IEA Weekly Newsletter - Dec. 13

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for December 13, 2006. The newsletter is published via email each Wednesday morning and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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BREAKING NEWS

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Study says localities curb ed reform:
Think tank asserts schools resisting 'No Child' law
Paul Basken, Bloomberg News/Boston Globe, 12/1/06
According to 12 studies presented in late November at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, No Child Left Behind legislation has not fully worked in part because of the authority of local school decisionmakers.

Read more at http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/12/01/study_says_localities_curb_ed_reform/

Learn more about the AEI studies at Learn more about the AEI event at http://www.aei.org/events/f.video,eventID.1351,filter.all/event_detail.asp .

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REPORTS

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NCEA SURVEY: STATES’ PREPAREDNESS TO TRACK STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT OVER TIME
National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA), 8/06
“In preparation of the launch of the Data Quality Campaign … NCEA conducted a survey … about state data systems to determine the number of states that have built the infrastructure to tap into the power of longitudinal data. Longitudinal data matches individual student records over time, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and into post secondary education. States are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve student achievement. But without quality data, they are essentially flying blind … When states collect the most relevant data and are able to match individual student records over time, they can answer the questions that are at the core of educational effectiveness.”

Learn more about the survey and your state’s status at http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey_results/index.cfm .

REPORT FINDS STUDENTS AND HIGH STAKES:
LITTLE GAIN SEEN WITHOUT A STRONGER TEACHING FORCE
Business Wire/Investor’s Business Daily, 12/6/06
”Poor student achievement, particularly among Latino and African American students, makes it highly unlikely that California will be able to meet state and federal education requirements for student proficiency, according to a new report released today by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. [The report] finds the state falling far short of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goal of 100% of students being proficient in mathematics and English by 2013-14. Less than half of all students were able to demonstrate proficiency on state tests in 2006, and about one-third of schools did not meet federal requirements for Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by NCLB. African American and Latino students have an even greater distance to go to meet the high academic standards the state has set for them. The gap between these students and their white and Asian peers is actually increasing.”
Read the article: http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=46554698
Read the report: http://www.cftl.org/documents/2006/TCF2006FINAL.pdf

INTERNET ACCESS IN U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS: 1994 – 2005
National Center for Education Statistics, 11/29/06
”This report presents 11 years of data from 1994 to 2005 (no survey was conducted in 2004) on Internet access in U.S. public schools by school characteristics. It provides trend analysis on the percent of public schools and instructional rooms with Internet access and on the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access. The report contains data on the types of Internet connections, technologies and procedures used to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet, and the availability of hand-held and laptop computers to students and teachers. It also provides information on teacher professional development on how to integrate the use of the Internet into the curriculum, and the use of the Internet to provide opportunities and information for teaching and learning.”

Learn more and download the report at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007020

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ARTICLES

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TURNING GOOD INTENTIONS INTO EDUCATIONAL CAPITAL
Ray Bacchetti and Thomas Ehrlich, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
In interviewing foundation and educational leaders, the authors discovered that, ”Foundation leaders [are] pessimistic about the intentionality of educators when the assessment and improvement of teaching and learning are on the table. When it comes to probing deeply, being analytical, mobilizing follow-through and, most of all, tackling problems in ways designed to have field-wide payoff—those in foundations were often skeptical and occasionally cynical about educators' commitment to such work. Educators, for their part, thought that foundations are too distant in their understanding of how schools and colleges work and that they are looking for speedy solutions to long-germinating problems and indifferent to academic priorities.”
Read more about the authors’ conversations with leaders at http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/perspectives/sub.asp?key=245&subkey=2123

WORKS TO TREASURE – OR SELL?
Valerie Russ, Philadelphia Daily News, 12/5/06
Schools in the Philadelphia area are considering whether to retain its art collection, with an estimated value of $30 million, or to sell off the works to overcome its financial deficit.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/16166201.htm .

