IEA Weekly Newsletter - November 29

This is the Institute’s first weekly newsletter. We will send via email 5 – 10 articles each Wednesday morning, clustered into major themes. We archive the newsletters here on our blog.

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BREAKING NEWS
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AEP NATIONAL FORUM: WHAT ARE WE LEARNING ABOUT THE ROLE OF ARTS EDUCATION IN SCHOOL REFORM?
Friday, 1/19/07 – Saturday, 1/20/07, Dallas, TX
“This Arts Education Partnership (AEP) forum will focus on the efforts of the arts education field and philanthropy to bring about change and improvement in teaching and learning in the nation’s schools and school systems. What is our field learning about the role of the arts as a catalyst for school-wide change? What are foundations and corporate funders learning through their investments in both systemic change and the arts?” Forum registration forms will be available at http://www.aep-arts.org later in November.

NEW REPORT: THE ARTS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
National Endowment for the Arts
“People who participate in the arts are people who help make communities thrive, according to a study released today by the National Endowment for the Arts. The study, The Arts and Civic Engagement: Involved in Arts, Involved in Life, reveals that people who participate in the arts also engage in positive civic and individual activities - such as volunteering, going to sporting events, and outdoor activities - at significantly higher rates than non-arts participants. The report shatters the stereotype that art is an escapist or passive activity, showing instead that it is associated with a range of positive behaviors. The study also reveals that young adults (18-34) show a declining rate of arts participation and civic activities. The study is the first to measure the connection between arts and civic engagement, which can be defined as promoting a positive quality of life through individual and group activities.” The full press release is online at http://www.arts.gov/news/news06/CivicEngagement.html . Read the entire report at http://www.arts.gov/pub/CivicEngagement.pdf .

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TEACHING AND LEARNING IDEAS
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MUSIC EDUCATION MOVES ONLINE:
WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES, BROADBAND ACCESS FUEL EXTENSION OF MUSIC EDUCATION BEYOND FACE-TO-FACE INSTRUCTION
By Laura Ascione, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
“Thanks to advancements in so-called Web 2.0 technologies, music education is extending beyond the classroom with the help of software that allows for virtual, real-time music lessons and collaboration online. These technologies can supplement and reinforce the traditional teaching that occurs during private music lessons or school classes, their proponents say.” Read more at
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6723 .

WEB 2.0 REPLACES MUSIC TEACHERS
Michael Calore, Wired, November 9, 2006
“In the cacophony of mashups, widgets and collaboration tools demoed at the third annual Web 2.0 Summit here, one rang out as the biggest crowd pleaser: a musical instrument instruction web app with a golden ear and infinite patience.” Read more here: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72092-0.html .

DOCUMENTARIES AND THE POWER OF THE IMAGE
Milton Chen, Edutopia, September 27, 2006
“The dramatic increase in broadband Internet access is enabling new forms of multimedia and video at the same time it offers new tools for instruction and communication. Documentary films and videos are unsung heroes in the search to improve teaching in our nation's classrooms. A compelling film scene is worth much more than a thousand words. We are beginning to see how the Internet will enable educators and students to download and view the best educational TV series, films, and videos on demand, legally and cost-effectively -- a trend to watch.” Read more here.


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FUNDING & GRANTS
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LEADERS IN LEARNING AWARDS FROM CABLE IN THE CLASSROOM
Deadline: 12/15/06
Cable in the Classroom offers $3,000 and a trip for two to Washington, DC, to K-12 teachers who have advanced the teaching and learning of media-literacy concepts and skills; the deadline is December 15. Visit the CIC website for more information.

CRAY-PAS WONDERFUL, COLORFUL WORLD ART CONTEST
Deadline: 12/15/06
Sakura Color Products of America announces this grant for K-8 students. Awards range from $50 to $200 in U.S. Savings Bonds. As well as t-shirts, art supplies, and more. Students submit oil pastel artwork on a topic of their choosing. Learn more at http://www.gellyroll.com/art/craypas/guidlines.html .

NATIONAL SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
Deadline: 1/2/07
American Association of School Librarians and Follett Library Resources announce this award to recognize exemplary school library media programs that are fully integrated into the school's curriculum. Each winning program receives a $10,000 prize ($30,000 total) donated by Follett Library Resources. Visit http://www.ala.org/aasl/awards.html for more information.

IEA's New Weekly Format Debuts Tomorrow

The Institute has decided to revamp its listserv, changing from a daily to a weekly format. Each Wednesday morning, beginning tomorrow, it will send 5 – 10 articles related to the arts and education. The listserv items will continue to be onlined on this blog as well.

