Arts as Antidote for Academic Ills

 

Stationed in front of one of his large self-portraits, the
artist Chuck Close raised his customized wheelchair to balance
on two wheels, seeming to defy the laws of gravity.

By PATRICIA COHENPublished: December 18, 2012
NEW YORK TIMES

The chair’s unlikely gymnastics underlined the points that Mr. Close was making to his audience, 40 seventh and eighth graders from Bridgeport, Conn.: Break the rules and use limitations to your advantage.

The message had particular resonance for these students, and a few educators and parents, who had come by bus on Monday from Roosevelt School to the Pace Gallery in Chelsea for a private tour of Mr. Close’s show. Roosevelt, located in a community with high unemployment and crushing poverty, recently had one of the worst records of any school in the state, with 80 percent of its seventh graders testing below grade level in reading and math.

Campaign launched to promote arts education in L.A. Unified

Donors and school officials Monday launched a multimillion-dollar public awareness campaign to promote arts instruction in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The unveiling of a “bus wrap,” designed by a local artist, prompted cheers and unleashed a massive student dance number in front of the Torres High School Academies in East Los Angeles. But the prospects for arts in the nation’s second-largest school system are mixed — such programs, like others, have suffered from waves of budget cuts.

Artful Thinking: Maryland Middle School Proves Arts Ed Improves Grades and Behavior

by Liz Dwyer

on September 1, 2012 at 3:00AM PDT
Great YOU TUBE Video in Read More
Thanks to Stacey Kimberlin of Des Moines Education Association for this Post

Arts exposure makes students more altruistic, civically engaged, and socially tolerant. Need more proof of the transformation that happens when arts education is taken seriously in schools? Look no further than this inspiring profile of Bates Middle School, a public school in Annapolis, Maryland from our friends over at Edutopia. Bates has a full visual and performing arts program integrated across the curriculum and they've seen significant improvements in student behavior and academic performance.

The value of arts in education

Students with learning and emotional difficulties may benefit the most

by Mike McGrew

1:48 p.m. EDT, September 4, 2012

 

One dreary spring morning, I entered Robert Moton Elementary as opera resounded through its halls, stirring my soul like never before. As a school psychologist with limited exposure to classical genres, I was startled but tremendously invigorated by this music. I then noticed some students bopping down the halls — also seemingly uplifted.

 

I immediately sought out the assistant principal, a former music teacher who selects Moton's morning melodies, begging him to identify this inspiring music. "'Nessum Dorma,' Pavarotti's most famous work," he smilingly responded.

 

Well, I thought, if a geezer who failed art, hated clarinet and has no sense of rhythm could feel rejuvenated by a shot of culture, just think of how it might benefit struggling students possessing more talent and inspiration.

10 Ways to Support Arts Education

Kristen Engebretsen of AMERICANS FOR THE ARTSThe ARTS EDUCATION NETWORK is another reason that arts professionals and passionate advocates should be members of AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
Originally posted August 11, 2011

This week I got an email from someone concerned about the budget cuts to arts education and inquiring about what they could do to help keep the arts in schools.

In the spirit of my colleague Randy Cohen’s popular post (Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts), I am presenting my own Top 10 Ways to Support Arts Education.

10. Volunteer your time, resources, skills:Many schools would appreciate your time as a chaperone, your skill as a teaching artist, or your donations of money, costumes, rehearsal space, etc.

9. Know the facts: Stay on top of current arts education research, trends, and news articles. Start with Reinvesting in Arts Education, which summarizes research on the topic. Use this data in your messaging when you speak to elected officials or school leaders.

8. Get involved politically: Tell your elected officials why arts education is important. Ask your members of Congress to keep the arts listed as a core subject during the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Help US Advocate for the National Endowment for the Arts

Tell Legislators that the Arts Mean Jobs & a Strong Economy!

The other NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) funds grants to dance, design, folk & traditional arts, literature, local arts agencies, media arts, multidisciplinary, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts.  MANY OF THESE ARTISTS WORK IN OUR SCHOOLS.  Please take a few minutes to write to your Members of Congress to urge them to support the National Endowment for the Arts in widening citizen access to the cultural, educational, and economic benefits of the arts, and advancing creativity and innovation in communities across the United States.  If you've ever used CAP WIZ in writing your legislator through the Association, you know how easy it is.  The ARTS ACTION FUND of AMERICAN FOR THE ARTS (Let me encourage you to join), uses this as well and will allow you to paste pieces of pre-written messages AND add your own original words.