FINALLY, AN ART PROFESSIONAL WILL DIRECT THE GETTY
Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 12/5/06
The naming of James N. Wood as incoming president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust marks the first time an art professional – as opposed to a business leader – will run the nation’s “wealthiest art institution.” In the past, business leaders had been appointed to manage the $5.8 billion endowment.
Read more at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-critic5dec05,1,7100881.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

DROPOUT BLUES
Matthew Hickman, Campus Report Online, 12/5/06
”Statistics show that one student drops out of high school every 9 seconds, according to the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, but they also show that a majority of Americans are willing to help to solve this crisis. Recently, the Pew Partnership invited several speakers to participate in a forum held at the National Press Club. Each speaker has a particular stake in curbing the dropout rates ranging from employing more skilled workers to continuing to compete on an economic level with China.”
Read more at http://www.campusreportonline.net/main/articles.php?id=1375

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BOOK REVIEW

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WHY TEACH ART?

A review of ART AND COGNITION: INTEGRATING THE VISUAL ARTS IN THE CURRICULUM by Arthur Efland (Teachers College Press, 2002)

By Michelle Marder Kamhi, Aristos monthly online review, 12/06
“A common strategy in recent years has been to emphasize the intellectual attributes of art . . . Such an emphasis is also evident in the book . . . The author is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Art Education at Ohio State University, one of the largest and most influential of such departments in the country . . . his book is aimed primarily at professionals in the field of art education . . . [W]hile many of its premises are sound, its main conclusions are indicative of major fallacies that beset the field and are likely to have a baneful influence not only on the future teaching of art but also, by indirect consequence, on the making of art (or of what passes for it) … Efland has held to the conviction that works of visual art have a substantial cultural value and that their study warrants a permanent place in general education, a place more central than their present one. By emphasizing the crucial connection between art and cognition, he seeks to enhance the status of art and to explain how it can contribute significantly to the cognitive goals of education. In particular, he aims ‘to look at more recent understandings of the mind and the nature of human intelligence, and at how these bear on the question of the intellectual status of the arts,’ as well as (far more problematically) ‘to show the contributions [that] educational activity in the visual arts might make to the overall development of the mind.’”
Read more at http://www.aristos.org/aris-06/efland.htm

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TEACHING AND LEARNING IDEAS

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AFTERSCHOOL TRAINING TOOLKIT
The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning
“The best afterschool programs do two things: they engage students in fun activities that create a desire to learn, and they build on what students are learning during the school day to extend the knowledge they already have. But with large groups and varied ages, accomplishing both of these things is often easier said than done. This toolkit is designed to give afterschool program directors and instructors the resources they need to build fun, innovative, and academically enriching activities that not only engage students, but extend their knowledge in new ways and increase academic achievement. From math and science to literacy and the arts, this toolkit has everything you need to engage students in fun afterschool activities while extending content knowledge across the curriculum. Each subject area is filled with standards-based multi-media resources including: research-based practices, sample lessons, interactive activities, and video segments taken from afterschool programs across the country. Whether you're an experienced afterschool program director or a new volunteer, you will find a range of user-friendly practices and sample lessons, the research that tells you what works, specific how-to instructions, and outcomes to look for.”
Learn more and access resources at http://www.sedl.org/afterschool/toolkits/

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INTRIGUING ITEMS

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THE FUTURE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
Greg Sandow’s blog, Artsjournal.com
Sandow is writing a classical music book by publishing it section by section online. He says, “I'm going to write it, or draft it, or riff it online, one installment at a time, until it's done. Installments -- episodes, like a TV miniseries -- will appear every two weeks. After they're up, everyone can comment (and please do comment!). After two weeks, a new episode appears, and the old one remains for at least another two weeks. But at some point, the old episodes disappear, so that only when the book is finally published will all of it be available in the same place.”

Read the blog at http://www.artsjournal.com/greg/ .

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FUNDING, GRANTS, AND AWARDS

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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. Programs promoting these titles will be conducted in libraries between May 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008 . . . 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.”

Learn more at http://www.ala.org/PrinterTemplate.cfm?Section=wethepeople&Template=/ContentManagement/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=138165 .

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IEA Weekly Newsletter - Dec. 6

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for December 6, 2006. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning.

