IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts' newsletter for Wednesday, April 16, 2008. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and archived on the IEA blog at http://edartsinstitute.blogspot.com.


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REPORTS
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READY TO INNOVATE: ARE EDUCATORS AND EXECUTIVES ALIGNED ON THE CREATIVE READINESS OF THE WORKFORCE?
Conference Board, Americans for the Arts, American Association of School Administrators
“Innovation is crucial to competition, and creativity is integral to innovation. Employers rate creativity/innovation among the top five skills that will increase in importance over the next five years, and stimulating innovation/creativity and enabling entrepreneurship is among the top 10 challenges of U.S. CEOs. But how to foster creativity in new entrants to the workforce? [This project] surveyed public school superintendents and American business executives (employers) to identify and compare their views surrounding creativity. Overwhelmingly, both the superintendents who educate future workers and the employers who hire them agree that creativity is increasingly important in workplaces … and that arts training— and, to a lesser degree, communications studies— are crucial to developing creativity. Yet, there is a gap between understanding this truth and putting it into meaningful practice. Our findings indicate that most high schools and employers provide such training and studies only on an elective or “as needed” basis.”
Read the report>>

MULTIMODAL LEARNING THROUGH MEDIA: WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
Metiri Group, commissioned by Cisco
As summarized in eSchool News: “An analysis of existing research supports a notion that already has begun to transform instruction in schools from coast to coast: that multimodal learning--using many modes and strategies that cater to individual learners' needs and capacities--is more effective than traditional, unimodal learning, which uses a single mode or strategy. According to a new report commissioned by Cisco Systems, adding visuals to verbal (textual and/or auditory) instruction can result in significant gains in basic or higher-order learning, if applied appropriately. Students using a well-designed combination of visuals and text learn more than students who use only text, the report says.”
Read the eSchool News article summarizing the report>>
Read the report>>

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DEVELOPING ARTS EDUCATION
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ART SCHOOL
Mary Tutweiler, Independent Weekly (Lafayette, Louisiana), 3/26/08
“In 2007, the Louisiana Legislature passed Louisiana Act 175 to bring visual and performing arts into every classroom in Louisiana by 2012. Working with the Kennedy Center, Lafayette City's arts community hopes to develop a working model for the state to adopt in implementing the new law. During last year’s legislative session, Baton Rouge Sen. Sharon Broome authored legislation requiring the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop and implement an arts curriculum in the public schools. Broome worked closely with Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, who has pledged to integrate eroding arts programs back into education. ‘Unlike other states, every child in Louisiana doesn’t have that opportunity for arts education, which compelled us to create the legislation and champion its passage,’ says Pam Breaux, an assistant secretary within the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. ‘We want to put music and the arts back in schools … Research tells us that when children are exposed to the arts, dropout rates go down, test scores go up, and science skills improve. And so it’s important for education because it ignites creative thinking and critical thinking, and it makes better students.’”
Read more>>

ARTS EDUCATION DESCRIBED AS VITAL:
STATE WORK FORCE NEEDS CREATIVITY, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SAYS
Dani McClain, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/29/08
”Wisconsin needs to cultivate an innovative, entrepreneurial work force, and arts education is the key, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said Friday. A new task force on arts and creativity, co-chaired by Lawton and state schools Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster, plans to survey arts offerings in Wisconsin schools, hold public hearings around the state, and issue a list of recommendations by the end of the year. ‘I see artists imagining solutions to 21st-century problems,’ Lawton said … ‘Creativity is important to every sector of Wisconsin's economy.’ The task force[‘s] … goal will be to position arts education as a way to teach critical-thinking skills and encourage Wisconsin's students to become visionaries who can propel the state to the forefront of the green economy and other emerging industries, Lawton said. ‘The Silicon Valley wasn't brought in on semi trucks,’ she said, citing Apple CEO Steve Jobs as someone who combines technical know-how with an artist's touch.”
Read more>>

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GRANTS, AWARDS, AND CONTESTS
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GRANTS FOR ARTS, EARLY CHILDHOOD READING, AND FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Target Local Store Grants
Deadline: 5/31/08
Maximum Award: $3,000
Organizations are invited to apply for grants sponsored by local Target stores in the areas of arts, early childhood reading, and family violence prevention.
Learn more>>

SAVE OUR HISTORY
The History Channel
Deadline: 6/6/08
Maximum Award: $10,000
”Inspire the youth in your community to become the preservationists of tomorrow. Museums, historic sites, historical societies, preservation organizations, libraries, and archives are invited to partner with a local school or youth group and apply for funding to help preserve the history of their communities. Each year, The History Channel awards grants … to organizations across the country that partner with schools or youth groups on community preservation projects that engage students in learning about, documenting and preserving the history of their communities.
Learn more>>

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