Probably the biggest reason for a decrease in school tours is lack of connection with mandated academic standards. It's not enough just to expose kids to history or art, etc. The standards must be intentionally addressed, and mastered. Gone are the days when field trips were simply an educational excuse to get out of the school building. We've actually seen a large (200% increase) in our school tours as a result of closely tying our school tours to local curriculum standards - and advertising them as such. We bill ourselves as a partner in helping our schools and students achieve at high levels. Virtually all of the states' curriculum standards are available online. I would suggest that every museum find a group of teachers who can help you tweak your existing tours to more closely align with the curriculum standards. Becky Fitzgerald Susquehanna Museum -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Glenn A. Walsh Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 12:39 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Decrease in School Tour Numbers When you contemplate the reasons for the decreasing number of school tours, the obvious should be considered: 1) Strapped school district budgets; 2) Taxpayer rebellion against increased property taxes; 3) Significantly increased fuel costs for school buses to transport children to museums. gaw --- Mari Shopsis <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2006 11:12:43 -0400 From: "Mari Shopsis" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Decrease in School Tour Numbers To: [log in to unmask] > There have been a number of threads on these lists > about decreasing > numbers of school tours due to NCLB. > > I'm wondering if anyone has gone so far as to figure > out an average > percent decrease. I'm preparing a board report and > wondering if the > decrease in our tour numbers is on par with what > other museums have > experienced. > > If you've quantified your year-to-year change since > 2000 (pre-NCLB) and > are willing to share those numbers, I would be most > appreciative. If you > email me your museum's stats (either percent change > or actual tour > numbers), I'll do some number crunching and try to > come up with an > average that would be of us for others. > > Thanks! > ____________________ > Mari Shopsis > Coordinator of School Programs > Everson Museum of Art > 401 Harrison Street > Syracuse, NY 13202 > > p: 315.474.6064 > e: [log in to unmask] > f: 315.474.6943 > w: www.everson.org gaw Glenn A. Walsh Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] > NEWS - Astronomy, Space, Science: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news > Author of History Web Sites on the Internet -- * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: < http://www.planetarium.cc > * Adler Planetarium, Chicago: < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com > * Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear: < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com > * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc > * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: < http://www.incline.cc > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).