IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for August 29, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to IEA's listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORTS
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CHICAGO MUSIC CITY
Cultural Policy Center of the University of Chicago, 2007
“Chicago Music City shows how Chicago compares with other American cities known for their musical vitality. Chicago is a leader in the size and shape of the music industry; the availability, affordability and accessibility of live music; and the quality, variety and intensity of the live music scene. Chicago ranks third among metropolitan areas in the overall size of its music industry and fourth among all U.S. cities in the number of concerts and performances it offers. The quantity and variety of performances by local, national and international musical acts in Chicago is unequaled anywhere in the U.S.”
Learn more>>

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EARLY LITERACY MATERIALS
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FREE REPRODUCIBLE LANGUAGE AND EARLY LITERACY ACTIVITIES
Washington Learning Systems (supported by a U.S. Dept. of Ed. Grant)
“These materials include forty-six home and community activities for adults and preschool children that encourage early language and literacy development in young children. They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically … The materials are specifically designed to address the three key skills of 1) language development, 2) phonological awareness, and 3) general print awareness.
Download materials>>

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ARTS IN SCHOOLS
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ART IS EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Cleveland Integrated Arts Collaborative
“Cleveland Integrated Arts Collaborative (CIAC) has launched the Art is Education initiative to encourage students to reach their fullest academic potential and foster learning in and through the arts. By establishing the arts as an essential component of the school district’s standards-based literacy instruction, Art is Education will help foster the creativity and innovation students will need to compete in the 21st century economy … In a city already enriched by a thriving arts and cultural community, Art is Education is a comprehensive initiative designed to improve skills in literacy and the arts by engaging students in these resources. Art is Education is expected to serve more than 3,500 third graders in the 2007-08 school-year. The arts-infused curriculum builds on the success of a spring 2007 pilot …which demonstrated marked participant improvement in both literacy and arts skills.”
Learn more>>

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GRANTS AWARDED
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GREENE GRANTS AWARDED
Maxine Greene Foundation
“In June, 2007, we awarded four grants which are unique in their linking of imagination and social commitment. We shall continue to offer support to innovative linkages that go beyond mere expressions of good will. We seek those whose work and projects promise to make a concrete difference in lives around them; and we favor works in process, freed from strict accountability measures, open to possibility.”
Grants were awarded to:
- National Network for Folk Arts in Education
- 6th Orphan Film Symposium
- Time In Children’s Arts Initiative at HiArt!
- The Wild Hair Living Room Tour
Learn more>>

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NEW PUBLICATION
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THE WARHOL ECONOMY: HOW FASHION, ART, AND MUSIC DRIVE NEW YORK CITY
Elizabeth Currid, Princeton University Press, 2007
“Which is more important to New York City's economy, the gleaming corporate office--or the grungy rock club that launches the best new bands? If you said ‘office,’ think again. In The Warhol Economy, Elizabeth Currid argues that creative industries like fashion, art, and music drive the economy of New York as much as--if not more than--finance, real estate, and law. And these creative industries are fueled by the social life that whirls around the clubs, galleries, music venues, and fashion shows where creative people meet, network, exchange ideas, pass judgments, and set the trends that shape popular culture … Urban policymakers, she suggests, have not only seriously underestimated the importance of the cultural economy, but they have failed to recognize that it depends on a vibrant creative social scene. They haven't understood, in other words, the social, cultural, and economic mix that Currid calls the Warhol economy … Currid takes the reader into the city spaces where the social and economic lives of creativity merge.”
Learn more>>

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PROMOTING LOCAL BANDS IN BOSTON LIBRARIES
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BPL BUILDING ONLINE MUSIC CATALOG
Michael Marotta, Boston Herald, 8/16/07
“Local music now has a place on the online shelves of the Boston Public Library, right next to Mozart, Dvorak and other classics. With the help of Overdrive, an online downloading provider based in Cleveland, the BPL is reaching out to Boston’s local bands, who now have the opportunity to join its catalog of more than 4,000 music, video and audio titles. These files are not for sale. They’re for borrowing. Each download album comes with a license. After 14 days the license expires and the file becomes unplayable. No more music, but no late fee. Some artists and distributors will allow files to be transferred to MP3s or portable devices. Some are even giving the green light to burn the music onto blank discs.”
Read more>>