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BREAKING NEWS
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MOST YOUNG PEOPLE ENTERING THE U.S. WORKFORCE LACK CRITICAL SKILLS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS
Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, 10/2006

“As the baby boom generation slowly exits the U.S. workplace, a new survey of leaders from a consortium of business research organizations finds the incoming generation sorely lacking in much needed workplace skills — both basic academic and more advanced “applied” skills, according to a report released today … Business leaders report that while the three “R’s” are still fundamental to every employee’s ability to do the job, applied skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and communication are essential for success at work … In order to succeed in the workplace of the 21st Century, high school and college graduates need to master basic academic skills as well as a complement of applied skills.”
Read the report at http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF9-29-06.pdf .

U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SURVEY FINDINGS SUPPORT EXTENSION AND STRENGTHENING OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Arthur Rothkopf, Senior VP & Education and Workforce Development Initiative
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 11/18/06
”Over 500 U.S. business organizations responded to the Chamber's survey examining the nation's education system - and the findings confirmed what we instinctively knew -the United States is not producing enough skilled workers and American competitiveness is at risk. Our nation's education system must focus more strongly on improving curriculums, academic expectations, and performance measures to ensure students are prepared for college and the workforce …87 percent believe that No Child Left Behind standards should be extended to high schools.”
Access the survey results at http://www.uschamber.com/publications/reports/education_reform.htm .

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ADVOCACY
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THE IMPACT OF THE LATEST FEDERAL EDUCATION LEGISLATION ON THE ARTS

Americans for the Arts
In 2007, Congress will begin the process of reauthorizing NCLB for another five years. In light of the coming debates, the arts education community is currently working to gather support and develop requests to members
of Congress in order to ensure high-quality, ongoing K-12 arts education for America's students. This website outlines the successes, challenges and ways advocates are making a difference for the arts in our nation's
public schools. It includes background, research, easy advocacy tactics and more relating to arts education and No Child Left Behind.

Read more at http://www.americansforthearts.org/services/arts_education/arts_education_015.asp

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ARTICLES ABOUT EDUCATION
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BLACK-WHITE TEST SCORES: NEIGHBORHOODS, NOT SCHOOLS, MATTER MOST
David R. Francis, Ednews.org, 11/25/06
”The large gap in student achievement, particularly between blacks and whites, has long troubled Americans. Fifty years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, persistently large black-white differences in standardized test scores remain central to education policy.”
Read more at http://www.ednews.org/articles/4691/1/Black-White-Test-Scores-Neighborhoods-Not-Schools-Matter-Most/Page1.html

LOW-COST LAPTOP SPARKS DEBATE OVER SCHOOL REFORM FOR POOR
John Markoff, New York Times/International Herald Tribune, 11/29/06
The M.I.T.-based One Laptop Per Child project is set to have $150 laptops in the hands of children as early as 2007. Proponents believe that by putting tools directly in children’s hands, they will “learn how to learn.” Others disagree.
Read the article at http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/30/america/web.1130laptop.php

INSIDE THE TEENAGE BRAIN
Amy Standen, Edutopia, 11/28/06
”Raleigh Philip’s … new book, Engaging 'Tweens and Teens: A Brain-Compatible Approach to Reaching Middle and High School Students, aims to show teachers how to cope with the developing -- and often baffling -- teenage brain. Philp points to research showing that teenage brains don't function the way adult ones do … The neocortex -- the part of the human brain responsible for language, planning, empathy, and executive functions -- hasn't fully developed inside the average thirteen-year-old's head. That teenager still relies on a more reactive, gut-instinct part of the brain, the amygdala, which handles emotions and memories associated with emotion … In addition to the obvious physical signs of adolescence, teens and 'tweens are undergoing a major neurological overhaul, which is why that perennial teen mumble ‘I don't know’ may be closer to the truth than we'd realized.”
Read more at http://www.edutopia.org/1720

1:1 LAPTOPS TRANSFORMING CLASSROOMS: YEAH, SURE
Larry Cuban, Teachers’ College Record (TCRecord.org), 10/31/06
”Most professors have yet to use laptops and other computers in their teaching as often as they use overhead projectors or textbooks. And that is the take-away lesson for K-12 policymakers, practitioners, and parents. In higher education, where students willingly choose to attend (in K-12 they are compelled by law to go to school), where students have already achieved 1:1 computing capacity, teachers and students mainly use these powerful machines to reinforce existing ways of teaching and learning. Much about how laptops will be used in K-12 schools can be learned simply by peeking into university classrooms.”
Read more at http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=12818 .

