IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for October 31, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORTS
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ARTS INTEGRATION FRAMEWORKS, RESEARCH AND PRACTICE: A LITERATURE REVIEW
Arts Education Partnership, 2007
”This literature review is an essential resource for anyone involved in the research, theories, or methods and practices of arts integration. It covers what has been written between 1995 and 2007 in the U.S. and abroad and includes an historical overview, definitions and theoretical frameworks for arts integration, research and evaluation studies as well as methods and practices for each of the art forms.”
Download a copy>>


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ARTS EDUCATION AND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
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NCLB ADVOCACY TOOLS: WE NEED THE ARTS TO LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND
Douglas Gould and Company/Keep Arts in Schools
”Parents and teachers all over the country say they want students to have a well-rounded education that engages the whole child. And they know that arts education is central to making that happen. But the focus of classroom learning since the implementation of the Federal Education Act known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), appears to be narrowing to exclude the arts and other core subjects. With Congress now facing the reauthorization of this national education policy, it's critically important to make sure that arts education doesn't get left behind! Now is the time to understand what's at stake, get the latest information and have your voice heard.”
Learn more>>


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MUSIC INTEGRATION
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IN THIS CLASS, MATH COMES WITH MUSIC
Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post, 10/23/07
”The red plastic ON AIR sign is always lit in Eric Chandler's second-grade class, where a simple question about subtraction could elicit a rock performance styled after the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Loudon County teacher writes his own songs and also adapts the lyrics of popular tunes. Some musicians find inspiration in love or nature, but Chandler finds it in the Virginia Standards of Learning. The right combination of chords and rhythm, he says, makes the state's curriculum more fun and more memorable. ‘A song, if it's catchy enough, gets stuck in your head,’ Chandler said. So he embeds lessons in verses that kids might hum one day when sitting for a test. For years, researchers have studied whether music education raises IQ points, test scores, spatial sense or math and verbal skills. Definitive results are scarce, but experts agree that music sparks the memory. ‘Just think of the alphabet song,’ said Ellen Winner, a Boston College psychology professor who studies how music education affects learning. As formal music instruction is getting squeezed in many schools to make room for math, reading and testing, more teachers are looking for new ways to add melody or syncopation to the daily classroom diet of worksheets and more worksheets.”
Learn more>>


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SYMPOSIUM
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ART, ADOLESCENTS, AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY
**this week!**
Thursday, 11/1/07, 10am
Room 902, Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC
”Stephanie Perrin, distinguished educator and Head of Walnut Hill School, and her colleagues from Harvard University, the Boston Public Schools, and the Arts Education Partnership will present five critical challenges facing the future of public and independent education in the United States. The Symposium will address issues and the role of educators in fostering global connections, civic virtue, imagination, integrity, and the healthy development of adolescents.” Speakers include Richard Deasy of the Arts Education Partnership, and Ellen Winner, a senior researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with remarks by Senator Edward Kennedy.
Learn more>>


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ARTS AND COMMUNITY REJUVENATION
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CREATIVE CLASS DRIVES DOWNTOWN GROWTH
Nettie Boivin, MILife, MITimes, 10/24/07
I don’t know about you, but I swear there are impressive new lofts, galleries, restaurants and bars popping up everywhere I look … What’s even more impressive are the young, enterprising spirits strolling around these urban spaces, shaking things up and taking our downtowns from gloom to boom. ‘Our generation is different from our parents',’ says Kate Tykocki at Capital Area Michigan Works in Lansing [Michigan]. ‘They could fall back onto manufacturing. We don't have that. You have to create your own opportunities. These entrepreneurs are creating their own futures.’ Old Town in Lansing is a shining example of resurgence. The 10-block area was the original downtown of Lansing in the 1800s. It was blue collar until the 1960s and then became seedy. A decade later, revitalization began, and today the district continues to grow exponentially. In June, Old Town welcomed eight new businesses. In September, it held a ribbon cutting for nine new businesses and then another 13 in October – a mix of retail, restaurant, nonprofit, creative arts, galleries and a law firm.” Artist Nick Stockton remarks, ‘The impact is great. It’s keeping the creative class in the Midwest doing our part in rebuilding communities and growing our city's culture.’
Read more>>