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
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VICE PRESIDENT OF CURATORIAL SERVICES
The African American Museum in Philadelphia
“The Museum is seeking a full-time Vice President of Curatorial Services, who will be responsible for the management of the exhibitions, education and public programming departments and for oversight of its collections and archives. Principal responsibilities include the selection and management of produced and traveling exhibitions; direction of educational and public programs; and management of the permanent collections. A key duty of the position will be the development of AAMP's permanent exhibit on Philadelphia's early African American history. The Vice President of Curatorial Services will conceive and organize an exhibition calendar, write exhibition catalogues, investigate and propose acquisitions to the permanent collections, foster the interests of donors and collectors, and lecture on the permanent collections and special exhibitions. The VP of Curatorial Services must work well inside and outside of the institution, with a special emphasis on building and educating new and more diverse audiences, developing relationships with other arts and culture organizations and institutions of higher education. Candidates should possess an MSIMA or Doctorate (preferred) in African American Studies, American or Art History, Museum Studies or related fields, at least three years of administrative and managerial experience in a museum setting and a minimum of eight years experience in a museum setting or related field. To apply, please mail a cover letter with salary requirements and a resume to Joy R. Riebow, Director of Administration, AAMP, 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa 19106, or email to jriebow@aampmuseum.org .

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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CREATIVITY MINIGRANTS
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation
Deadline: 9/15/07
Grants of up to $500 are available to public schools and libraries for creative programs. Past grants have funded projects including bookmaking, creation and performance of puppet shows, and inter-generational or inter-community projects.
Learn more>>

GRANTS FOR SCHOOL ART AND MUSIC PROGRAMS
Airborne Teacher Trust Fund
Next deadline: 10/31/07
Elementary and middle school teachers in public and private schools are invited to submit grant applications for art and music programs that cannot be funded by schools. Up to $10,000 in awards are given. Grants are reviewed quarterly.
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for August 22, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived on this blog.

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A WELL-ROUNDED EDUCATION IN A TIME OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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NOT BY GEEKS ALONE
Chester E. Finn, Jr., and Diane Ravitch, Wall Street Journal, 8/8/07
Reprinted on the GayPASG Web site
“In a globalizing economy, America's competitive edge depends in large measure on how well our schools prepare tomorrow's workforce … [L]awmakers on both sides of the aisle are bent on devising new programs and boosting education spending. Consider the measure -- the America Competes Act -- that recently passed Congress and is on its way to the president's desk. The bill will substantially increase government funding for science, technology, engineering and math ("STEM" subjects) … Nearly all of the 2008 presidential candidates endorse its goals. And 38 state legislatures have also recently enacted STEM bills … Indeed, STEM has swiftly emerged as the hottest education topic since No Child Left Behind. They're related, too. NCLB puts a premium on reading and math skills and also pays some attention to science. Marry it with STEM and you get heavy emphasis on a particular suite of skills. But there is a problem here. Worthy though these skills are, they ignore at least half of what has long been regarded as a ‘well rounded’ education in Western civilization: literature, art, music, history, civics and geography. Indeed, a new study from the Center on Education Policy says that, since NCLB's enactment, nearly half of U.S. school districts have reduced the time their students spend on subjects such as art and music.”
Read more>>

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ARTS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS
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ARTS ALIVE, WELL IN AREA SCHOOLS
Andrea Freygang, Rome News-Tribune, 8/12/07
“‘From music and dance to painting and sculpting, the arts allow us to explore new worlds and to view life from another perspective,’ once said President George Bush, and in Floyd County, the youth are granted a myriad of outside perspectives. Despite an increased focus nationwide on reading, writing and arithmetic through the federal No Child Left Behind Act, both public school systems have maintained a strong focus on arts education, whether it is in the form of music, visual arts, acting or dance.”
Read more>>

ARTS EDUCATION: INTRINSIC? OR INSTRUMENTAL?
Nick Rabkin of Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Arts Policy, on the Americans for the Arts’ Arts Blog, 8/8/07
“For the last decade or more a debate has raged about the ‘intrinsic’ vs. the ‘instrumental’ value of arts education. Ellen Winner, one of the Studio Thinking researchers, played a very big role in that debate several years ago, when she and colleagues published a “meta-analysis” of arts education research in which she found no evidence that arts learning contributes to student academic achievement. Hence, she argued, it was scientifically irresponsible to make a case for the arts’ place in schools because they improve student performance in other subjects. Furthermore, she suspects that education policymakers will reason that if they want to improve math achievement, they will teach more math, not more arts. In the end, ‘the arts are important in their own right and should be justified in terms of the important and unique kinds of learning that arise from the study of the arts.’ Some researchers who believed that there was good evidence the arts did contribute to higher achievement across the curriculum criticized Winner’s meta-study, arguing that it excluded good research from its scan. As one of many places in the country where teaching artists were inventing new ways to improve schools by connecting the arts to other subjects, many folks here in Chicago felt Winner’s study simply ignored their work and contributions. Others, more committed to arts education traditions, thought Winner bolstered their argument against ‘arts integration’ and for ‘sequential and discipline-based instruction’ in the art forms.”
Read more from the blog posting>>

Read the New York Times article about this study>>

Learn more about the Studio Thinking book>>

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FUNDING FOR THE ARTS
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ARTS GROUPS AWAIT FUNDING IMPACT AS “EARMARKING” IS SCRUTINIZED
Laurence Arnold, Bloomberg News, 8/9/07
“When the Museum of the Moving Image embarked on a $50 million fund-raising campaign to expand its Queens, New York, building last year, it turned to one prospective donor for the first time: the U.S. Congress. Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney, whose district includes the museum, responded by tucking a $150,000 grant into broader legislation -- the 2006 federal transportation spending bill. It's a time-honored practice known as ‘earmarking.’ President George W. Bush and some members of Congress argue that earmarks, which have been at the center of recent bribery scandals, should be eliminated. At a time when corporate support for the arts has been steadily shrinking, arts group are defending earmarks as an important, if a bit unseemly, way to get much-needed funding. Legislators steered more than $180 million to cultural organizations through earmarks in federal spending bills in 2005, according to Americans for the Arts, a Washington-based advocacy group.”
Read more>>

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
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OREGON ARTS COMMISSION, SALEM, OREGON
Community Development Coordinator (Full-Time)
Application Deadline: 9/4/07
“The position provides lead staff support and assistance to Oregon’s community arts development efforts through partnerships with local and regional arts agencies. The position also facilitates communications between the arts community and other public and private agencies addressing issues of cultural tourism, local economic development and regional, rural, and community development. This position is the Arts Commission’s lead staff responsible for developing partnerships and funding relationships with other public and private entities interested in arts and community development, which will lead to increased funds and other resources to advance the Arts Commission’s work. This position will be a key implementer of the Arts Commission’s Creative Oregon initiative designed to build the capacity of arts groups and artists through technical assistance and training. Competitive salary, excellent benefits.”
Learn more>>

THREE POSITIONS AVAILABLE AT THE WOMEN’S MUSEUM, DALLAS, TEXAS

Registrar (Part-Time)
Create, update, and file all paperwork for Museum loans; renew loans and ensure each borrowed object has a current paperwork on file; verify insurance is adequate and prepare Certificates of Insurance for lenders; make arrangements for the renewal or return of expiring loan items; update exhibits by requesting and securing new loan items; maintain the computer database of museum objects and prepare an annual inventory; request loan items from other institutions/individuals and prepare loan request paperwork; ensure objects in permanent exhibits are properly and safely displayed.

Exhibitions Manager (Full-Time)
Maintain rotating exhibit schedule for the Museum’s temporary gallery; contribute to planning of programming and events that coincide with temporary exhibits; evaluate exhibit proposals and seek out new exhibits that are appropriate for the Museum; handle contracts, shipping arrangements, and insurance for temporary exhibits and traveling exhibits; prepare budgets for each exhibit and keep track of costs; serve as liaison with the organizing institution/curator of rotating exhibits; assist with exhibit layout and installation; answer research questions about the collections/exhibits; involvement in permanent exhibit updates and large-scale building renovation.

Marketing Assistant (Part-Time)
Implement marketing plan for the Museum’s traveling exhibits including audience research, production of press kits, follow-up calls, and large mailings; manage “Guest Pass” Certificate Distribution to outside organizations; distribution of marketing collateral for Museum, including exhibits, programming and events; assist Marketing Manager with special projects.

To learn more about these positions, contact Lyn Scott, The Women’s Museum, 3800 Parry Avenue, Dallas, TX, 75226. lyn.scott@thewomensmuseum.org. Fax 214-421-8324.

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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BE A LEAD AGENCY FOR GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY
Youth Service America
Deadline: 9/17/07
Youth Service America seeks lead agencies for Global Youth Service Day “Lead Agencies are organizations across the United States that increase the scope, visibility, and sustainability of Global Youth Service Day by leading city, regional, or statewide service projects. Past Lead Agencies have been successful in garnering national media attention, developing new partnerships, and engaging elected and public officials in their service and service-learning projects. Lead Agencies receive a $2,000 planning grant sponsored by the State Farm Companies Foundation and direct assistance and support from Youth Service America to ensure a successful Global Youth Service Day.”
Learn more>>

BOOK DONATIONS PROGRAM
Pathways Within’s Roads to Reading Initiative
Deadline: 10/15/07
The program donates books to programs with “a strong focus on remedial reading or a tutoring component. The organizational budget limit to be eligible is currently set at $95,000 annually. The community where the organization is located must be an underserved community. It is not enough to have a certain number of families within a community that are underserved to qualify. The population where the organization is located must be under 50,000. Book Bag programs, gifts and give-a-ways, events or book club requests will not be granted through this program. AlsoSchool Districts, Lead Agencies or umbrella agencies may not apply for donations. Each site within group agencies or districts must apply for the donations separately. The books that are available through this program are appropriate for ages 0 to young adult. The books have hard and soft covers. Currently all the books in this program are available in English only.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for August 15, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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EDUCATION AND LEGISLATION
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NEW EDUCATION LEGISLATION ON LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEMS AND MIDDLE SCHOOL REFORM
Alliance for Excellent Education listserv, 8/6/07
“On August 3, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Bernie Sanders (D-VT) introduced S.2014. The legislation would provide $100 million in competitive grants for states for the development and implementation of statewide longitudinal data systems that include all ten essential elements recommended by the Data Quality Campaign and $100 million in formula grants to states for alignment, professional development, and other efforts to improve the use of data. The legislation also authorizes funding to support a state education data center and state educational data coordinators to improve data collection, reporting, and compliance processes. Also on August 3, Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) introduced the Success in the Middle Act, which is the first school improvement bill of its kind directed specifically at the middle grades. The bill targets the schools that have middle level grades that feed into the nearly 2,000 “dropout factories” that are spread throughout the country. Dropout factories are high schools in which 60 percent (or fewer) of freshmen will have become seniors three years after finishing their ninth-grade year. These schools account for approximately half of the nation’s dropouts … Grijalva’s legislation would authorize $1 billion a year in formula grants for states to improve low-performing schools that contain middle grades.”
Learn more about education in the legislature>>
Learn more about the Data Quality Campaign>>

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LOOKING BACK AT PAST WRITINGS ABOUT AESTHETIC EDUCATION
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MY BACK PAGES: AESTHETIC LITERACY
George Sykes, Educational Leadership, 5/82, as reported in the ASCD blog:
“Arts education faces fierce competition in the age of No Child Left Behind. As George Sykes points out in the May 1982 issue of Educational Leadership, this is nothing new. Sykes lists factors that have marginalized arts education throughout history: ‘the Puritan admonition of the arts as sinful, the anti-intellectualism of a nation more concerned with conquering a continent, [and] the arts perceived as the exclusive domain of the rich.’ Sykes, however, considers the arts a critical component of education and emphasizes the development of ‘aesthetic literacy’—the ability to perceive and communicate the language of art. He states that the traditional participatory art curriculum, which includes enrollment in band or visual arts, must not be considered the entire scope of arts education. Rather than seeing art as a series of completed products, Sykes urges educators across the curriculum to encourage engagement with the arts as a process, such as when students consider the creative development behind a painting or story.”
Read the blog posting referring to the article>>
Read the 1982 article>>

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ARTS EDUCATION RESOURCES
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OSSE ED DIGEST
Office of the State Superintendent of Education, District of Columbia, 8/07
“Discussions about reviving and strengthening arts education in public schools are emerging and gaining momentum across the country … Proponents argue, essentially, that the arts are an essential component of education, and all children, not only those with specific artistic talent, benefit from an education in the arts including opportunities to create, perform, and communicate through various artistic media. Major debates today within K-12 arts education concern issues of fundamental justification. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, an increasing number of studies have found that arts programs motivate children to learn, assisting in improving performance in core academic subjects. For some children, the arts provide the impetus to stay in school until graduation and, for others, inspire them to pursue a college education. Arts education programs will continue to play a pivotal role as the nation struggles to improve high school graduation rates, develop pre-kindergarten programs, and counter the achievement gap in urban communities. This issue of the OSSE Digest presents a range of research and information on the emerging prospects for arts education.”
View extensive links to arts education articles and research>>

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FUNDING FOR THE ARTS
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REDFORD’S ‘DAVOS FOR THE ARTS’ PITCHES WAYS TO BOOST FUNDING
Laurence Arnold, Bloomberg News, 8/2/07
“[Arts groups] have an ally in Robert Redford. The Academy Award- winning actor and Americans for the Arts, an advocacy group that lobbies for more funding for the arts, have teamed up to urge corporations, foundations and individuals to think of the arts as a way to address educational, health and environmental problems rather than as a competing philanthropic cause. Redford hosted a three-day conference of 29 executives from business, philanthropy and the arts last October to discuss the lack of arts funding. The roundtable was held at Redford's 5,000-acre Sundance Preserve in Utah.”
Learn more>>


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DIGITAL PRESERVATION
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS EXPANDS DIGITAL PRESERVATION EFFORTS
John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable, 8/3/07
“The Library of Congress has launched a variety of partnerships with private companies, associations and nonprofit groups to come up with strategies to archive and preserve the growing number of digital works, including TV shows, films, recordings and video games. Through the news Preserving Creative America Initiative, part of its National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, the library will spend $2.13 million to start developing standardized approaches and best practices for preserving content and metadata.”
Read more>>

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SCRIPTED CURRICULUM VS. SPONTANEITY
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GOODBYE, MR. & MS. CHIPS
Nancy Ginsburg Gill, Education Week, 7/17/07
“[T]he popularity of scripted curricula has spread to many public schools, especially those serving poor communities. In response to the widespread belief that high-stakes testing will improve the nation’s schools, teachers are pressured to teach to standardized tests and not waste time on lessons or activities that won’t be on one of these tests. Even if there is a major event the children are eager to discuss—a presidential election, an eclipse, the collapse of a freeway, or an earthquake—many teachers fear spending precious class time on anything that won’t be on the end-of-the-year standardized test. These schools can be even more mind-numbing for teachers who have been attracted to the profession by a desire to engender in their students a passion for learning. While some new teachers may welcome a script that spells out what to do with most of the school day, veteran teachers and dynamic, creative young teachers are more likely than ever to leave the profession, disgusted by the tedium of drill-and-kill and saddened by the lack of time or freedom to engage their students in the excitement of learning interesting stuff.”
Read more>>

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“BABY EINSTEIN” VIDEO VIEWING CORRELATES WITH SMALLER VOCABULARY IN BABIES
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“BABY EINSTEIN”: NOT SUCH A BRIGHT IDEA
Amber Dance, Los Angeles Times, 8/7/07
“Parents hoping to raise baby Einsteins by using infant educational videos are actually creating baby Homer Simpsons, according to a new study released today. For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as "Brainy Baby" or "Baby Einstein," they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found … [Dr. Dimitri] Christakis and his colleagues surveyed 1,000 parents in Washington and Minnesota and determined their babies' vocabularies using a set of 90 common baby words, including mommy, nose and choo-choo … according to the study in the Journal of Pediatrics.”
Read more from the L.A. Times>>
Hear the story as reported on NPR>>
Read the story as reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer>>

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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GRANTS TO FUND CREATIVE, IMAGINATIVE CURRICULUM PROJECTS
Kids in Need
Deadline: 9/30/07
“The purpose of the grants is to provide funds for classroom teachers who have innovative, meritorious ideas. Your project may qualify for funding if it makes creative use of common teaching aids, approaches the curriculum from an imaginative angle, or ties nontraditional concepts together for the purpose of illustrating commonalities … The applicant must be a K-12 certified teacher working at a public, private, or parochial school in the subject of the project. Kids In Need does not fund pre-school projects.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for August 8, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORT
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ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ARTS IN MARYLAND
Maryland State Arts Council
“The arts generated $1.05 Billion in economic impact for Maryland in fiscal year 2006, according to a recent study released by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). The study, prepared for the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), also showed the arts generated an estimated $37.3 million in state and local taxes, up from $35.1 million In FY2005, and generated 13,762 full- and part-time jobs. In addition, for every dollar of direct spending by audiences attending arts events, another $2.10 was generated on other goods and services.”
Read more: http://msac.org/news.cfm?id=240&sec=News