To learn more about the programs of the National Endowment for the Arts and to see the Americans for the Arts Position/Policy paper on the National Endowment for the Arts, click here.  Please download, save and share this piece.  Please take five or ten minutes to do this. 

NATIONAL ARTS IN EDUCATION WEEK: SEPTEMBER 9–15

In July 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring the week following the second Sunday of September as National Arts in Education Week. Celebrate with us this year, September 9–15, 2012. Take the opportunity to draw attention to arts education in your school and build momentum for a great school year. Americans for the Arts will celebrate by hosting our biannual blog salon about arts education topics on ARTSblog. This blog salon will feature about 20 posts by arts and education leaders throughout the week, all discussing the intersection between the arts and the new Common Core State Standards. Follow the salon by using this link to the arts education section of ARTSblog.

Cirque du Soleil's QUIDAM--Arts Integration at Work in OUR Work

We integrate our ARTS disciplines all the time...maybe that's why the STEAM initiative isn't such a threat to us.

A little bit circus, a little bit dance, a little bit concert, a little bit drama all rolled up into one brilliant ARTS piece--Quidam.  In this post, you'll find no crunched numbers, no great quotes, no charts or graphs.  Just a little bit of inspiration, fun and the art of what we artist's do--making something that isn't easy, look easy.  Take a few minutes to enjoy.  We recommend Cirque.  If you haven't seen QUIDAM, you might just enjoy it.

Why Arts Education Must Be Saved

from EDUTOPIA

Schools draw on the community to bring art and music to students.



Almost every one of us can point back to a creative pursuit, in or out of school, that enhanced our skills, knowledge, or understanding. Yet the majority of secondary school students in the United States aren't required to enroll in arts courses, many elementary schools nationwide lack art classes or activities, and arts and music instruction is often the first thing to go when schools feel the pressure to improve test scores.

Happily, from this admittedly grim background spring many rays of hope. In our special report on arts education, Edutopia paints a bright picture of how schools are forging innovative community partnerships to bring rich, academically integrated arts curriculum to their students:

More Resources for Art Educators

Thanks to our friend Jennifer Jenkins for sharing even more great art education resources from online university.  Lots of links to online museum exhibits and on painters.  We appreciate your contribution Jennifer.

Visual art is one of the oldest forms of human expression, stretching all the way back to the cave paintings at el Castillo in Northern Spain to the massive installations by Damien Hurst in the 1990s. This resource will concentrate mainly on visual art, such as sculpture, painting, ceramics and drawing, some specific periods and movements in the history of art and galleries and influential museums which house online resources for those interested in viewing art and learning more about particular forms.

ROMNEY ANNOUNCES RYAN AS RUNNING MATE

If there was ever a doubt that Wisconsin-like, anti-education politics will be a part of this race--which there was not--today's announcement makes the threats to quality public education even more pressing.  As ARTS EDUCATORS we should have some serious concerns about this candidate and his running mate's views on what is "essential" in our "public schools."

Friends:

Can you believe it? Governor Romney has doubled down on failed economic policies, those of which we know harm the middle class and do nothing to invest in our kids and schools. By naming Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate, it is crystal clear where he wants to take the country.

Ryan has repeatedly supported cuts to education funding, including blocking support intended to help avoid educator layoffs. Ryan has proposed cutting $1.1 billion from early childhood education, which would deny more than 2 million poor children the opportunity for high-quality early education.

London's 2012 Cultural Olympiad

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Since 2008, the Cultural Olympiad has featured programmes and projects inspired by London 2012, funded by our principal funders and sponsors. As part of the Cultural Olympiad:

• More than 16 million people across the UK took have taken part in or attended performances.
• Over 169,000 people have attended more than 8,300 workshops.
• More than 3.7 million people took part in nearly 3,700 Open Weekend events.
• Some 2,500 cultural projects have been awarded the London 2012 Inspire mark
  
  

Why We Should Bring Back the Arts Olympics

by Lucas Kavner HUFFINGTON POST 8/5/2012, Posted by NEA FAC on August 9, 2012

Culture Reporter, Huffington PostMarina Abramovic is probably the most celebrated performance artist in the world. She's also the subject of a new, engaging documentary called The Artist is Present, currently airing on HBO and in select cities around the world. For the first half of this new film we see Abramovic's past performance work, learn about her unique history, and follow the months leading up to her historic and wildly successful 2010 show at MoMA.