NEW PROJECT TO SEND MUSICIANS INTO SCHOOLS
Daniel J. Wakin, New York Times, 11/28/06
”Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School have joined forces to give birth to a music academy whose fellows will go forth and propagate musicianship in New York public schools. The city’s Education Department is opening its arms to the new program, seeing an inexpensive but valuable source of teaching for a system deprived of comprehensive music training. And the leaders of Carnegie and Juilliard see an opportunity to promote their conviction that a musician in 21st-century America should be more than just a person who plays the notes.”
Read the complete article at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/arts/music/28carn.html?adxnnl=1&ref=music&adxnnlx=1164737514-SGQTl218tbQCuddvqBb7vQ

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TEACHING AND LEARNING IDEAS
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STUDENTS IN U.S. AND BANGLADESH COLLABORATE TO EXPLORE FLAT WORLD
Will Richardson, Weblogg-ed Blog, 11/28/06
“Take a look at what Julie Lindsay and Vicki David have created in their Flat Classroom Project. Julie, who is at the International School Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Vicki, who is at Westwood High in Georgia, have collaborated on an amazing undertaking that will connect their kids in a study of the 10 Flattners from Thomas Friedman’s book THE WORLD IS FLAT. In small groups comprised of students from both schools, they’ll be taking the next few weeks to really dig into what’s happening in the two countries from a global perspective and report out in a variety of ways using Read/Write Web tools. In the end, if the grading rubric is any indication, these kids will know a heck of a lot more about their places in the world, the complexities of the age, and the ways in which these tools are changing the way we do business in more than one sense.”
Read more of Richardson’s blog post at http://weblogg-ed.com/2006/flat-classroom-project-wiki/
Sit in on the Flat Classroom Project at http://flatclassroomproject.wikispaces.com/

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INTRIGUING ITEMS
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BE PART OF RICHARD FLORIDA'S NEW BOOK WHO'S YOUR CITY
Florida, best known for his book The Rise of the Creative Class, invites readers to submit their 500-words-or-less stories for his new book, Who's Your City: Why the Place You Choose to Live is the Most Important Decision You'll Ever Make.
Read more at http://creativeclass.typepad.com/thecreativityexchange/2006/06/whos_your_city_.html

SEARCH FOR STUDENT PROJECTS ON YOUTUBE
Want to see how Web 2.0 is impacting the literary classics? Try typing a classic book title into YouTube's search field -- what you get is a bevy of student-made videos from various English class projects. From the inspired to the downright awful, these productions are sure to cast your favorite book in a new light (video lengths vary).
Play at http://www.youtube.com

STRING THEORY: NEW APPROACHES TO INSTRUMENT DESIGN
Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times, 11/28/06
Instrument makers are using new techniques to build better instruments.
Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/science/28acou.html

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FUNDING, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS ANNUANL AWARDS
Americans for the Arts Annual Awards recognize the achievements of individuals committed to enriching their communities through the arts. Presented each year in conjunction with the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, the following awards are open for nominations: Arts Education Network Award; Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award; Emerging Leader Award; Michael Newton Award for United Arts Funds Leadership; Public Art Network Award; Selina Roberts Ottum Award for Arts Leadership. For more information about the annual awards, please e-mail membership@artsusa.org or visit http://www.americansforthearts.org/services/annual_awards .

OLYMPUS AND TOOL FACTORY CLASSROOM GRANT PROGRAM
K-12 teachers are invited to submit ideas for classroom projects using Olympus and Tool Factory products. Selected classrooms receive three Olympus digital cameras, one Tool Factory site license, and $500 cash; the deadline is December 30.

For more information, visit http://www.toolfactory.com/olympus_contest/olympus_teacher.htm.

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