We made this change based on responses to our survey. Results can be found at http://www.edartsinstitute.org/listserv/index.htm .

Thank you to all who participated in this survey and to the readers whose suggestion of a weekly format inspired the survey.

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Keepingscore.org from San Francisco Symphony

In November, the Institute published information about PBS's now-past broadcast, AARON COPLAND AND THE AMERICAN SOUND.

In response to that posting, Stephen Soderberg of the Library of Congress wrote to the listserv about this series and has given permission for his comments to be published here on the IEA blog.

He writes:

I have been following this series as it has been developing. All music teachers Elementary/Middle/High School/Undergraduate(!) should keep an eye on this development. It is much more than the PBS production. For a complete description of the philosophy/materials available, go to http://keepingscore.org.

What Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony are doing is combining (a) the original Leonard Bernstein Children's Concerts TV broadcast idea, (b) the idea behind the (Kalmus?) miniature scores that used to be published with helpful arrows & commentary so amateurs could follow the music, and (c) the power of the web and (what appears to be) Sibelius notation/score-reading/midi tools (probably with the help of their Scorch software).

To get the full effect of how this could be a revolution in music education, click on the "web" button at the site's header. Scroll to "Beethoven's Eroica Companion Site." Then click on "Visit the site" at the bottom of that paragraph. You should then get a full screen view & the music will start with MTT appearing at the bottom of the screen to give a brief introduction.

You now have two choices on the screen: "Revolutionary Ties" (historical commentary about Beethoven, Napolean, Heiligenstadt Testament, etc.) and "Explore the Score." Save the "Ties" for later. Click on "Explore the Score" & then "Play the Score" & then "Play" the first example. (Be patient; there's so much stuff here it takes a little time to load.)

I guarantee you'll be blown away. All at once, you'll see MTT & the SF Symph performing it (upper left window), the score itself with a vertical line following the measures as they go by, an indication of the keys (both in the score & at lower left with color coding), "themes" to follow if you haven't had practice in score reading, and an icon for "mark ups" which will circle a segment of the score -- mouse over a mark up & the music temporarily stops & a window appears with MTT or an orchestra member giving a capsule explanation of the marked segment. There's also a learn-more window that lets you take apart the themes & play various segments with midi piano single line for clarity or full orchestra for context.

Only a couple of criticisms. Navigation: Once you start, you can't stop it yourself or go back over something you missed. I assume this will be fixed in future editions. Second, the score-follower (the vertical line that follows the passing measures) needs work. It doesn't always hit the measure on the beat & can get annoying (especially in the Rite of Spring presentation with complex meters). I guess the problem is coordination with a live performance vs midi & someone probably had to do this manually, but I think there are "mechanical conductors" out there so this should be possible to fix also. But these are very minor problems in the context of this huge achievement.

A web version of the Copland PBS show isn't yet available as I write this, but beside the Beethoven Eroica site, there's one for the Stravinsky Rite of Spring that uses live dance segments from a recent performance as well as original choreography sketches from the Paris premiere. Outstanding.

Kudos to MTT and the designers & support staff that put this product together!

He also recommends Morton Subotnick's website, http://www.creatingmusic.com, that "teaches kids how to compose before they can read music."

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MetLife Teacher Survey

The Institute for Education and the Arts shares this teacher survey.

2006 METLIFE SURVEY OF THE AMERICAN TEACHER:
EXPERIENCES AND EXPECTATIONS

From the Executive Summary:

“The 2006 MetLife Survey … examines what it takes to be a teacher in American public schools today and the experiences that contribute to a fulfilling career in the field. To address these issues, the MetLife Survey turned to teachers themselves, school principals, and . . . education school deans and chairpersons of education programs. The state of the profession was examined at key points throughout the lifecycle of a teacher’s career, from preparation in college and graduate school and expectations before entering the classroom, to experiences after entering the nation’s K-12 schools.

“Over the past two decades, teachers’ satisfaction with their career has increased . . . One reason to measure teacher satisfaction is as an indication of whether or not a teacher will remain in the profession. Although analyses of this year’s MetLife Survey data indicate that teacher satisfaction is one of the predictors of whether a teacher intends to switch careers, it is not the only one. Evidence of this can be found in the number of teachers who plan to leave teaching in the next five years. One-quarter of teachers (27%) say they are likely to leave teaching. Despite the fact that teachers’ career satisfaction has increased by over 20 points since 1986, the number of teachers at-risk for changing careers has stayed the same. These results indicate that retaining high-quality teachers in the profession is as much of an issue today as it was two decades ago.”

Read the 2006 report, as well as reports from past years, here.

