Science Museums: Enlisting Communities in Science Education Partnerships: Collaborations between Communities and Science Museums, Aquaria, Botanical Gardens, and Zoos. Science Museum Program Directors Meeting (September 26-28, 1994).

This report of the 1994 meeting of directors of programs funded by the Precollege Science Education Initiative for Science Museums contains proceedings of the meeting along with profiles of grant-supported activities. The community partnerships described share a common theme: the importance of science education not just as a means to an end, but also as a provider of skills that can be applied throughout our lives. The keynote address "Science for All: New Communities and New Attitudes" was delivered by Shirley Malcom. Plenary presentations included: "Big City Problems and Opportunities" (Weiss, Martin); "It Takes a Whole Village to Raise a Child" (Siska, Janice and Hemphill, Lynell); and "Flexibility and Teamwork Keep Nature Park Moving Forward" (Schatz, Dennis and Hoesterey, Roger). Panel discussions include: "Working with Schools in a Changing Environment"; "It Takes Two (or More Than Two) to Tango"; "Planning and Evaluation"; "Two Approaches to Science Education in the Urban Setting"; "Matching Program Content with Local Needs"; "Top Down and Bottom Up, Two Approaches to Working with Schools"; "Nobody Said It Would Be Easy, but it Certainly Has Been Fun"; "Evaluation and Assessment: Achieving Science Literacy Benchmarks"; and "Steepening the Learning Curve--What Are We Learning." (JRH)