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RE-EXAMINING THE ARTS/ACADEMICS LINK
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BOOK TACKLES OLD DEBATE: ROLE OF ARTS IN SCHOOLS
Robin Pogrebin, New York Times, 8/4/07
“When two researchers published a study a few years ago concluding that arts classes do not improve students’ overall academic performance, the backlash was bitter. Some scholars argued that the 2000 study’s authors, Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland of Project Zero — an arts-education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education — had failed to mention some beneficial effects of arts classes that their research had revealed. Others cited findings that reached the opposite conclusion, indicating that students who take high-quality art classes indeed do better in other courses. Some even accused the authors of devaluing arts education and the arts in general. But Ms. Winner, Ms. Hetland and two other collaborators are pushing back. In a new book due out this month, they argue forcefully for the benefits of art education, while still defending their 2000 thesis. In their view art education should be championed for its own sake, not because of a wishful sentiment that classes in painting, dance and music improve pupils’ math and reading skills and standardized test scores … In their new study Ms. Winner, Ms. Hetland and their co-authors, Shirley Veenema and Kimberly Sheridan, focused on the benefits accrued through classes in painting, drawing, sculpture and the other visual arts. The results are to be published in their book, Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education (Teachers College Press).”
Read the article>>
Learn more about the Studio Thinking book>>

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ARTS IN SCHOOLS
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ARTS HELP D SCHOOL TURN IT ALL AROUND:
DAVENPORT SCHOOL OF THE ARTS NOW EARNS HIGH GRADES AND HAS A LONG WAITING LIST
Christine Baker, special to the Orlando Sentinel, 7/29/07
“Weaving arts classes in with traditional academic programs appears to keep kids excited about school and help them retain what they've learned. For instance, encouraging students to explore something as simple as weather terms through poetry, art and movement deepens their understanding and reinforces the lesson -- particularly for children with different learning styles, said Mary Palmer, professor and coordinator of graduate studies in music education at the University of Central Florida. That's the philosophy of the organization behind the new Arts Achieve! Model Schools program that recognizes excellence in arts education statewide. Palmer is an adviser and founder of the Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Arts Education, which designed the program. The Davenport School of the Arts in Polk County was one of 13 schools around Florida selected as a model arts school. Davenport's students in kindergarten through eighth grade get a daily dose of music, dance, theater and visual arts.”
Read more>>

EDITORIAL:
DON’T LEAVE ARTS, SCIENCE BEHIND
READING AND MATH ARE IMPORTANT – BUT SO ARE OTHER SUBJECTS
Minneapolis Star Tribune, 8/1/07
“Since the federal No Child Left Behind rules were passed, educators increasingly lament being forced to "teach to the test." Their concern is that with federal, state and local testing requirements, teachers have to focus on English and math only, while sacrificing instruction in other areas. Now comes evidence from the Center on Education Policy … that indeed many districts are spending more time on math and reading, the only subjects that count under NCLB, and less time on other areas such social studies, art, music and physical education. Researchers surveyed about 350 urban, suburban, and outstate schools across the nation and found that other subjects were losing, on average, 30 minutes a day. This is one of the most worrisome findings about the consequences of NCLB rules. Studies show that students are better served and more likely to stay engaged and do well in school when they receive well-rounded educations that include the arts and other elective areas. That is why districts must find creative ways to provide comprehensive programs, even as they focus on core subjects … It is reasonable to argue that the most academically challenged students need to focus most of their time on the basics. Reading, writing and arithmetic skills provide the foundation necessary to learn other subjects. Yet those same students need exposure to the other subject areas as well. In fact for some, an interest in the creative arts may motivate them to work harder in other areas of education.”
Read more>>

MAYOR, SCHOOLS CHIEF ANNOUNCE INITIATIVES FOR ART INSTRUCTION
Yoav Gonen, Staten Island (NY) Advance, 7/24/07
“Addressing concerns that arts education could be marginalized by new school funding and accountability measures, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced yesterday several new initiatives designed to ensure that arts instruction will flourish. Those initiatives include creating an annual citywide report of arts spending, staffing and instruction at schools, evaluating principals on their compliance with state arts education requirements, and forming an Arts Education Task Force, staffed in part by members of the cultural community, to help guide arts programming … With school funding and curriculum decisions steadily devolving from a central bureaucracy to individual school principals, some art groups have expressed concern that the pressure on school leaders to bring up scores on standardized tests in core subjects like English and math would lead to a substantial decrease in art-program offerings. That concern was heightened earlier this year when the city announced it no longer would dedicate money specifically toward arts education after 11 years of doing so, effectively killing a program known as Project Arts. Last year, the program earmarked $67 million for the arts, including $3.5 million for Staten Island. Yesterday, Bloomberg said those concerns should be allayed by the fact that principals at about 300 empowerment schools -- who had been given more say on funding and curriculum decisions -- last year demonstrated their commitment to the arts by increasing program funding by $4 million from the previous year.”
Read more>>