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Revamped Website: Keep Arts in Schools

The Institute for Education and the Arts shares Douglas Gould & Company’s announcement about their revamped website, Keep Arts In Schools.

To quote the company, the website helps visitors:

- Keep current on what’s happening nationally to put arts education in public schools
- Access toolkits and other resources to designed to make compelling cases for arts education
- Get inspired by case studies of successful campaigns by Ford Foundation grantees
- Read the latest opinion research on arts education
- Find out how to create an on-line petition or write a letter to request support
- Swap tips with other advocates on the message board
- Read important news on arts education

Visit the website.

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Education Articles

The Institute for Education and the Arts posts these articles focusing on education.

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THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL
Margaret Webb Pressler, Washington Post, October 11, 2006

“When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters . . . College hopefuls are just the first edge of a wave of U.S. students who no longer get much handwriting instruction in the primary grades, frequently 10 minutes a day or less. As a result, more and more students struggle to read and write cursive.

“Many educators shrug. Stacked up against teaching technology, foreign languages and the material on standardized tests, penmanship instruction seems a relic, teachers across the region say. But academics who specialize in writing acquisition argue that it's important cognitively, pointing to research that shows children without proficient handwriting skills produce simpler, shorter compositions, from the earliest grades.”

Read more here.

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CREATIVE LEARNING IS PART OF BETTER STUDENT PERFORMANCE
(EDITORIAL)
James F. Tune and Mary Snapp, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 12, 2006

“The arts help all students learn to succeed in school and beyond. Students who participate in the arts are more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to be elected to class office, to participate in a math and science fairs and to receive awards for school attendance. Compared with their peers, students in the arts read for pleasure twice as much and perform more community service. In addition, arts education has a positive impact on deterring delinquent behavior in at-risk youth and can improve the developmental growth of all children.

“What students learn through the arts and curricula infused with creativity helps prepare them for the real life demands of today's economy. Creative programs help students learn how to collaborate with others, enhance critical thinking skills, communicate clearly in a variety of media, produce results in real-time and think outside the box.”

Read more here.

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THE NEGLECTED MUSE: WHY MUSIC IS AN ESSENTIAL LIBERAL ART
Peter Kalkavage, American Educator, Fall 2006

“Why should young people study music? One answer presents itself on the basis . . . [that] music has a central place in the lives of young people. For many, music is their life. Teaching music to the young is therefore much more than conveying historical information and technical facts, or helping students develop their musical talent. It is more than the effort to make them competent and aesthetically refined. In getting young people to engage in a serious study of music, we are giving them an opportunity to know themselves better by becoming more precisely aware of the amazing power that music has over them. Also, as we shall see, we are giving them an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the natural world—and of our connection to it—by becoming more aware of the mathematical order that underlies music.”

Read more here.

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WYNTON MARSALIS ON AMERICA’S MUSICAL CLASSICS
An Interview with Wynton Marsalis, American Educator, Fall 2006

Marsalis says: “Art interprets the human soul, and the technology of the human soul does not change. The power of great music is timeless. That’s why it remains such an indispensable tool for teaching our youngsters. What’s more, music is one of the few things that transcends the boundaries of race, class, religion, and geography that too often divide us.”

Read more here.

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KEEPING ART ALIVE UNDER NCLB
Interview with Nina Ozlu, chief counsel for Americans for the Arts
Education World, October 11, 2006

Ozlu says: “A child's education is not complete unless it includes the arts. In spite of the arts being named a core academic subject under NCLB, access to arts education in our schools is eroding. A report from the Center for Education Policy concludes that, since the enactment of NCLB, 22 percent of school districts surveyed have reduced instructional time for art and music. We believe this is because preparation for math and reading testing is commanding more and more time in the school day.”

Read more here.

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Listserv Survey Results

Over the past two weeks, we asked IEA subscribers to give us their input about the listserv via an online survey. The survey has now closed.

While the staff takes a few days to review the results and design implementation strategies based on your input, we will continue our current practice of daily listserv postings.

We invite you to review the survey results. Links to the survey results can be found here .

Thank you to all of you who participated. We heard from a wide spectrum of practitioners, administrators, and educators.

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Listserv survey still open!

Last week, we invited IEA listserv subscribers to participate in our listserv survey so that we could tailor the listserv content and format to your needs.

If you haven’t had a chance to share your perspective, please consider doing so before Friday, when the survey will close.

The survey should take no more than ten minutes. There are ten questions; click "Done" at the very bottom to submit your responses.

You can visit the survey here.

We’ll share the results soon after that.

Thank you!

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Help Us Tailor the Listserv/Blog to Fit Your Needs!