And then in the second half, we watch her do nothing but sit in a chair in the middle of an empty room and stare at thousands of strangers in the eyes, every single day, for over two months.

The event was a feat of performance endurance, surely, and also a beautiful collection of moving images, with thousands of visitors rounding the globe just to sit with Abramovic in New York and join in the project. It was art and prowess mixed, the largest performance exhibition ever mounted at the MoMA, and the longest duration piece ever performed in a museum, spanning 736 hours and 30 minutes.

High-Poverty Schools Awarded $1.2 Million in Arts Grants Awarded to Train Educators

July 31, 2012, published on the NEA FAC Website August 8, 2012

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of more than $1.2 million in grants to school districts in California, Florida, Nevada and New York to train arts educators serving high-poverty schools.

Under the Arts in Education-Professional Development for Arts Educators program, the funds will support high-quality model training programs in elementary and secondary education for music, dance, drama, media arts, or visual arts. The grants are especially targeted at schools with students from low-income backgrounds.

"Creating by doing is a uniquely powerful way to learn. That's why I think a high-quality arts education is absolutely critical to providing all students with a world-class education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The study of the arts can both significantly boost student achievement and give students a reason to look forward to coming to school. All children should have arts-rich schools."

Marvin Hamlisch, maestro of the perfect note

The late composer Marvin Hamlisch moved effortlessly across film, theater and TV, creating unforgettable music with the power to unleash tears and laughter.  He inspired this educator to understand WHAT I DID FOR LOVE.

by Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Film Critic

August 8, 2012, 8:00 a.m.

Hearing the news of Marvin Hamlisch's sudden passing, I am suddenly awash in the sound of his music and the flood of tears unleashed by its memory. There are movies that would not have been the same without it, and a Broadway musical that will never be forgotten for it.

But what Hamlisch perhaps played best was the human heartstrings, plucking at our emotions one by one, ranging across the octaves of sadness and joy, letting the feelings resonate for as long as he dared.

Three Oscars, a Tony, four Emmys, four Grammys — they seem now the briefest of nods, insufficient for a lifetime's work of filling our films, Broadway musicals and TV shows with his artistry.

PHOTOS: Marvin Hamlisch | 1944-2012

Music Education Links

Music Education and Intergration Tools

1.) Stanton’s Sheet Music is a site that provides printable sheet music for Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz, Marching Bang, Choral, Handbell, and General music.

2.) K-12 Resources for Music Educators is a valuable resource for music educators and students of all areas and educational levels. Regularly updated. For over fifteen years, the most visited and valued music education resource website available internationally. Carefully researched and commercial free.

3.) The Virtual Piano is a web based piano that you can play using the keyboard or mouse.

4.) The Music Resources Wiki is a great resource for finding other resources. I highly recommend seeing what you can find.

Art Education Links

 

 

Art Integration Tools and Resources

1.) Art History Resources on the Web is a place to find various Art from different countries and time periods. A valuable resource for students who might be interested in trying to recreate a famous piece of artwork, or make their own rendition. 

2.) Smarthistory.org is a free, not-for-profit, multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional art history textbook.

3.) Art Education 2.0 is a Social Network for Art Teachers to share, discuss, and find other teachers who are using technology in the art classroom.

4.) Artsonia is the words largest online database of art created by students and shared by students. It is a chance to get your student’s work displayed for the world to see.

Public schools' 'pay to play' fees: By the numbers

In the face of budget cuts and rising costs, public schools across the country are making ends meet by nickel-and-diming students

In some financially struggling school districts, students have to pay fees to participate in extracurricular activities... or not participate at all.
                       

Public schools are supposed to be free. But faced with budget cuts, rising staff costs, and declining tax revenues, many are instituting "pay to play" fees, charging students extra for everything from electives to after-school sports — and even some required classes, like French and basic sciences. Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to these "controversial" fees:

$18
Course supplies fee for students taking English 9 at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton, Colo.

$38
Fee for students taking Honors English 9

$75
Course supplies fee for students taking French IV at Lakota Local Schools in Liberty Township, Ohio

Lawsuit, bill aim to keep K-12 education free in California

Legislation and an ACLU lawsuit tackle the increasing use of fees at public schools, a trend that is unfair to low-income students and increases disparities.

SACRAMENTO — Not every proposed law is historic or sweeping. Some merely are pretty good ideas — perhaps even important for a low-income kid.

One such bill is among the hundreds awaiting action as the Legislature heads into its final month. The measure's goal is to stop schools from socking students with illegal fees.
Fees for sports and field trips and textbooks and art, for example.

They're being charged despite a guarantee in the California Constitution of a free K-12 education.

Beware! Sneaky Reformer Trick in L.A.

July 30, 2012--posted on the NEA FAC blog August 6, 2012 

On August 14, there will be a benefit concert in Los Angeles to “honor” teachers.

The concert is a promotion for a new “Superman”-style film that vilifies public schools and promotes privatization.

The film celebrates the “parent trigger” law, which gives parents the power to seize control of their school, fire the staff, and turn it over to a charter chain. The parent trigger was promoted by charter advocates and billionaire foundations Broad, Gates, and Walton.

Strange way to “honor” teachers–by firing them and giving the school to a non-union private entity to manage, which may hire only young teachers willing to work a 50-60 hour week at low wages. More “honors” like this and there won’t be a teaching profession in America, just teaching temps.
The concert is sponsored by Walmart (the Walton family) and Walden Media. The Walton Family Foundation gave out $159 million last year for charters and vouchers.

Why Are We Raising Robots?

Why Are We Raising Robots? from the website
LET CHILDREN PLAY: The Freedom to Discover Greatness with thanks to Lori Brown Burris

Why Are We Raising Robots?

July 17, 2012


by Meryl Neiman/ Playdate Planet

As parents and as a society, we are concerned about making sure that our children are prepared to compete in the new global economy. I get that. We all want our children to find success and happiness. And nobody wants their 40 year old offspring still living in the basement!

But here’s what doesn’t make sense to me. The way that we have responded to this challenge has been to push kids away from play and unstructured free time into academically focused pre-schools, supplemental tutoring program,s like Kumon, and absurdly early organized sports teams. We are building our child’s college application resume from the time he can toddle across the floor. This push-down of academics and parent-directed sports and activities may contribute to a child’s earlier understanding of basic reading and math fundamentals and an ability to follow directions, but there’s no evidence that this early skill development provides any academic advantage over time. We are sacrificing creativity and emotional resilience, two important traits learned best through play, traits that the research clearly shows are hugely important to a child’s future success.

STEAM Ahead: Merging Arts and Science Education

by: Kelly Chen and Imani M. Cheers of PBS

Akua Kouyate, Wolf Trap's senior director of
education (Courtesy of Teddy Wolff)

During tough economic times, arts and music programs are often some of the first programs cut in schools. But at Wolf Trap's Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts , investing in arts education has been a priority for the past 31 years.
A study by the National Endowment for the Arts shows that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who actively participated in the arts tended to score better in science and writing, and were more likely to aspire to college.

The study used survey data gathered over 20 years that followed socially and economically disadvantaged students, from kindergarten into their early twenties.

Standardized Testing in the Arts. No. Please No.

by Nancy Flanagan from EDUCATION WEEK on June 19, 2012 4:26 PM

When it comes to assessing music students, and their learning, I can say with confidence that I am a bona fide expert.

I did this work for thirty years--by my count, evaluating well over 5000 music students, giving them grades and feedback. Which only means I had lots of practice--not necessarily proficiency--but depth of experience matters here. Over three decades, I developed and continuously adjusted a conceptual framework for evaluating the most important skills and knowledge of student musicians, using (and often rejecting) multiple models and metrics. I did it wrong before I did it right. Once I understood that I finally had it right, I kept fine-tuning.

So How DO We Measure Learning in the Arts...

by Nancy Flanagan on June 27, 2012 4:37 PM

... if we don't use some kind of standardized assessment?

My previous blog has been re-posted, dissected, praised and scorned. But the question is still out there: How do we measure learning in the arts?

Two critical observations:

• Contrary to what some commenters seem to think, nobody is suggesting that learning in arts education can't or shouldn't be assessed. The blog wasn't a half-baked claim that the arts are too creative/expressive/ethereal/woo-woo for teachers to properly evaluate what their students have produced and learned. Assessing learning in the arts is precisely how students grow in arts knowledge and skill--with the assistance of their teachers, who use those assessments to tailor and improve their instruction as well.

• This contention--that we can't measure something unless we standardize it--is driving a whole lot of truly damaging, excessive and deceptive testing right now, and not just in the arts. How many times have we heard this: "If we don't use standardized tests, how will we really know what students have learned? Or how they compare to kids in Singapore?"

N.C. to Require Arts Integration in Teacher-Prep Programs

by Erik Robelen on July 27, 2012 10:33 AM

Efforts to promote integration of the arts across the curriculum got a boost in North Carolina last month, when Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue signed legislation stipulating that those studying to become elementary teachers get some grounding in the concept.

The measure, contained in a broader education bill, says elementary education programs "shall ensure" that teacher candidates "are prepared to integrate arts education across the curriculum."

Arts integration is nothing new, but it does seem to be building some momentum lately. For example, I recently wrote an EdWeek story about initiatives to promote adding an "A" for the arts into the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) acronym, so that the arts are infused across the disciplines.

Diane Ravitch at the AFT Convention

ABSTRACT of Sparks of Genius – The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People.

By Robert & Michele Root-Bernstein.

Chapter 1 – Rethinking Thinking
Invention presupposes imagination. Einstein once revealed to his friend, “The words of the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought” Some scientists insist that thinking in feelings and mental images can be rationally manipulated.

MIT Prof. Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize winner) told once, “Mathematics is the form in which we express our understanding of nature, but it is not the content of that understanding”

In Creating minds and Frames of mind, scientists are logico-mathamatical thinkers, poets and writers are highly verbal thinkers, psychologists as intrapersonal thinkers and politicians as interpersonal thinkers.

Poincre (greatest mathematician in19th century) once said, “it is by logic we prove, but by intuition that we discover...”

French physician Armand Trousseau agreed, “All science touches on art; all art has its scientific side. The worst scientist is he who is not an artist; the worst artist is he who is no scientist.

Sculptor Naum Gabo once wrote. “Every great scientist has experiences a moment when the artist in him saved the scientist.”

Various professions including medicine are beginning to recognize intuition as a necessary part of disciplinary thinking.

NCLB vs. ARTS Education

Although we've used the cartoon on our site in the past, as a new year starts it's
worth a new life and a new look.  Let's pass this on to our colleagues as the
reauthorization discussions continue.

Full STEAM Ahead: Valve Launches Classroom Video Game Program

by Andrew Miller

Video game company Valve is going deep into the education world with a new initiative using Steam, their free online game platform where users can download games and communicate and play with other players. The initiative is called Steam for Schools, and a free educational version is now available to teachers to use in the classroom.

What makes it unique for schools is that all functionality unrelated to education is disabled and only certain games are made available for teachers and students.

Just a Few of the Highlights from the 2012 RA

Video highlights of NEA's 2012 Representative Assembly (RA) held in Washington, DC



NEA President Dennis Van Roekel opened the National Education Association's 91st Representative Assembly today with a challenge to members to stand up for their profession and come together in a united mission to transform America's public schools into world class institutions of learning.

NEA's Community Outreach Caucus gives back to the host city where the NEA's Annual Convention and Representative Assembly is held each year. The group did landscaping at a school, painted a women's shelter and fed the homeless.

The 2012 National Teacher of the Year delivered captivating, moving and inspirational words about the power teachers have to shape and transform the lives of their students. Rebecca Mieliwocki spoke before thousands of fellow educators gathered at the National Education Association's (NEA) Representative Assembly (RA) in Washington, DC. Mieliwocki is an English teacher at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank, California.

NEA's Outreach to Teach took place on June 27th, 2012 at Thomas Johnson Middle School in Lanham, MD. Sponsored by NEA's Student Program, each year Outreach to Teach selects a deserving public school in the area of the host city of NEA's Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly to receive a free makeover. More than 400 future, current, and retired teachers, higher ed faculty and education support professionals painted, cleaned, landscaped and decorated the high-needs school.

Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden appeared at the National Education Association's Representative Assembly on July 3, 2012 in Washington, DC. Biden said teachers make dreams a reality. He stressed that our success as a national depends on our ability to educate all children.

Teacher-Voice: How Not to be a Bobble-Head Doll

by Jose Vilson from TEACHER LEADER'S NETWORK

"Teacher voice" is one of the most ambiguous phrases in education reform—used differently by governors, chancellors, commission leaders, advocacy organizations, and school administrators.

Sometimes, "teacher voice" means that the convening group or individual actually wants meaningful input from educators. But more often than not, teachers are being asked to complete a project or support an agenda that needs little more than their reluctant signatures. 

I offered a different definition of "teacher voice" at April's TEDxNYED conference. This is a phrase we can reclaim. Truly engaging with "teacher voice" means taking seriously the collective and individual expression of teachers' professional opinions based on their knowledge and classroom expertise. Anything else is just a "teacher nod." Like we’re all bobble-head dolls.  

Teaching Foreign Language Through Storytelling

by Jeanete Borich from THE TEACHER LEADER'S NETWORK
What is the best way to help students learn a second language?

Traditionally, teachers tackle the "how" of the language. Students learn a list of vocabulary, are introduced to various rules, produce language according to those rules, and are corrected as needed.
This year I tried something different: using storytelling to help my 8th graders become more confident second-language (L2) learners. This method emphasizes the gradual acquisition of language rather than the memorization of vocabulary and rules. It's more about "what" is said than "how" it is said.

Here are my takeaways from this big change. While these insights are about teaching Spanish, they could apply to any major pedagogical shift.

Districts Push for Texts Aligned to Common Core

NOTE: For those who believe that the ARTS are not part of the COMMON CORE, and for those states that have not yet recognized the ARTS as part of the COMMON CORE, here is an article that demonstrates why what we do needs to be recognized in the core.  The texts that are being developed nationally are preparing to write the arts out of existence in those states that fail to recognize the contributions of the arts as part of the core.

by Christina A. Samuels

Flexing billions of dollars of purchasing muscle, more than 30 of the nation's largest districts have come together to say they will only buy common-core instructional materials that meet a set of "publishers' criteria" written by a nonprofit organization that played a leading role in crafting the new standards.

The new criteria, meant to govern the development of instructional materials aligned with the English/language arts portion of the standards, were publicized June 28 at a press event organized by the Council of the Great City Schools, the Washington-based membership group to which the districts belong. But the criteria were released last summer by the New York City-based Student Achievement Partners, whose founders were among the lead writers of the Common Core State Standards now adopted by all but four states.

White House Announces $1 Billion 'Master Teacher' Program

In today's article from US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, we see those who are pushing the STEM initiative working in as narrow of a Sputnik-minded fashion as those of the past.

When will those who are promoting the STEM initiative in the US realize that we are missing the boat. Years ago, the acronym TEAMS was used (A for Arts); that was followed by STEM-A and STEAM. We are losing the economic battle by ignoring the important work of Root-Bernstein (SPARKS OF GENIUS) and Pinket (A WHOLE NEW MIND) that demonstrate this silo/compartmentalized, stringent Carnegie unit approach to the initiative is ignoring the very important tools of innovation that other countries embrace in order to really apply and use STEM content to drive the economy. Integration is the key to innovation. Let the STEAM discussion get started on the national stage.

Top educators could earn up to $20,000 in annual bonuses

by Jason Koebler

July 18, 2012 RSS Feed Print

For years, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said teachers have to be more respected in the United States. Wednesday, he'll get his wish—the Obama administration plans to form a corps of
"master teachers" who will specialize in science, technology, engineering, and math and will receive annual bonuses of up to $20,000.

Next Generation of Max Headroom

1984 was the year when Max Headroom debuted as the first computer generated personality bringing life to computer technology. However, the original image of Max was actually not computer generated; it was a green screen image of Matt Frewer with latex prosthetic make-up and fiberglass costume. Even the background was initially hand-drawn cel animation at first, but eventually was generated by a Commodore computer.

Since Max Headroom, computer generated characters have become a part of everyday life, and today people use computer generated avatars to represent themselves in binary form. However, not since Max Headroom, has a hyper-realistic appearance of humans been generated.

Last week, new 3D like technologies enabled innovators James George and Jonathan Minard discover what they call “virtual cinematography.” The two have created new technology that is “redefining the talking head,” impacting the future of computer generated avatars. The two innovators use open-source software which maps the video image to the Kinect, producing a truly computerized human.

Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts & Culture Industry on the American Economy

This June, Americans for the Arts released the new Arts & Economic Prosperity IV (AEP IV) study demonstrating that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $135.2 billion in economic activity and supports 4.13 million jobs in the United States! These powerful findings from the largest and most comprehensive arts impact study ever conducted can help you showcase the economic power of the arts in your community and help you leverage more support.

ART and HEART

"Watch this you tube video about a doctor who uses art to help his patients understand heart surgery. Here is an example of how ART is so important to science. His brother Ken Bichell is a ceramic artist in Dubuque, and is a friend of mine. I was telling him about STEM to STEAM and he told me of his brother. It is amazing. Enjoy." Colleen Hughes, NEA FAC Member.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STEAM INITIATIVE

ARTStem: Teaching & Learning at the Intersection of the Arts and STEM disciplines

An ongoing initiative of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), in Winston Salem. Inspired by artists and scholars who efface the lines between “the arts” and the “STEM” disciplines, the project brought together academic and arts faculty members from UNCSA with an interdisciplinary team of public school educators for an academic summer seminar about teaching and learning at the intersection of the arts and STEM disciplines, followed by a year of creative teaching collaborations and programming. www.artstem.org

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Bridging STEM to STE(A)M: Developing New Frameworks for ART/SCIENCE Pedagogy

Artists, scientists, researchers, educators and leaders in information and creative technology gathered at this NSF-funded workshop held at the Rhode Island School of Design, Jan 21-22, 2011, to explore the questions: What do you consider the greatest potential of your field of research, work, or teaching? How might you see the value of your work benefiting from interaction with other disciplines?

http://www.stemtosteam.org/

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Communicating Science to the Public through the Performing Arts

The 2010 Conference of Science and the Arts, a program of CUNY Graduate Center. Website

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Visual Arts and Math Integration K-5

See how to convey core K-5 mathematical concepts through visual arts with Object Lessons. 50 classroom-tested activities use everyday objects—flags, shoes, paper, rocks, faces, and more—to encourage problem solving and develop spatial abilities. Preview Chapter 1: The Face.

U.S. Drops in Global Innovation Rankings

by Jason Tomassini on July 9, 2012 2:30 PM| 3 Comments

Perhaps those who are opposed to STEAM should read this to understand why the transferable skills learned in the arts are so vital to our competitiveness in the global economy.

The United States may be home to Facebook, Google, Apple, and taco shells made of Doritos, but according to a recent international study, our nation is becoming less innovative, at least compared to last year. After ranking 7th in 2011, the U.S. is ranked 10th in this year's Global Innovation Index, a massive report published by Insead, an international business school, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, an agency of the United Nations.

The report ranks 141 nations on nearly 100 factors related to innovation, in areas like "Business sophistication," "Human capital & research," and "Knowledge & technology outputs." Switzerland and Sweden are ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, for the second straight year. Rounding out the top five are Singapore, Finland, and the United Kingdom.

The Arts Gap in America

by John Wilson, April 10, 2012

We have a major arts equity issue in this country. And, we have a major denial issue about the power of the arts in driving student achievement. Who gets hurt? Of course, as always, the poor children of America are the have-nots. The facts don't lie.

Recently, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke eloquently about this issue. He called for all schools to be "arts-rich." He lamented that the arts opportunity gap is widest for children in high poverty schools. He said, " Low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. degree as low income students without those experiences." Ignoring the research on this issue is malpractice.

What is STE(A)M?

WHAT IS STE(A)M?

STE(A)M is also known by other acronyms like the original title: TEAMS and others like STEAMi, STEM-A is an initiative that recognizes the importance of marrying ARTS education to our nation's STEM movemnt.

In this climate of economic uncertainty, America is once again turning to innovation as the way to ensure a prosperous future.

Yet innovation remains tightly coupled with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – the STEM subjects. The ARTS are poised to transform our economy in the 21st century just as science and technology did in the last century.

We need to add THE ARTS to the equation — to transform STEM into STEAM. Let's lose the parentheses and make STEM stronger by adding the strength of the ARTS and the awesome tranferable skills learned primarily in the arts to the education of our nation's students.

to learn more about our need to integrate ARTS education into the STEM movment, take a look at the following resources:

From STEM to STEAM
STEAM Whitepaper
Seattle's ARCADE Magazine devotes entire Spring 2013 Issue to STEAM
STEAM Ahead: Merging Arts and Science Education
STEAM Not Just STEM from the Huffington Post

NEA FAC RA Meeting Minutes July 4, 2012

NEA RA 2012 - Washington DC
NEA FAC Meeting Minutes - WED, July 4, LUNCH BREAK
Convention Center Room 147B

I.       Call to order. Meeting was called to order at 1:35pm, texting update, meeting procedures and protocols were discussed by Chair, Tom McLaughlin (IA).   24 RA delegates were in attendance.

