The Center is always researching and studying its own prac- 

 tice, exploring ways to improve and new activities to pursue. 

 We are currently completing a survey of Festival participants 

 to establish an empirical basis for debating issues of Festival 

 presentation, trearment, impact, and effectiveness. Another 

 study examines the portrayal of the Festival, the people and 

 traditions represented in the media. Still other feasibility stud- 

 ies are underway to examine the idea of a Friends of the Festi- 

 val organization, the role the Center might play in promoting 

 crafts sales, and the technologies available to teachers to ex- 

 pose students to our materials in American classrooms. 



The African Immigrant Folklife Study (AIFS) community 

 scholars participated in a 12-week training program that 

 looked at issues dealing with defining Africans born on the 

 continent and living in the U.S., what their relationship is to 

 people of African descent whose ancestors survived slavery in 

 America, and self identification. As co-curators, researchers, 

 and co-presenters, the AIFS community scholars will work to- 

 gether with Center staff and advisors from several African 

 community organizations to develop a program at the 1995 

 Festival of American Folklife that presents a range of insider 

 perspectives on the formation of cultural identity. It was 

 noted during the training program that Africans coming to 

 the United States in recent decades are faced with some of the 

 typical dilemmas of immigrants — deciding what traditions 

 can and should be maintained, passing on these traditions to 

 their American-born children, and defining themselves as eth- 

 nic groups in this country in relationship to African American 

 and to U.S. society as a whole. 



It is through educational activities, programs and materials 

 that the Center continues to provide various means through 

 which knowledge about folk, grassroots, indigenous, ethnic, 

 regional and occupational culture is disseminated to broad au- 

 diences. Three categories of projects in process are educational 

 kits; teacher training; and surveys of educational needs of 

 teachers, students, and community scholars. The educational 

 kit, "Learning About Folklife: The U.S. Virgin Islands and 

 Senegal" has been offered to teachers in the Washington, 

 D.C., area and other parts of the country. Two other kits are in 

 production: "Knowledge and Power: Land in Native Ameri- 

 can Cultures" examines three Native American subsistence 

 cultures and their traditional arts using information gathered 

 for the 1991 Festival program; and "Borders and Identities" ex- 

 plores students' own identities using material from the 1993 

 Festival's Borderlands program. Kit materials will be tested in 

 some schools in the D.C. area and along the border. 



Twelve teachers from metropolitan Washington, D.C. par- 

 ticipated in a seminar this summer entitled, "Bringing 

 Folklife into Your Classroom: A Multicultural Learning Expe- 

 rience." The seminar was part of OESE's annual Summer Semi- 

 nar series and used field and Festival resources. 



Two surveys are underway to determine the needs of class- 

 room teachers and of community scholars. A teacher survey 

 will gather information about current offerings, distribution 

 methods, marketing techniques, and unfulfilled needs of 



teachers interested in using folklife materials in their class- 

 rooms. An extensive written survey is being sent to about 600 

 community scholars all over the U.S. to serve as the basis for a 

 data base on U.S. community scholars, and to determine the 

 needs of community scholars that can be fulfilled by the Cen- 

 ter and other public and private agencies. The Center's ongo- 

 ing educational activities also include sharing knowledge 

 with other professional colleagues by presenting papers at asso- 

 ciation meetings, publishing advanced studies, and providing 

 expert consultation to local, regional, national and inter- 

 national organizations. 



National Science Resources Center 



Douglas Lapp. Executive Director 



The National Science Resources Center (NSRC) is operated by 

 the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences to help the nation's schools improve the teaching of sci- 

 ence. The NSRC collects and publishes information about 

 current science teaching resources, develops and publishes in- 

 novative science curriculum materials, and sponsors outreach 

 and technical assistance activities to help teachers and admin- 

 istrators develop and sustain exemplary hands-on science 

 programs. 



In the past year, the NSRC continued to involve teachers 

 and school system officials, scientists and engineers, commu- 

 nity organizations, and corporations in science education re- 

 form at the school district level through the National Science 

 Education Leadership initiative (NSEL), the Science and Tech- 

 nology for Children (STC) curriculum development project, 

 and distribution and revision of the popular guide Science for 

 Children: Resources for Teachers. 



This year's Elementary Science Leadership Institutes, a part 

 of NSEL, brought together teams of lead teachers and top ad- 

 ministrators from 34 school districts for training in the plan- 

 ning and implementation of exemplary science education 

 programs. To date, 140 school districts in 42 states, the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, Canada, and Mexico have participated in 

 the program, serving as many as three million children in 

 grades K— 6. 



Scientists and engineers from universities, corporations, mu- 

 seums, and government laboratories shared their views on crit- 

 ical issues in precollege science education at the third annual 

 Working Conference for Scientists and Engineers on Science 

 Education in the Schools. These conferences are another com- 

 ponent of the NSEL initiative. 



Sixteen of 24 STC hands-on science modules for the elemen- 

 tary and early middle school grades are now available in com- 

 mercial and field-test editions. This year. Chemical Tests. 

 Measuring Time, and food Chemistry, were published, and Soils 

 and Rocks and Minerals reached the field-test stage. STC units 



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