Lately, a few listserv subscribers have suggested some changes to how we deliver listserv content.

To help us gather feedback, please consider visiting the link below and taking a 10-minute survey to let us know how we can best tailor the listserv to help you.

There are ten questions in all; click "Done" at the end to submit your answers.

You can visit the survey here.

The survey will be open until Friday, November 23. We'll share the results soon after that.

Thank you!

Rand Corporation Report on School Reform

The Institute for Education and the Arts is forwarding this report from the Rand Corporation, reported at Ednews.org:

RAND STUDY FINDS MOST SCHOOLS FAIL TO FULLY ADOPT
Ednews.org, Saturday, November 11, 2006

“Schools that embrace comprehensive reform models designed to improve student achievement frequently do not fully adopt all practices recommended by the model developers, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today. The findings call into question whether the comprehensive school reform model approach that has been adopted by more than 8,000 schools nationally can become a key strategy to help improve student performance.”

Read more here.

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SketchUp: Free 3-D Modeling Software from Google

The Institute for Education and the Arts posts this article from Edutopia about the free Google software SketchUp.

HAVE YOU SEEN SKETCHUP?
by Jim Moulton, Edutopia’s Spiral Notebook, November 6, 2006

“’Have you seen SketchUp?’” Seriously. I mean it. Incredible tool. Simple, powerful, fun … Three-dimensional modeling made easy … The thing I am enjoying the most about introducing SketchUp to kids and teachers I am working with is the level of “spontaneous creativity” it engenders. Lots of kids, and more than a few adults start doing cool things that require perseverance and complex thinking, and they are doing these things without being asked to … Need some help getting started? Complete tutorials are available for free online, and the learning around this tool happens quite quickly. Trust me. You can, and the kids certainly can.”

Read the complete article here.

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Examining the Results of Gates Foundation's Small-School Initiative

The Institute for Education and the Arts posts this article about the progress of the Gates Foundation’s small schools initiatives.

FOUNDATION’S SMALL-SCHOOLS EXPERIMENT HAS YET TO YIELD BIG RESULTS
Linda Shaw, The Seattle Times, November 5, 2006

“Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation outgoing Executive Director of Education Giving Tom Vander Ark admits that his group's efforts to promote small schools since 1999 have proven more complicated than initially envisioned, although he believes most of the grant-winning schools are better off today than they were before they reformed. The foundation now is focusing on giving high schools more instructional support, rather than simply making them autonomous.”

Read the full article here (may require free registration).

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MENC Study Links Attendance and Quality of Music Education Programs

The Institute for Education and the Arts is posting this study correlating high school attendance with the level of quality of the music education programs.

MUSIC IN EDUCATION: STUDY FINDS LINK WITH ATTENDANCE AND GRADUATION RATES
by Dave Nagel, T.H.E. Journal, November 6, 2006

“Is there a link between attendance levels in high schools and the quality of music education programs in those schools? That's the focus of a study just released by the National Association for Music Education (MENC) and audio industry trade group NAMM.

“The report finds a relationship between the existence and quality of music education programs and the graduation and attendance rates in high schools. MENC is an organization that promotes the inherent value of music education in schools, and the study- Understanding the Linkages Between Music Education and Educational Outcomes-set out to discern whether requirements from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) had been contributing to an erosion of music education programs. But the study did not focus exclusively on the impact of NCLB. It also polled the attitudes of school administrators toward music education in general and their own music programs in particular, drawing correlations between attitudes, demographics, and student achievement.”

Read more here.

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PBS Programming: Aaron Copland.

The Institute for Education and the Arts forwards this information about an upcoming PBS program. This program is scheduled to be shown on various PBS stations this week. To find the schedule for your local PBS station, visit http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/ .

COPLAND AND THE AMERICAN SOUND (part 3 of 3)
Suited to Elementary/Middle/High School
Announced by PBS Teacher Previews

“In the early 20th century, the sounds of America burst upon the world with jazz, blues, spirituals, folk, Latin and the sounds of Tin Pan Alley. Aaron Copland listened and absorbed everything around him. This episode visits the places and explores the ideas that shaped Aaron Copland's life and music (CC, Stereo, 1 year replay rights)”

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USC/NEA Institute for Theater and Musical Theater

The Institute for Education and the Arts posts this opportunity for theatre journalists.

