Use Title I Aid to Teach Through the Arts, Advocates Urge

by Eric Roebelen, March 29, 2012

Arts education advocates in California are promoting greater use of federal Title I aid to support arts instruction that is designed to boost student learning in math and English/language arts. They argue that Title I—the single largest source of federal K-12 aid—is rarely used for arts-oriented education because of fear that the practices may run afoul of state or federal authorities.

"The very children who might most benefit from arts education as a resource to improve their academic achievement never get close to those resources," write Joe Landon, the executive director of the California Alliance for Arts Education, and Danielle Brazell, who heads up a nonprofit group called Arts for LA, in a blog post published this week.

Promote ARTS IN OUR SCHOOLS MONTH in Youir Local

There are some great posters/psas for all arts content areas here:

http://www.americansforthearts.org/public_awareness/the_ads/009.asp | PSAs about arts in schools... For school.http://www.americansforthearts.org/public_awareness/the_ads/008.asp | PSAs about arts and children. For around towm almost.. That, or like for a major event targeted towards parents...

So…What’s Your Equation for Quality?

Posted by Kristen Engebretsen On March - 16 - 2012
I hope that everyone has enjoyed reading the various thoughts and stories from leaders across the country during our bi-annual Blog Salon (come back in September for our second one).

During the Salon, we heard examples of how folks are measuring quality, in terms of the effectiveness of their partnerships and their levels of student engagement:

• Talia’s story of training school leaders to look at student work using the Qualities of Quality.
• The results Merryl shared from her program, DREAM.
• Lynne’s explanation of partnerships that have (and have not) worked for her national association.

We also heard some calls to action, by authors who wanted to push the field forward:

• Seth’s ideas for shaking up education.
• Jane’s call to let go of the notion that “models” from the “pockets of excellence” in the field will emerge and conveniently help us “scale up” and solve all of our problems.
• Joyce’s simple reminder that creativity is the answer to this search for quality.

Thanks for following our salon on quality, engagement, and partnerships.

After reading all of these posts, have you decided on your own equation for quality in your community? I’d love to hear your final reflections in the comments section.
To view the salon in its entirety, please use this link: http://bit.ly/y9d2JV.

Wide-Spread Arts Education Cuts in US Schools

MetLife Survey shows Arts Cuts. An Education Week blog summarizes from the newly released MetLife survey of teachers. The survey reports on the impact of budget cuts, teacher layoffs, curriculum, and parent involvement. When 1001 teachers were asked about the reducation or elimination of arts or music programs: 23% reported programs were reduced. Of that 23%, 23% taught elementary; 33% taught grades 6 - 8; and 32% taught high school. So it seems the cuts were pretty evenly spread across grade levels. Teachers also reported cuts to foreign languages and physical education programs. More than one third (36%) of teachers report that during the past 12 months there have been reductions or eliminations of arts or music (23%), foreign language (17%) or physical education (12%) programs. Overall, these reductions or eliminations are more likely to be reported among teachers in urban areas than in suburban or rural areas (46% vs. 32% vs. 32%)... Teachers in schools with more than two-thirds minority students are more likely than other teachers to report that there have been reductions or eliminations of arts or music programs at their school (30% vs. 19%). Teachers were not asked specifically about the budget impact in any other content area. The data come from the 28th annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher.

Drama and Theatre: Arts in Our Schools Month

TIOS 2012 Theme: Connecting Communities, Engaging Minds

Theatre and drama are essential in the lives of students all year, but March is designated to celebrate and increase public awareness of the impact of theatre in our schools and schools in our theatres. AATE invites you to celebrate Theatre in our Schools (TIOS) in your area! You know theatre education's power to make children's lives better, now shout about it and let the skeptics know how vital theatre is to youth development. More info can be found in the 2012 Official Guide. Here are a few tools: