RE: Teacher Program Attendance Decline

From: "Baker, Anne Marie AnneMarie.Baker@jyf.virginia.gov [talk at museum-ed.org]" <talk@museum-ed.org>

In-Reply-To: Re: Teacher Program Attendance Decline

Date: December 12th 2025

Gina,

We have been fortunate to have donor funding for all of our teacher PD programs. So cost is not a barrier and may be a reason we haven’t really seen a decrease in participation.

What we have heard from teachers is that they appreciate leaving a professional development with lessons and resources they can incorporate in the classroom with little or no adjustment. We make sure to add that to all our program promotion.

Of course, the education environment varies from state to state. Virginia is implementing new learning standards, so Virginia teachers are looking for any assistance they can find.

We also work with local and state school and education departments for coordinate and promote training.

Hope that helps,

Anne Marie

Anne Marie Baker | Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

Teacher Programs Manager | Learning and Community Engagement

P.O. Box 1607, Williamsburg, VA 23187-1607

P: (757) 253-4822 | E: annemarie.baker@jyf.virginia.gov

www.jyfmuseums.org

From: Gina Thomas gthomas@akronartmuseum.org [talk at museum-ed.org] <talk@museum-ed.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2025 2:13 PM
To: talk at museum-ed.org <talk@museum-ed.org>
Subject: Re: [talk] Teacher Program Attendance Decline

Hello all,

We've also seen a dramatic decline in Educator PD attendance since 2020. It has me wondering if maybe we need to shift our approach entirely to match up with the new landscape.

Here's what I've been thinking about lately:

Is the best ways to serve educators by offering free, low/no barrier field trips/museum visits with quality content given by well trained, well paid, invested museum staff?

Perhaps this is what they truly need- an experience for themselves and their students outside the classroom. We often say- the best thing about the Museum is that it is NOT a school. We can offer different things in different ways.

And this is the big question for this group: Can we gather information about what educators need from folks who would actually come to the museum* by sending out free passes and then gathering data from the people who redeem those passes on-site? Has anyone tried this?

(*if some educators are just not going to use the museum, no matter what we do, I'd rather focus data collection on folks who want to/are interested but maybe have some barriers we can eliminate. )

Thanks for the good work you're all doing out there!

Cheers,

Gina

GINA THOMAS MCGEE (she/her)

Director of Learning and Engagement

Akron Art Museum | One South High Street, Akron, OH 44308

p: 330.376.9186 x247

g thomas@akronartmuseum.org | www.akronartmuseum.org

From: talk@museum-ed.org <talk@museum-ed.org> on behalf of Laura Huntimer lhuntimer@joslyn.org [talk at museum-ed.org] <talk@museum-ed.org>
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2025 11:12 AM
To: talk at museum-ed.org <talk@museum-ed.org>
Subject: [talk] Teacher Program Attendance Decline

Hello Eds - I manage a PK-12 teacher program (free, after the school day, PD/wellness content) and have seen a significant decline in attendance. Before 2020, we averaged 65 registrations with 10% no-shows. We are now in our second school year after a two-plus-year closure for a construction project. Registration dropped to about 40-45 with 20% no-shows, and this school year, almost half were no-shows. I wonder if this is a trend for the field. If your museum offers a similar program, have you seen a decline as well? I welcome any feedback for building this audience back, too.

With gratitude,

Laura

Laura M Huntimer

she / her / hers

Head of School & Teacher Programs

Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha NE

lhuntimer@joslyn.org
(402) 661-3847 Direct Line

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