IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for March 21, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
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SURVEY FINDS INTEREST IN BLEND OF TRADITIONAL AND ONLINE COURSES
Sean Cavanagh, Education Week, 3/5/07
”Online education is likely to continue to grow in popularity in the years ahead, and schools are expected to take an especially strong interest in “blended” courses that combine computerized lessons with traditional classroom instruction, a nationwide survey suggests. Sixty-three percent of the public school administrators who responded to the survey, set for release March 5 by the Sloan Consortium, say their schools are offering some kind of online learning. An additional 20 percent said they plan to begin such classes during the next three years, according to the report, K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School District Administrators.
Read the Education Week article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/03/05/26online.h26.html (free subscription required)
Read the full report: http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/K-12_06.asp

MUSIC TRAINING ‘TUNES’ HUMAN AUDITORY SYSTEM
Science Daily, 3/13/07
”A newly published study by Northwestern University researchers suggests that Mom was right when she insisted that you continue music lessons -- even after it was clear that a professional music career was not in your future. The study, which will appear in the April issue of Nature Neuroscience, is the first to provide concrete evidence that playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brainstem's sensitivity to speech sounds. This finding has broad implications because it applies to sound encoding skills involved not only in music but also in language. The findings indicate that experience with music at a young age in effect can ‘fine-tune’ the brain's auditory system. ‘Increasing music experience appears to benefit all children -- whether musically exceptional or not -- in a wide range of learning activities,’ says Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and senior author of the study. ‘Our findings underscore the pervasive impact of musical training on neurological development. Yet music classes are often among the first to be cut when school budgets get tight. That's a mistake,’ says Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology and Physiology and professor of communication sciences and disorders.
Read the article in Science Daily magazine: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312152003.htm
Read Northwestern’s press release: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/03/music0.html

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ART EDUCATION LEADERSHIP
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NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATON TO DRIVE PROGRESSIVE STRATEGIC VISION
NAEA press release, 3/8/07
"Deborah B. Reeve, Ed.D., has been named executive director of the National Art Education Association (NAEA). She joins the organization at a pivotal point in its history, succeeding former Executive Director Dr. Thomas A. Hatfield, who led NAEA for 22 years. NAEA is also implementing a new strategic plan, which was developed by the Board of Directors with the input of NAEA leaders and members. This new strategic direction places a higher priority on advancing the organization and the profession of art education in the world of the 21st century. ‘This is a time of extraordinary opportunity for the visual arts, and I am honored to be appointed executive director of NAEA,’ Reeve explained. ‘Think about this moment in time. On one hand, you have our innate character: humans are profoundly visual beings. On the other hand, you have the digital revolution with the ubiquity of portable digital imagery. Taken together, this creates an extremely promising environment for increasing the influence of the visual arts on society, culture and the individual.’
Learn more: http://www.naea-reston.org/newsitem2.html

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STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL
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SURVEY: BOREDOM SETSIN FOR MANY U.S. HIGH SCHOOLERS
CNN/Reuters, 2/28/07
“A majority of U.S. high school students say they get bored in class every day, and more than one out of five has considered dropping out, according to a survey released Wednesday. The survey of 81,000 students in 26 states found two-thirds of high school students complain of boredom, usually because the subject matter was irrelevant or their teachers didn't seem to care about them. ‘They're not having those interactions, which we know are critical for student engagement with learning,’ said Ethan Yazzie-Mintz, who led the annual survey by Indiana University researchers. Half of the students surveyed said they had skipped school without a valid excuse at least once, and 22 percent said they had considered dropping out. More than half said they spent an hour or less per week reading and studying.”
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/02/28/students.survey.reut/index.html

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KEEPING THE ARTS IN SCHOOLS
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STUDENTS RALLY TO KEEP FINE ARTS IN SCHOOLS
Gary Scharrer, San Antonio Express-News, 3/11/07
“Hundreds of students from around Texas performed in the rotunda and on the Capitol steps Thursday to draw attention to Arts Education Day. A new study by the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education shows both students and schools with robust fine arts programs do better academically. Schools rated ‘exemplary’ had 61 percent of their students enrolled in fine arts courses, compared with 54 percent for ‘recognized,’ 51 percent for ‘acceptable’ and 44 percent at ‘low-performing’ schools. ‘We're not claiming that those statistics by themselves prove that having fine arts makes students smarter or are more likely to make them stay in school,’ said Robert Floyd, executive director of the Texas Music Educators Association. ‘But these statistics show that a high level of student participation in fine arts is one of the characteristics of outstanding high schools and middle schools in our state.’”
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031107.07B.Fine_Arts.31376be.html