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PROGRAMMING
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Art in the Twenty-First Century: Romance
PBS, New Season begins the week of 10/28/07
On-Air & Online
Grade Range: 9-12
”The only primetime national television series to focus exclusively on contemporary art and artists returns to PBS with four new episodes. The premiere hour features four distinctly different artists whose works pose questions about the role of emotion, regret, fantasy and nostalgia in contemporary art.
Learn more>>


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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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SURDNA ARTS TEACHERS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
***Deadline Coming Soon!***
Deadline: 11/16/07
“The Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship Program recognizes that art teachers often lack the time and resources to reconnect with the artistic processes they teach and offers grants to enable selected teachers to perform art with professionals in their disciplines and stay current with new practices and resources.” All permanently assigned full- and part-time arts faculty in specialized, public arts high schools are eligible. The maximum award is $6500.
Learn more>>

IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for October 24, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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NETWORKING FOR EMERGING LEADERS IN THE ARTS
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CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS: AN EMERGING ARTS LEADER DIALOGUE
Sponsored by The Forum for emerging arts professionals
Co-hosted by Americans for the Arts' Creative Conversations Program
Monday, 10/29/07, 4:30 – 7pm|
600 Restaurant at the Watergate, 600 New Hampshire Ave, NW, Washington, DC
“The Forum for Emerging Arts Professionals aims to provide unique professional development and networking opportunities for emerging arts professionals. This event is an informal and open discussion on topics pertinent to emerging arts leaders in the DC area. Bring with you the issues you face every day. Following the discussion, attendees are encouraged to walk over to the Kennedy Center for the 6:00 p.m. Millennium Stage performance of the Washington National Opera's Insights series, featuring A View from the Bridge. This event is FREE. Attendees of the discussion session will receive a free drink ticket and appetizers.”
To RSVP: Email theforum.mail@gmail.com
Learn more about the Emerging Leaders Network of Americans for the Arts>>
Visit The Forum’s Web site>>


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ARTS AS A PART OF A CHILD’S PLAY AND EDUCATION
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EDUCATING CHILDREN IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM: CHILD’S PLAY
Steven T. Webb, Education Week, 8/8/07
”Many students today are not benefiting from a balance of intellect and imagination. As an American Academy of Pediatrics report published last January notes, changes in the family structure, the highly competitive college-admissions process, and federal education policies have led to reduced time for recess and physical education in many school systems, a fact that has reduced free play and unscheduled time for children. Even worse, some school systems have reduced or eliminated curricular art programs that look like play to some people. Increasingly, research in neuroscience suggests that the arts (and play) have a significant impact on students’ cognitive, social, and emotional development. From a Piagetian perspective, we know this is true in theory. But recent developments in neuroimaging technologies (brain-based research) have added another important dimension to our knowledge, by allowing scientists to observe how various processing systems in the brain collaborate. Not only do play, the arts, and physical education have inherent value—new technologies demonstrate a significant link between artistic and cognitive development. During the brain’s early years, neural connections are made at a rapid rate. Much of what young children do as play—singing, dancing, painting, drawing, acting—are natural forms of art … High-quality early-childhood programs are grounded in the arts, play, and experiential learning. When children enter school, art experiences must continue. As David A. Sousa, a former superintendent and the author of How the Brain Learns, writes: ‘The arts are not just expressive and affective, they are deeply cognitive. They develop essential thinking tools—pattern recognition and development; mental representations of what is observed or imagined; symbolic, allegorical, and metaphorical representations; careful observation of the world; and abstraction from complexity.’
Read more>>


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ARTS EDUCATION AND THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE
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GOVERNOR BILL RICHARDSON UNVEILS NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY
Campaigns and Elections, 10/11/07
“New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson unveiled a comprehensive national education policy … ‘My Democratic opponents have been cautious in confronting President Bush on this issue,’ Richardson said … ‘I have two words for No Child Left Behind: scrap it. The key to a good education is not narrow testing or Washington wisdom. The key is a good teacher in every classroom … As President, I will provide universal access to quality pre-K programs to all four-year-olds … I also will fund Head Start fully. The benefits of early education are clear and extensive’ … Richardson vowed that he would put the arts back in America's schools. ‘Arts education is not a silver bullet, but it is a lighted bridge,’ Richardson said. ‘Students who engage in the arts are more likely to get involved in community and charitable work. These students also perform better in the classroom. I will substantially increase investment in arts-in-education programs. I will pay for musical instruments and music teachers in underserved communities around the country. The federal government will offer extra matching funds to states that draw up their own comprehensive art programs."
Read more>>


