IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts’ weekly newsletter for February 13, 2008. The newsletter is published each Wednesday and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORT
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THE OTHER HALF OF THE STRATEGY:
FOLLOWING UP ON SYSTEM REFORM BY INNOVATING WITH SCHOOL AND SCHOOLING
Education Evolving, 1/08
This report advocates for the need to move beyond standards and accountability into new schools and kinds of schooling. The report suggests that new innovations, including a variety of school models, can advance this cause.
Read the report>>


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THE VALUE OF ARTS EDUCATION
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WHY ARTS EDUCATION MATTERS
Commentary by Stephanie Perrin, Education Week, January 30, 2008
”For years, we have watched arts classes give way to the seemingly more ‘practical’ courses that politicians and policymakers assume have a direct link to professional and economic success. But in an increasingly globalized economy, one in which an ability to innovate and to imagine new possibilities is critical to America’s ability to compete, we still train our young people very narrowly to work in an industrialized society. As the country contemplates reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, political and policy leaders must recognize that an education in and through the arts, as a central part of a total school program, allows schools to better address these challenges than a curriculum that defines success as aptitude in literacy and math only.”
Read more>>


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A LESSON ON DIVERSITY
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YOUNG STUDENTS USE CRAYONS TO LEARN ABOUT DIVERSITY
Chris Lundy, APP.com, 1/31/08
” Kim Troncone's first-grade students opened their crayon boxes to draw a picture but found a surprise: They only had one crayon. The students at Veterans Memorial Elementary School were taking part in a lesson on diversity, inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Sean Aubrey, 6, was stuck with just an orange crayon. Thus, he drew an orange. ‘An orange crayon doesn't really make a lot,’ he said. Then, Troncone gave them all the colors they were missing.”
Read more>>


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SCHOOL REFORM
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SCHOOL CHIEF LAYS OUT AMBITIOUS PLAN
Tracy Jan, Boston Globe, 1/31/08
”More Boston high school students would be able to attend classes on college campuses. Parents would be able to send their young children to popular Montessori schools without paying private school tuition. And students of all ages would have more opportunities to learn art and music. Those are among the ambitious plans Superintendent Carol Johnson unveiled last night during her first major policy address before the School Committee. Hoping to entice parents to enroll their children in public schools, Johnson called simultaneously for increasing accountability to ensure there are improvements among struggling students while expanding programs for the highest achievers.”
Read more>>


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THINK AN ARTIST’S LOFT IS A TAX BREAK? READ ON
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IRS CHALLENGES LOW-INCOME ARTIST LOFTS
Marianne Combs, Minnesota Public Radio, 1/31/08
“Starting this year, artists may have a harder time finding places to live and work for cheap. A new IRS ruling says low-income artist lofts are not in compliance with federal tax regulations.”
Read more or listen to the story>>


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VISUAL LITERACY
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THINKING LIKE AN ARTIST
Pamelia C. Valentine, Educational Leadership online, 2/08
”I'm sitting at a staff meeting while the principal works her way through yet another PowerPoint presentation. This one is gloriously titled ‘Every Teacher Is a Reading Teacher!!’ All the teachers who teach non-text-based classes are reacting to the presentation. The physical education teachers are looking uncomfortable. The horticulture guy is squirming. The music teacher is pantomiming gagging. I'm a visual arts teacher at this middle school, and I'm sitting up straight and hanging on the principal's every word. OK, I'm not exactly hanging on every word, but I am paying close attention because I believe that every subject area has its own forms of literacy. I didn't always see the value in teaching reading, writing, and thinking skills in art class. I used to teach a project-based art class where we spent all our time "making art." But when I reflected on my teaching, I realized that I wasn't helping my students meet the National Visual Arts Standards developed by the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, such as the ability to ‘reflect upon and assess the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.’ My art learners needed to be thinking deeply, writing about art, and making connections between the features of high-quality art across genres and styles.
Read more>>


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GRANTS AND AWARDS
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ARTS EDUCATION AWARD
Americans for the Arts’ Arts Education Network
Deadline: 2/15/08 **coming soon**
”The Arts Education Award is given annually to identify the best in arts education program design and execution, as well as leadership. The award brings visibility and national recognition to model partnership programs. The award is presented to a local organization that can demonstrate systemic and sustainable results in support of learning in the arts, or through the arts, for public school students for a minimum of five years. Other important criteria include the integration of work into school or district infrastructure, involvement of public school and discipline-based arts educators, effective partnerships, industry-recognized work, success in building capacity for the organization itself and for the community, and conscientious efforts to build the scale of the work.”
Learn more>>


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DID YOU KNOW?
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We archive past newsletters here on our searchable blog.

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