II.    Adoption of Agenda--(Fitzwater, Moved Dinneno, Seconded PASSED)

III. Adoption Minutes (07/03 - Woodman/Fitzwater PASSED) (07/04 AM - Fry/Gary PASSED)

IV.NBI #36 - “STEM to STEAM” Modifications have been made to this NBI.   NBI comes up onto the floor after Lunch Break.   Mic are all covered.  Speakers are 1. Meikel (CO); Lemmo (PA); Fitzwater (MD) yielding to Johnson (CA); McLaughlin (IA); Turici (PA)  $18,398.00 is the new cost.  The modification save over $150,000.00.  Note the word "reframe/reframing" was responsible for the additional $150,000.00 in cost.  Discussions with Michael McPherson, NEA CFO gleaned this costing information from us.

STEAM--NOT STEM WHITEPAPER

An agreement on what drives the US economy in the future

Even in today’s very politically partisan time there is one point of agreement between most of the political leaders when it comes to the future of our economy – it is
The strength of the US economy in the future will be determined by our success in innovation versus the existing developed nations and their economies and, probably more importantly, the emerging nations and their rapidly developing economies.

Clinton’s former Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, summed up this need for innovation to drive our future when he predicted,

“The jobs in the greatest demand in the future don’t yet exist and will require workers to use technologies that have not yet been invented to solve problems that we don’t yet even know are problems.”

AGENDA JULY 3, 2012 * ROOM 147B CC * LUNCH BREAK MEETING

SPECIAL  NOTE:  ALL ITEMS WILL BE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED.  BUSINESS WILL  BE DONE ON BOLDED ITEMS
I.     Call to order, short introductions, texting update
II.    Adoption of Agenda
III.   Adoption of Minutes

IV.   NBI # 1 FOLLOW UP

A.  Text of speeches/photos of speakers
B.   Caucus Thanks
C.   Mic Yielder Thanks

Arts Advocacy Resource Guide Overwhelmingly Adopted

NEW BUSINESS ITEM 1
Adopted As Modified

The NEA will advocate for arts education through these means:

Acting as a partner with fine arts education organizations, including the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA); the National Association for Music Education (NAfME); the National Art Education Association (NAEA); the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and Americans for the Arts to collect and disseminate existing arts advocacy tools to create an electronic “NEA Arts Advocacy Resource Guide”.

Devoting portions of NEA TODAY to arts education and promoting the electronic “Arts Advocacy Resource Guide” in the NEA TODAY, on the NEA website and in social media.

The electronic “NEA Arts Advocacy Resource Guide” will address the importance of the arts in a student’s comprehensive education and the need for the arts to be represented in curriculum reform, highlight models of effective advocacy campaigns and provide specific tools for students, arts educators and supportive patrons to use as they advocate for arts education.

COST IMPLICATIONS

This NBI can be accomplished at an additional cost of $13,670.

FAC Membership on the RA Floor

Want to become an NEA FAC Member and not take the trek to the Non-Profit Booth (that has cool arts giveaways, raffles, policy papers and more)?  Come to an NEA FAC Caucus meeting from 9:30-10:00 each morning in room 147B of the Convention Center or see one of the members of the Fine Arts Caucus Executive Board Tom McLaughlin (IA), Chair; Debbie Turici (PA Western Region), Vice-Chair; Oscar Forsman (IL), Treasurer; Rich Nicklay (IA), Secretary; Pam Gibberman (CA), Music Rep; Jessica Fitzwater (MD), Music Rep; Ginger Fox (CA), Theatre & Dance Rep; Carol Woodman (WA), Theater and Dance Rep; Carlos Meikel (CO), Visual Arts Rep; Sue Lemmo (PA), Visual Arts Rep.  JOIN US.

FULL ONLINE COVERAGE

Full coverage of new business items, amendments, resolutions and other items considered during the 2012 Representative Assembly.

• Amendments
• Legislative Amendments
• New Business Items
• Resolutions
• Election of NEA Officers
• Proposed Amendment to the Policy Statement on Teacher Evaluation and Accountability

STEAM vs. STEM New Business Item

NEW BUSINESS ITEM 36

The NEA will support efforts to integrate the fine arts into the educational movement known as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); assist in reframing the related discussion to: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM); use existing means of communication to advocate for the importance of integrating arts education into the STEM movement, and creating a stronger national awareness of STEAM's importance as they advocate for arts education.