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NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH
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OCTOBER IS NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH
Coordinated by Americans for the Arts
“Held every October, National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Coordinated by Americans for the Arts, it is the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation. From arts center open houses to mayoral proclamations to storefront banners and newspaper articles, thousands of communities across the United States are recognizing the cultural gems all around them.”
Learn more, watch the promotional video, and order free NAHM decals>>


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CONFERENCE
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CONFERENCE FOR COMMUNITY ARTS EDUCATION
11/8 – 11/10/07 (Preconference 11/7/07)
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts
Los Angeles, California
”Guided by the conviction that participation in the arts is vital to individual fulfillment and community life, the Conference for Community Arts Education provides essential networking and professional development opportunities for community arts education leaders. 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.”
Learn more and register>>


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LESSON PLANS
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CONCEPTS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM: GREAT AMERICAN AUTHORS
Pbs.org
For grades 6 – 12
“Explore activities that highlight the careers and writing styles of American authors Ralph Ellison, Katherine Anne Porter, Maurice Sendak and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Explore their literature and review timelines of their lives.”
View lesson plans>>


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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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ARTS CONNECT ALL: GRANTS FOR INCLUSIVE PROGRAMS
VSA Arts
Deadline: 12/7/07
”Involving and including students with disabilities demands more than separate, specialized programs. Having students with and without disabilities interacting in activities together creates awareness, understanding, and respect—which is inclusion. To create inclusive learning environments, accessible education programs engage students with and without disabilities by incorporating multi-modal approaches and accommodating a range of abilities, learning styles, and skills. VSA arts and MetLife Foundation invite proposals from arts organizations creating or enhancing inclusive educational programs.” Eligible communities are outlined on the Web site, as are specific program and application guidelines.
Learn more>>

IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for October 17, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived on this blog.


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NATIONAL ARTS POLICY ROUNDTABLE
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IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH ROBERT REDFORD
Raymond J. Learsy, blogger, Huffington Post, 10/8/07
[Robert Redford] hosted the second National Arts Policy Roundtable at Sundance … He was not only a gracious host to the Americans for the Arts, organizers of the event, but he shared with its participants his commitment to the importance of the arts in his life and of finding ways of making the arts central to the lives of all Americans. And he did so with passion and eloquence. At the forefront of the discussions that lasted nearly two days, was the importance of arts to the future of the nation's competitiveness in a changing paradigm of global, economic, technical and social evolution and cultural change. That creativeness, or perhaps better understood, 'innovation,' is and will become a factor of singular significance to the quickly changing world of the 21st Century … A fundamental goal of the American for the Arts is the advocacy of arts education. Much of the focus of this gathering centered on the lack of arts and cultural engagement in our schools at virtually all levels. That this reality was impacting the creative capabilities of our workforce and risked our ability to compete effectively in a world where innovation critical thinking and its attendant attributes of flexibility, problem solving, innovation, entrepreneurship were not only growing exponentially in importance but were becoming key to commerce and success in a wired and in an ever flattening world.”
Learn more>>


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PREPARING STUDENTS FOR A GLOBAL ECONOMY
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U.S. STUDENTS NEED 21ST CENTURY SKILLS TO COMPETE IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY: AMERICANS EXPRESS STRONG SUPPORT IN NATIONAL POLL FOR TEACHING MORE THAN BASIC SKILLS
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 10/10/07
”A new, nationwide poll of registered voters reveals that Americans are deeply concerned that the United States is not preparing young people with the skills they need to compete in the global economy. An overwhelming 80 percent of voters say that the kind of skills students need to learn to be prepared for the jobs of the 21st century is different from what they needed 20 years ago. Yet a majority of Americans say that schools need to do a better job of keeping up with changing educational needs.”
Learn more>>


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NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH
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OCTOBER IS NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH
Coordinated by Americans for the Arts
“Held every October, National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Coordinated by Americans for the Arts, it is the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation. From arts center open houses to mayoral proclamations to storefront banners and newspaper articles, thousands of communities across the United States are recognizing the cultural gems all around them.”
Learn more, watch the promotional video, and order free NAHM decals>>


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VISUAL ART: PRINTMAKING
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ART BEAT AT SCHOOL: PRINTING THROUGH A MASTER
Oregon Public Broadcasting (announced via PBS)
”Explore the history and process of the printmaker’s art. Learn about four different methods of printmaking: intaglio, relief, lithography, and serigraph.” Lesson plan aimed at secondary students.
Learn more>>


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FAMILY ACTIVITIES
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SUPER WHY!: Fairytale Memory
PBSkids.org
”Make fairy tale character or object cards and use them to play a memory matching game. Recommended for PreK – Grade 2.
Explore this activity>>


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RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING TEACHING
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MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES 2007 EDUCATOR AWARD TOUR
PBS in Education, PBS.org
”The Milken Family Foundation launched its coast-to-coast Milken National Educator Award Tour on Monday, October 8. Throughout the coming months, up to 80 outstanding educators will be surprised with $25,000 cash prizes. The largest teacher recognition program in the U.S., the Milken Educator Awards were first presented in 1987 to honor excellence in teaching and inspire young, capable people to join the profession. By this school year's end, the Foundation will have given a total of over $58 million in Awards to more than 2,300 outstanding educators. PBS Teachers forged an alliance with the nonprofit organization earlier this year when it co-hosted a blog and vlog at the Milken Family Foundation's 2007 National Education Conference. Visit http://www.mff.org for the latest highlights of the Milken Educator Award Tour, including videos, photos and news stories chronicling the surprise Award notifications - and to check out Award recipients in your home state!”
Learn more at the Milken Web site>>
Learn more from PBS.org>>


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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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TARGET FIELD TRIP GRANTS
Deadline: 11/1/07
“The Target Field Trip Grants program will award as many as 1,600 grants of up to $1,000 each to applicants throughout the United States. Funds may be used to cover field trip-related costs such as transportation, ticket fees, resource materials and supplies.” Eligible applicants: educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff.
Learn more>>

ARTS CONNECT ALL: GRANTS FOR INCLUSIVE PROGRAMS
VSA Arts
Deadline: 12/7/07
”Involving and including students with disabilities demands more than separate, specialized programs. Having students with and without disabilities interacting in activities together creates awareness, understanding, and respect—which is inclusion. To create inclusive learning environments, accessible education programs engage students with and without disabilities by incorporating multi-modal approaches and accommodating a range of abilities, learning styles, and skills. VSA arts and MetLife Foundation invite proposals from arts organizations creating or enhancing inclusive educational programs.” Eligible communities are outlined on the Web site, as are specific program and application guidelines.
Learn more>>

LISTEN TO A LIFE ESSAY CONTEST
Legacy Project of Generations United
Deadline: 3/31/08
“What can you learn when you listen to a life? Young people can become more aware of their own dreams and goals when they hear the real-life stories of older adults. The Listen to a Life Essay Contest is also an opportunity to build closer connections between young and old. To enter the Listen to a Life Contest, a young person interviews an older person about their hopes and goals through their life, how they achieved goals and overcame obstacles, or how dreams may have changed along the way. What life advice can they share? The young person then writes a 300-word essay based on the interview. Each team consists of a young person 8-18 years with a grandparent or grandfriend 50 years or over.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for October 10, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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IMPACT OF THE ARTS ON COMMUNITY GROWTH
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HOW ARTISTS INFLUENCE REAL ESTATE PRICES
Trista Winnie, NuWireInvestor.com, 9/18/07
” Investors may deepen their appreciation for the arts after they realize how much influence artists can have on real estate values. Not many artists can afford the expensive rents of trendy downtown areas, so most live in cheaper areas of cities. When an area is full of artists, it attracts new studios and galleries, restaurants and shops. This energy and culture can change a less-than-desirable neighborhood or city into a desirable one—with the property prices to match. ‘It has been proved that artists—defined as self-employed visual artists, actors, musicians, writers, etc.—can stimulate local economies in a number of ways,’ according to BusinessWeek. Greenwich Village, in New York City, is perhaps the most widely known example of this pattern. San Francisco, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, has another example of how artists can revitalize neighborhoods.
Read more>>


THE ARTS’ IMPACT ON AREA:
$1.3 BILLION, 40,000 JOBS
Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/24/07
”In a study to be released today, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance reports that arts and cultural organizations in Southeastern Pennsylvania generate about $1.3 billion in annual expenditures. About 40,000 jobs in Philadelphia and its four suburban Pennsylvania counties are tied to that spending, which also yields about $158.5 million in state and local taxes … The report, ‘Arts, Culture and Economic Prosperity in Greater Philadelphia,’ funded by Scannapieco Development Corp., is the last in a triad of alliance studies to parse the financial ecology of the area's cultural world. The two previous reports, published within the last year, have examined the relatively low level of public funding support for the region's cultural organizations, the prevalence of deficits in arts budgets, the relatively high level of audience support, and the rapid growth in the number of organizations across the region in the last quarter century. The report released today provides some key numbers, which alliance officials argue bolster the case not only for increased public arts funding, but also for some kind of dedicated regional funding mechanism … [T]he study shows that local governments receive $5 in tax revenues in return for every $1 of support invested in arts groups; the state receives $2.50 for every $1 invested.”
Read more>>


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NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH
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OCTOBER IS NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH
Coordinated by Americans for the Arts
“Held every October, National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Coordinated by Americans for the Arts, it is the largest annual celebration of the arts and humanities in the nation. From arts center open houses to mayoral proclamations to storefront banners and newspaper articles, thousands of communities across the United States are recognizing the cultural gems all around them.”
Learn more, watch the promotional video, and order free NAHM decals>>


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NEED FOR ARTS EDUCATION FOR GLOBAL GROWTH
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REASONS TO KEEP THE ARTS
Richard Clark (editorial), Escanaba (MI) Daily Press, 9/25/07
”State law requires students who entered the freshman class this year to pass a mandatory curriculum along with a state-sponsored test in each subject. In response, school districts will redistribute teachers and student from their present curriculum choices to the mandatory curriculum … Districts will need to trim extracurricular (co-curricular) activities and classes that are not mandatory. For better or worse, economic forces have changed in the last 50 years. It is no longer adequate to teach readin’, writin’ and ’rithmetic. The world economy will require people to be versatile, curious and creative to make a living. It seems we need to develop the right side of students’ brains, or the creative side of the brain … In an ironic twist we are moving to a test-driven curriculum while our economic rival is discarding it. China is moving from a test-driven curriculum to one that encourages creativity. The Sept. 1 Beijing Review noted that ‘the public expects the reforms of the Chinese educational system to help develop children with imagination, creativity, curiosity, and playfulness which are not only essential to the child but to the society as a whole.’ If competition from China isn’t enough to inspire support for the arts, watching youngsters sing in elementary school holiday programs will. They are focused, at their best and proud. They are on their way to being imaginative, creative, curious and playful. The Chinese would be envious.”
Read more>>


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STORIES OF SCHOOL REFORM
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EVERY STUDENT DESERVES A LEGACY 2007:
STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF HIGH SCHOOL REFORM
Knowledge Works Foundation, 10/07
“Sporting an all-black Goth look, … freshman Joyce Brumley displays something of an attitude. In English class, she questions the point of an assignment, then says the teacher's reprimand of another student is dumb. She eats junk food and puts on makeup. When teacher Pam Roberts gives her a detention, Joyce calls her a jerk. But if you ask Joyce who her favorite teacher is, she answers without hesitation, ‘Mrs. Roberts.’ ‘Mrs. Roberts and I fight a lot because we're both stubborn,’ Joyce says, ‘but… I talk to her about everything, and she makes me redo work that she thinks I can do better - even for other classes.’ Two new publications from KnowledgeWorks Foundation capture dozens of stories like that of Joyce … stories that bring to life the day-to-day struggles and triumphs inside two Ohio high school reform efforts. The books, the third annual edition of the "Every Student Deserves a Legacy" series, show what it's like for educators and students working to transform underperforming large urban high schools into small personalized schools or pioneer schools that blend high school and college learning. … [T]hese publications document why it's so hard to change schools and how, even so, change is taking place. From a teacher who helps spark an arts-based curriculum throughout her small school to a teacher leader working to persuade his colleagues to believe in their power to change… these are stories of real people making real progress in two ambitious initiatives that aim to reinvent public high schools.”
Download or request a paper hard copy of the reports>>