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BRINGING THE ARTS INTO THE CLASSROOM
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TALK TO THE HAND:
A DYNAMIC ONLINE PROGRAM BRINGS PUPPETS (AND PLAY) TO THE CLASSROOM.
Burr Snider, Edutopia, 3/07
”For Georgianne Walsh, of New Jersey, a beloved raccoon puppet known as Chester acts as the official greeter for her kindergarten students every morning. Amy Wallace, who teaches in New York City, created a puppet named Maya about whom her first graders became so concerned that Wallace purchased a tent for her to sleep in at night. In Las Cruces, New Mexico, Toni Gross's preschoolers are endlessly intrigued by a mouth-shaped puppet named Besos she uses to demonstrate oral movement when teaching speech and language. These puppets, simple hinged paper devices, were all inspired by an innovative Web site called Puppetools.com. Brainchild of a boundary-busting educator named Jeffrey Peyton, Puppetools provides a wide array of resources designed to introduce teachers and students to a stimulating world of educational play centered on puppetry.”
Read the Edutopia article: http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1800&issue=mar_07
Visit the Puppetools Web site: http://www.puppetools.com/

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EDUCATION POLICY
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TOWARD AN A+ IN CREATIVITY
Editorial, Boston Globe, 2/20/2007
“Judging a school by its test scores isn't a bad idea, it's just a limited one. A bill in the state Legislature would create a new measuring stick -- one that charts the chances students have to engage in creative activities. That might mean acting in the school play or being in the science fair. And as this century dawns, it should also mean engaging in multidisciplinary activities that may combine math and art or science and economics . . . the bill would set up a commission of cultural and business people as well as educators and legislative representatives to devise an index of creative and innovative education. ‘The index would rate every public school in the Commonwealth on teaching, encouraging, and fostering creativity in students,’ the bill's summary reads."
Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/02/20/toward_an_a_in_creativity/

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
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MOUNT VERNON JOB OPENINGS
George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, located outside of Washington, DC, announces a variety of employment opportunities in horticulture, technology, development, and seasonal/part-time work.
Learn more: http://www.mountvernon.org/mountvernon/about_us/index.cfm/ss/92/cfid/7278089/cftoken/91854241

ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CREATIVE ARTS IN LEARNING DIVISION, LESLEY UNIVERSITY
”Reporting to the Director of the Creative Arts in Learning (CAL) Division, the on-campus core faculty member will bring an outstanding background as an artist, and knowledge of curriculum theory and qualitative research methods. This faculty member will teach courses including "Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment," and "Arts-based Research," develop new curriculum and research related courses, and mentor other core and adjunct faculty on curriculum and research methods. The position will also require advising students, contributing to recruitment and committee work, and other service to the CAL Division and the Lesley University community. Special projects and some administrative work will be required.”
Learn more: http://lesley.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp;jsessionid=2EC3BE8AC9857567C6568B1263FA3D5D?JOBID=5545&CNTRN

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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GRANTS TO SUPPORT EDUCATION, CHILD ADVOCACY, MEDICAL RESEARCH, AND THE ARTS
The Charles Lafitte Foundation “supports four distinct charitable programs: Education, Children’s Advocacy, Medical issues, and the Arts. Together these programs act as a catalyst to effect ways of helping people help themselves and others around them to lead healthy, satisfying and enriched lives.” 501c-3 foundations are eligible. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. There is no application form, and the size of the financial award varies.
Learn more about this grant: http://www.charleslafitte.org/education.html

GRANTS FOR OUSTANDING ARTS-ORIENTED EDUCATORS
P. Buckley Moss Foundation 2007 National Teachers' Awards
”The P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education and Moss Society give awards to recognize outstanding teachers who consistently integrate the arts into their teaching of children, especially those with learning disabilities and other special needs. The teacher awards are to recognize the creative, innovative and original work prepared by the nominee(s). These awards are to show awareness and appreciation of outstanding work of teachers who are helping their students be successful.” Deadline: 5/15/07. The maximum award is $2500.
Learn more: http://www.mossfoundation.org/page.php?id=73


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