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EVENTS
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FORUM FOR NEW IDEAS
Sponsored by the Business Committee for the Arts, 9/20/07
Morgan Stanley Building, New York City
“Learn how to think differently, explore non-traditional ways for business and the arts to work together, and network with some of today's visionaries. Moderator: Annie Bergen, WQXR. Speakers: Ginny B. Baxter, Herman Miller, Inc.; Chuck Hoberman, Hoberman Associates; Jill Medvedow, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Participants will network with innovative business and arts leaders from across the country; have exposure to cutting-edge ideas and techniques that assist in achieving operating goals; learn how to develop effective strategies to build non-traditional business-art alliances, as well as creative workplaces and communities; and gain access to current trends and best practices that lead to a competitive edge.
Register or learn more>>

BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS:
REACHING YOUTH, FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE ARTS
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, 10/10 – 10/11/07
“The program will aim to educate arts organizations, artists, prevention specialists, social workers, community workers, teachers, and counselors in the utilization of the arts as a tool in a comprehensive prevention strategy and as a positive youth development tool. Accepting proposals for workshops: arts in the community; technology and the arts; arts entrepreneurship. Workshops, discussion, experiential, small roundtable discussions. Scholarship money is available.”
Learn more>>

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SOCIAL AND CIVIC IMPACT OF THE ARTS
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SEEKING EXAMPLE EVALUATIONS OF THE SOCIAL OR CIVIC IMPACT OF ARTS PROJECTS OR PROGRAMS
Americans for the Arts
“Animating Democracy is seeking examples of completed or in-progress evaluation efforts focused to measure and understand the social or civic impact of arts projects or programs. Of particular interest are arts-based civic engagement projects or programs that engage people through the arts in dialogue, participation, and/or action related to clearly defined social or civic issues in community. We would also like to know about organizations whose past arts-based programs or projects have useful documentation and/or evaluation that allow examination of single project impact and/or the cumulative impact of an organization’s project efforts over time. Animating Democracy is especially looking to identify evaluation approaches that apply metrics in order to quantify evidence of social change. Arts organizations, consultants, and funders are invited to share, preferably by August 30, reports, or a brief note to indicate relevant resources or interest in being contacted. Send information to: Pam Korza, pkorza [at] artsusa.org, or call 413-256-1260.” Originally posted to CulturalCommons.org.
Learn more here or here.

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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RECOGNIZING ELEMENTARY TEACHERS USING REFLECTIVE WRITING
International Reading Association
Deadline: 11/1/07
“The Regie Routman Teacher Recognition Award honors an outstanding regular classroom elementary teacher of reading and language arts in grades K–6 (ages 5–12) dedicated to improving teaching and learning through reflective writing about his or her teaching and learning process. The US$1,000 award is supported by a grant from Regie Routman. All applicants must be Association members.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, August 1, 2007

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

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COMMUNITY ARTS EDUCATION CONFERENCE
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2007 CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY ARTS EDUCATION
National Guild of Community Arts Education
Los Angeles, 11/8 – 11/10/07
“As a conference delegate, you'll learn how to attract new students, fill studios in off-peak hours, recruit and retain talented faculty, establish successful partnerships, employ new technology, raise more money, diversify your course offerings, and more. Workshops are led by nationally renowned experts in the fields of advocacy, arts integration, student assessment, board development, evaluation, finance, fund raising, marketing, partnerships, technology and more. Roundtable sessions bring expert practitioners together to share information and ideas. And our showcases highlight successful programs that you can replicate back home. Join us in Los Angeles as we strive to make high-quality, sequential arts instruction available to every interested child and adult in the United States!”
Learn more or register>>