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ART MUSEUMS
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FISK UNIVERSITY AND MUSEUM OF WAL-MART HEIRESS AGREE TO SHARE PRIZED ART
Theo Emery, New York Times, 9/26/07
”Fisk University’s board of trustees has agreed in principle to share ownership of its prized Alfred Stieglitz Collection with the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas in exchange for $30 million, the two sides announced on Tuesday. The agreement, subject to approval by a chancery court judge, would entitle the university and the museum to display the 101 works in the collection for equal amounts of time, they said. Crystal Bridges is scheduled to open in Bentonville, Ark., in 2009. The founder of Crystal Bridges, the Wal-Mart heiress Alice L. Walton, also pledged $1 million to renovate and maintain the Fisk gallery that houses the collection and to finance an art internship. The board’s vote on Monday, which came after more than a year of litigation over the fate of the artworks, could help remedy Fisk’s financial problems, the university’s board said … Still, the fate of the art-sharing agreement is far from certain. The Tennessee attorney general, Robert E. Cooper Jr., who has a say because the collection was a charitable donation, must still weigh in; he has said he would prefer that the collection remain full time in Nashville, where Fisk is based.”
Read more>>


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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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LEARNING & LEADERSHIP GRANTS
NEA Foundation
Rolling Deadlines. Next deadline: 10/15/07 **APPLY SOON**
”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; grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment … The grant amount is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study.”
Learn more>>

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT CONTEST
Deadline: 11/15/07
The Association for Career and Technical Education “is searching for budding filmmakers and is looking to the career and technical education (CTE) community to find them! Students will create a 30-second public service announcement to promote CTE Month in February 2008, which has the theme, “Discovering Skills for a Competitive Workforce.” Secondary and postsecondary students in CTE-related film, video, and production classes are eligible to enter.
Learn more>>

LEADERS IN LEARNING AWARDS
Deadline: 1/16/08
“Cable in the Classroom’s Leaders in Learning Awards outstanding educators, administrators, policymakers and other community leaders at the forefront of innovation in education. This prestigious awards program, in its 4th year of operation, is administered by the cable industry and its national education foundation, Cable in the Classroom.
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for October 3, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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STRIKING A BALANCE BETWEEN TRADITION AND ACADEMICS
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VARIED STRATEGIES SOUGHT FOR NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS
Mary Ann Zehr, Education Week, 9/24/07
”Educators working to improve the performance of Native American students are struggling to find the right balance between core academics and attention to native culture as a way to help engage and motivate children, according to those at a multistate gathering on the topic .... But the educators and scholars from a number of Western and Midwestern states agreed on at least one thing: If they want to improve achievement for all students, they’re going to have to improve it for their American Indian students, who represent a large, and in many cases increasing, portion of their enrollments. ‘This conference wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for the No Child Left Behind Act,’ said Rick Melmer, South Dakota’s secretary of education, whose department was host to the 2007 Indian Education Summit. Thanks to the 5½-year-old federal law’s requirement that schools track test scores and adequate yearly progress for Native Americans and other subgroups, Mr. Melmer said, people in his state became acutely aware that large numbers of Indian students weren’t doing well and that something needed to be done about it.”
Read more>>


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APPLYING CREATIVE THINKING
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CREATIVITY CHALLENGES: UNEVEN BARS
PBS Parents Guide to Creativity, PBS.org
”Create a virtual gymnastics routine on the uneven bars, and discuss the difficulty of the individual skills and the overall presentation of the routine. Examine how a gymnast uses body, mind and skills in the pursuit of an uneven bar routine.”
Visit the site>>


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USING SOCIAL NETWORKING TO BUILD A MUSEUM
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NEW SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM APPEARS ONLINE
Brett Zongker, Washington Post/Associated Press, 9/26/07
“The Smithsonian Institution's museum dedicated to black history and culture launches this week with an interactive Web site - long before its building opens for visitors on the National Mall. Social-networking technology donated by IBM Corp. will allow visitors to help produce content for future exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Almost anything is fair game _ long essays, short vignettes of memories or recorded oral histories. The museum plans to add video capabilities in the future. ‘The culture of the African American experience ... is too important to wait five or 10 years until the building is open,’ said Lonnie Bunch, the museum's founding director. ‘I wanted people to know that from the day I was hired, this museum exists.’ Museum staff will monitor the site for historical accuracy, and technical filters will block racist or inappropriate comments, said Bunch, adding that the site is really a ‘virtual museum’ and a new source of research for curators and scholars. Museum officials began thinking about launching the Web site during an explosion in the popularity of social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. That's when Bunch and IBM Chairman Samuel Palmisano, who sits on the museum's advisory board, got to talking. IBM eventually agreed to donate $1 million worth of hardware, software and services to build the site. ‘The museum thought, 'Let's harness this. Let's build a social network that brings together people interested in the African American experience ... all those people that are your visitors but who have great stories to tell,’’ said John Tolva, IBM's senior manager for cultural programs.
Read more>>
Visit the online museum>>