NEA ARTS JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP IN THEATRE
From the USC Annenberg School for Communication

“The School of Journalism of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the National Endowment for the Arts are pleased to announce the 3rd annual NEA Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. The NEA Institute brings journalists together from across the country to Los Angeles—home to over 300 theater companies—for a total immersion in the world of theater criticism, as well as playwriting, directing and acting. Participants will attend at least eight performances, two lecture-demonstrations and will write reviews, take part in six-on-one-writing and editing workshops, study theater history, and learn about major issues in the theater journalism field, including moving drama reports onto the Internet. Arts and industry leaders, from eminent American critics at significant publications to the creators and administrators at L.A.'s primary theater institutions, will form the faculty.”

The Institute will run for ten days, from January 30 to February 9, 2007.

For an application, send an email to NEAInst@usc.edu. For more information, call 213-437-4414 .

Learn more here.

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Multimedia Arts Education Resources from Edutopia

The Institute for Education and the Arts posts a link to arts education resources from Edutopia.

The Arts Education category of Edutopia’s Spiral Notebook contains videos, web links, and resources related to arts education in schools. Edutopia is a project of the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Learn more here.

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Announcement from VSA arts

The Institute for Education and the Arts is forwarding this message from VSA arts:

"VSA arts is excited to introduce our interactive version of the 2005-2006 Community of Practice Project report. For the past two years, VSA arts has created an opportunity for teachers across the country to participate in a technology driven, process-based professional development.

"Please take the time to explore our Community of Practice Project Web site at http://www.vsarts.org/CommunityofPractice. This Web site displays selected lesson plans and corresponding rubrics from some of the participants, as well as a literature review, project findings, and project images. At this time, we are accepting online applications for the 2006-2007 Community of Practice Project. Please find the online application at the Web site address: http://www.vsarts.org/CommunityofPractice; click on apply now. Feel free to forward our site to arts administrators, teaching artists, or school teachers who are interested in utilizing inclusive, arts lesson plans. "

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World of Escher Tessellation Contest

The Institute for Education and the Arts is forwarding this art contest from World of Escher:

WORLD OF ESCHER’S TESSELLATION CONTEST
Organization: World of Escher
Eligibility: Teachers and students
Value: Prizes from World of Escher online store
Deadline: December 15, 2006

"Using art works of M.C. Escher as a model, entries may be up to 8.5"x11" in size, in watercolor; color pencils; pen and ink; marker; or computer-generated. Entries may be submitted using eMail or regular mail (eMail the web master for the mailing address). Prizes from the online store include t-shirts, calendars, posters, books, and similar items."

Contact: http://www.worldofescher.com/contest/

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Impact of Grants in Miami Area

The Institute for Education and the Arts is posting this article about the impact of grant funding on students in the Miami Area.

GRANTS TO TEACHERS REWARD CREATIVE LESSONS
Peter Bailey, Miami Herald, October 24, 2006

“Clutching a green pencil, Nartisa Seals shaded in Cat Island's outer ridges, where the ocean laps at the boot-shaped Bahamian paradise. She then pointed to the dark blue coastline. ‘That's where my grandmother grew up,’ said the sixth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School in North Miami Beach. ‘She told me about how they sang the Conch Song.’

“Nartisa, 12, and her peers sat drawing images of nostalgia, sketching maps of towns and villages familiar to their roots inside Patti Ward's geography class. ’I figured the best way to teach geography was to begin with where they're from,’ Ward said. ‘Once they appreciate their own heritage, they gain an interest in other places.’

“The project, called ‘Celebrate Us,’ is one of dozens being implemented throughout South Florida classrooms with the help of the Citibank Success Fund. More than 150 Miami-Dade and Broward teachers were awarded grants through the initiative, which hopes to foster nontraditional teaching methods on a variety of themes such as economics, science, math and more.”

Read more here.

Learn more about the Citibank Success Fund here.

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We the People Bookshelf Grant

The Institute for Education and the Arts posts this grant opportunity for K-12 school and public libraries.

GRANT: WE THE PEOPLE BOOKSHELF
An initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association’s Public Program’s Office, posted at the ALA website:

"This year's theme is the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. A collection of 15 books for young readers will be given to 2,000 libraries across the United States through a competitive grant application. Book titles are noted below. Programs promoting these titles will be conducted in libraries between May 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008."The online application for this new theme will be available September 20, 2006 through January 31, 2007 at http://www.wethepeople.gov/bookshelf. The deadline for receipt of the grant application is 5:00 p.m. (local time) January 31, 2007.

"Only school (K-12) and public libraries in the United States and its territories are eligible to apply. Other organizations are encouraged to partner with their local library to promote community-wide reading and exploration of the theme. This year, once again, school districts and library systems are invited to apply for Bookshelves on behalf of the multiple schools or branches they comprise. Changes in the application system will make it faster and simpler this year. Individual branch or school libraries are also encouraged to apply."

Learn more here.