect,
> we
> have discussed the balance between expanding students' experience of
> science
> and adhering to the accountability needs of schools in the context of
> school
> field trips. If you are interested in reading the discussions we've had,
> please let me know, and I can forward the password for the Forum to you.
>
> Bill
>
> Bill Watson
> Research Assistant, SCALE-uP
> The George Washington University
> Graduate School of Education and Human Development
> Department of Teacher Preparation and Special Education
> 2134 G St. NW
> Washington, DC 20052
> Phone: (202) 994-1171
> Fax: (202) 994-0692
> [log in to unmask]
> www.gwu.edu/~scale-up
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Timshel Purdum
> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 2:04 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject:
>
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> ****************************************************************************
> *
>
> PHildaelphia Safe and Sound released a research and policy brief this
> spring
> on just this very topic. It addresses the limitations that NCLB has
> placed
> on after school programs and that the aftershool movement was not created
> with the sole purpose of improving partipants' performace on standardized
> tests.
>
> http://www.philasafesound.org/publications/publist.php
>
> Timshel
>
> Ms. Timshel Purdum
> Manager: Elementary Science Education
> The Academy of Natural Sciences
> 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
> Philadelphia, PA 19103
> 215-405-5071
> Fax: 215-299-1165
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>>>> Peggy Zemach <[log in to unmask]> 7/10/2007 1:53 PM >>>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> ****************************************************************************
> *
>
> Here's a question for you all. An after school science program ( I don't
> remember which state) shut it's doors after 27 years because they were
> not
> able to prove that their programs improved test scores. What a shame!! As
> we
> all develop inquiry-based programs, how important is it to fit into the
> school education standards? My take is that we, in the museum education
> field, have the luxury to develop informal education programs that
> students
> don't get in the schools but maybe we are all doomed to improve student
> test scores. Thoughts?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Peggy M. Zemach
> Discovery Museum at the Powerhouse
> 1099 Main Ave. #316
> Durango, CO 81301
> 970-422-2034
> [log in to unmask]
> www.durangodiscovery.org
>
> "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
> William Butler Yeats
>
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