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MAKING A BUSINESS OF ART
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GREENSTREET: FROM THE STUDIO TO YOUR HOME
Amanda Lankerd, MI Life, MI Times email newsletter, 9/24/07
”How do you turn fine art into a profitable business? That's what the group at Greenstreet Arts is determined to find out. Head east from Battle Creek to the small town of Marshall [Michigan] to find Greenstreet’s designers developing a unique, custom-made line of home decor. The team’s first products -- handmade, glass drawer pulls and tiles -- are already for sale at Greenstreet’s Gallery. The artists plan to expand their product line by producing prototypes for coordinating folding room screens, lighting fixtures and tables. Utilizing the services of the Arts & Industry Council’s Creative Industries Incubation Network, this team of artisans will establish sales relationships, marketing methodologies, and sound business plans for each of their future endeavors. With the resources provided by the council, Greenstreet will also be able to form partnerships for manufacturing its goods on a larger scale as the company continues to grow.”
Read more>>
Visit Greenstreet Arts online>>
Learn about the Arts & Industry Council’s Creative Industries Incubation Network>>

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SKILLS FOR GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS
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CREATIVE INGENUITY, INNOVATION: NEEDED FOR GLOBAL ECONOMY
[EDITORIAL]
John Eger, San Diego Business Journal, 9/17/07
“Congress passed [the America Competes Act], signed by President Bush last month, that calls for $33.6 billion for research and education programs for ‘science, technology, engineering and math to address the challenges facing American competitiveness in the global economy.’ … This broad-based, bipartisan legislation won strong support from business, industry, labor and consumer groups worried that America is slipping woefully behind other nations in these vital areas. Yet, the idea of a classical liberal education was not discussed or even paid homage to, some educators complained. While the bill may appear to be a major step forward, they argue the contrary … Indeed, a new study from the Center on Education Policy says that enactment of the Bush administration’s well-known No Child Left Behind legislation has been devastating to K-12 curriculums. Nearly half of U.S. school districts have reduced the time their students spend on subjects such as art and music … There is only one way for America to compete in this new global age. Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, said it best in his commencement address to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last summer: ‘If the U.S. is to compete effectively with the rest of the world in the new global marketplace, it is not going to succeed through cheap labor or cheap raw materials, nor even the free flow of capital or a streamlined industrial base. To compete successfully, this country needs creativity, ingenuity, innovation. As Finn and Ravitch observed, ‘What makes Americans competitive on a shrinking, globalizing planet isn’t out-gunning Asians at technical skills. Rather, it’s our people’s creativity, versatility, imagination, restlessness, energy, ambition and problem-solving prowess.’ Most economists now seem to agree that the emerging so-called “creative and innovative” economy represents America’s salvation. Where then is the legislation that puts art, music, literature, civics and geography back into the K-12 curriculum?”
Read more>>


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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
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THE GARLANDED CLASSROOM
Graham Bowley, New York Times, 9/23/07
”Madison Avenue Presbyterian is not your ordinary nursery school. The school is inspired by an approach to teaching young children that was developed in the municipal schools of a northern Italian town called Reggio Emilia. This approach emphasizes the use of art in children’s learning and encourages a luxurious beauty in both their work and their surroundings. Classrooms are draped with cloth and garlanded with lattices and vines. Most of the schools have their own art rooms … The approach is based on the assumption that children learn best in groups and are resourceful enough to come up with their own ideas for lessons. Under the Reggio Emilia system, children investigate themes like angels or elevators; in one famous example, they built water wheels and fountains for an amusement park for birds. The method so engages and electrifies children, its supporters contend, that they create work of unparalleled beauty and complexity … A key tenet of the Reggio Emilia approach is that art helps children express their thoughts. Reggio classrooms are packed with a profusion of innovative materials for the children to work with, such as pebbles, dried orange peel, driftwood, tangles of wire and tin cans. ‘The environment as the third teacher’ is a favorite Reggio phrase. The approach also tries to make schoolhouses resemble places where everyday life goes on. They are often designed around a central piazza where children can mingle and talk.”
Read more>>


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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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LEARNING & LEADERSHIP GRANTS
NEA Foundation
Rolling Deadlines. Next deadline: 10/15/07
”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; grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment … The grant amount is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study.”
Learn more>>

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