While browsing the New England Museum Association's website the other day, I noticed a survey they are in the process of completing. They're asking members to answer the question: "What does No Child Left Behind* mean for school group visits to museums?"
I find this a very interesting question, as I've dealt with NCLB before, but in a very different capacity. For nearly three years, I was the Supplemental Educational Services coordinator for a private tutoring company. In this role, I was privy to many of the failures and successes of this legislation. With public schoolteachers at my side, I waded through a veritable sea of red tape, but I also got to hear about the young girl who had just received her first A in math ever and the young boy who initially skipped his tutoring sessions, but grew to love working with his tutor.
For me, the SES program became emblematic of the failures and successes of the public school system in general. More often than not, I (and the schoolteachers in the districts with whom I worked) became incredibly frustrated by the bureaucracy inherent in managing such an expansive, national program. However, those moments of getting through to struggling, disadvantaged students shone like beacons of light and, sometimes, made it all worthwhile.
So it will be very interesting to see what the NEMA survery will yield. The results will be presented in a session at the annual NEMA conference “Sustaining Communities: The Power of Museums” in Warwick, Rhode Island, from November 12-14, 2008. Mark your calendars now if you're interested, too!
*Here is a definition of No Child Left Behind, for those of you who haven't been dealing with it over the last seven years.
UPDATE: Just found a blog called "No Museum Left Behind", dedicated to "research and ideas related to how museums and museum educators grapple with issues related to No Child Left Behind legislation." An apt addendum, if ever there was one.
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