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ARTS IN SCHOOLS
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BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES PLAN TO SHORE UP ARTS IN SCHOOLS
Jennifer Medina, New York Times, 7/24/07
“Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced yesterday that the city’s Department of Education will require all schools to maintain arts programs, and that principals will be rated in their annual reviews on how well they run those programs. The announcement came just months after the department infuriated arts groups by eliminating a multimillion-dollar program to finance arts education. Under a new set of city standards, the arts curriculums will be judged for comprehensiveness, and potential pay bonuses for principals could be affected. ‘An excellent arts education is essential,’ the mayor said at a news conference at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan … Yesterday’s announcement was met with muted praise and skepticism from arts advocates, who have worried that if no money is targeted for the arts, principals in struggling schools will eliminate arts programs to devote more money to basic reading and math programs.”
Read more>>

HOW THE ARTS MAKE KIDS SMARTER
Mary Belle McCorkle and Shirley Kiser, Guest Editorialists, Tucson (AZ) Citizen, 7/9/07
“Both the Tucson Regional Town Hall and the TREO Economic Blueprint recently issued recommendations for improving Tucson's public schools. We, too, want to see the schools improved. But in our zest for improvement, we shouldn't ignore effective programs already providing our children better educations. One in particular, Opening Minds Through the Arts, is creating a buzz across the U.S. It all started in the spring of 2000, when Gene Jones, a businessman, … heard of an experimental program in North Carolina that brought orchestra players into the classrooms not just to expose kids to the pleasures of music, but also to help classroom teachers impart curriculum and teach basic skills. The program had been remarkably successful in raising kids' test scores. Jones, a philanthropist with a lifelong interest in music and education, got so excited that he scooped up several local educators and flew them across the country to see the program in action. They came away ‘on fire’ with the idea of implementing a similar program in TUSD, but, as Jones said, ‘determined to do it better and on a much bigger scale.’
Read more>>

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ARTS IN A CHANGING ECONOMY
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ART AS A COMMUNITY PILLAR
Bridgette Redman, Flyover Blog at Artsjournal.com
“I live in a community that is in the process of transforming itself with several visions competing with each other for what the future will look like. Lansing [Michigan] had always prided its stability on its three-pronged economy. We had the state government, [Michigan State University], and Oldsmobile. When one suffered, another usually thrived, keeping things in balance until adjustments could be made. Well, Oldsmobile is now gone and there is little of the auto industry left here. So the question is asked--as it is in many places around the country--what will we look like now? Some that I've talked to over the past few months want the arts to become a central pillar of the economy. There is a dream that if the many existing organizations were to collaborate and obtain civic support, the arts could start generating the money lost by the auto industry. It's a tough argument.”
Read more>>

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ARTS IN POLITICS
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IS BILL RICHARDSON THE ARTS CANDIDATE?
Lee Rosenbaum, CultureGrrl blog, Artsjournal.com, 7/24/07
“Who would have thought that art would make it into last night's Democratic Presidential debate? It made a cameo appearance during the discussion of education, when Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico actually said the "A"-word. Let's go to the transcript:
RICHARDSON: I would have a major federal program of art in the schools...
(APPLAUSE)
... music, dancing, sculpture, and the arts.
(APPLAUSE)
Read the blog posting>>
Read the debate transcript>>

ARTIST DEDUCTION BILLS CONTINUE TO GAIN SUPPORT
Americans for the Arts Web site, 7/9/07
“The Artist-Museum Partnership Act (commonly known as the 'Artist Deduction bill') has been gaining co-sponsors since it was re-introduced earlier this year. The House bill H.R. 1524 introduced by Reps. John Lewis (D-GA) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) now has 50 co-sponsors. Additionally, the Senate bill S. 548 introduced by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) has 23 co-sponsors. The legislation supports individual artists by allowing them to take a fair-market value tax deduction for tangible works they donate to nonprofit collecting and educational organizations, and it benefits the public by giving them access to more art. Many of the cosponsors are legislators who sit on the tax-writing committees, which would demonstrate a real interest in approving this legislation.”
Learn more>>

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ON THE AIR
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”BYE KIDS” – WHERE TEACHERS GO IN SUMMERTIME
Larry Abramson, National Public Radio, 7/13/07
“Ever wonder what teachers do over the long summer break? Many teachers take classes, travel on exotic exchange programs, or do fancy research, all in preparation for the coming school years. Others catch up on their reading, or use the time to recharge their batteries.”
Listen to the story>>

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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LEARNING & LEADERSHIP GRANTS
National Education Association
Deadlines: 10/15/07, 2/1/08, or 6/1/08
”Grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of the following two purposes: grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences, such as summer institutes or action research, or grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment.”
Learn more>>

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