IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts' newsletter for Wednesday, June 25, 2008. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORT
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AN UNFINISHED CANVAS, ARTS EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA:
TAKING STOCK OF POLICIES AND PRACTICES
SRI International’s Center for Education Policy for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
“A landmark study from independent research institute SRI International, for the first time systemically examining the status of arts education in California, reveals that the vast majority of California's schools fail to meet state standards for teaching the arts, and that access to arts instruction varies widely among the state's schools.”
Read the report>>

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JOB POSTING
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PART TIME COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATE

American Alliance for Theatre & Education

Bethesda, MD – minimal travel required
Deadline: July 15, 2008 ***coming soon***

“Responsibilities: Works with Publications Advisory Board to edit and oversee the design and production of AATE's quarterly magazine; Works with members of the Board of Directors to ensure quality of publications and communications; Manages website content and web components of AATE publications; Proofs and copy edits AATE communications including newsletters, email alerts and publicity materials; Conducts various additional administrative tasks and other duties related to AATE Communications.”
For more information, contact: employment@aate.com


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CLASSICAL MUSIC EDUCATION
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PROGRAM GIVES YOUTH ACCESS TO FREE CLASSICAL MUSIC LESSONS
Hannah Wolfson, Newhouse News Service/Houston Chronicle, 6/13/08
[In Birmingham, Alabama,] Every Friday afternoon, the dingy rock club called Cave9 echoes with classical music instead of the usual guitars and amps. On the stage, two kids fiddle with clarinets and trumpets while a young man who works nearby gets a violin lesson. In the rickety balcony, a brother and sister from the nearby public housing development sit side by side for a piano lesson while friends watch. As the afternoon wears on, more people come in: One wants to try the flute; another's ready for her regular viola lesson. Some of the music is good, some bad, but it's all unexpected because the lessons — open to anyone who walks in — are free. The lessons are being provided by Scrollworks, a new program inspired by Venezuela's revolutionary music system, which has created hundreds of youth orchestras in poor areas across the country. The group is giving lessons at Cave9, an elementary school on Birmingham's west side and a theater downtown, and plans to expand to a neighborhood church this summer.
Read more>>

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ARTS MAJORS ON THE RISE
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ALTHOUGH BUSINESS STILL DOMINATES, THE PERFORMING ARTS ARE FLOURISHING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Dave Newbart, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/9/08

“What's your major? For many Illinois college students these days, the answer to that question is music, acting or art. In fact, students majoring in visual and performing arts at Illinois colleges number more than 25,000 -- making the field of study the second most popular, according to unpublished data released by the state at the request of the Sun-Times. While still lagging business majors by a wide margin -- there are nearly twice as many business students in the state -- the arts' popularity has increased faster than any of the other 10 most popular majors in the past decade. The number of arts majors is up 110 percent since 1997. ‘A lot of folks believe we are moving more towards a creative economy,' said Murphy Monroe, executive director of undergraduate admissions at Columbia College, now the largest private arts college I’n the nation. ‘There is a newfound respect for people with creative problem-solving skills.'

Read more>>


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UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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THE CONTOURS OF INCLUSION:
UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING IN ARTS IN EDUCATION

VSA arts
Friday, 9/19/08, Holiday Inn Capitol, Washington, DC

“A full-day conference that explores the application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to arts curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Dr. Tracey Hall, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), will provide a keynote to frame UDL principles and practices. Participants will then engage with examples of UDL in presentation workshops and discussion groups facilitated by expert practitioners from the VSA arts affiliate and program networks.
Learn more about the conference: LJBarnum@vsarts.org
Learn more about UDL>>

2008 PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE
11/6 – 11/18/08
Proposals due 7/15/08
International Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco
This conference will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the first local education funds. The conference will center around the legacy, focus and impact of local education funds over the last 25 years.” Speakers include Susan Berresford, Carol Bellamy, Ronald Ferguson, Carol Gilligan, Ira Harkavy, and Andreas Schleicher.
Learn more>>

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GRANTS AND AWARDS
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EDUCATION GRANTS
Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation
Deadline: 10/15/08
“Proposals submitted to the Foundation for review for educational and cultural programs must address the priorities listed below: target K-12 and college students; expose students to career opportunities; develop skills in new technologies; leverage teacher/administrator, parental, and community involvement; include hands-on program activities; lead to comprehensive, systemic change on a regional and/or national basis; involve collaborative partnerships; demonstrate capacity to gain continuing support; will result in dissemination and replication of lessons learned; have broad and positive impact on diverse populations with a special emphasis on women, minorities, and at-risk students; develop evaluation component with measurable results.”
Learn more>>

VERY BEST IN YOUTH AWARD
Nestle
Deadline: 11/8/08
“Nestlé has been a proud sponsor of the Very Best In Youth program for more than nine years. Created to spotlight the best in youth leadership, the program identifies teens whose efforts are making a profound impact in lives other than their own … Nestlé helps young people who want to make a difference realize their dreams by donating $1,000 in the name of each winner to the charity of his/her choice. Nestlé awards the winner a trip for them and a parent or guardian to Los Angeles for the Nestlé Very Best In Youth awards ceremony. The trip includes round trip coach air travel, hotel accommodations for three nights plus spending money.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts' newsletter for Wednesday, June 18, 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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ARTS SCHOOLS
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LA ARTS HIGH SCHOOL BRINGS PRESTIGE, BUT HIGH COST
Jacob Adelman, Associated Press, 6/10/08
“The Los Angeles High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, with space for some 1,600 students, most from surrounding low-income neighborhoods, is the architectural crown jewel of the district's ambitious $20 billion building campaign. Supporters call the five-acre campus a beacon for a reformed educational system, a magnet for good teachers, and a means of raising dismal student performance in the nation's second-largest school district . . . Critics, however, see the school as a wasteful extravagance for a district where more than a quarter of the 700,000 students remain in temporary classrooms and many existing buildings are in dire need of renovations and repairs.”
Read more>>

CHARTER SCHOOL FINDS ITS RHYTHM
The Homeroom Blog, Los Angeles Times, 6/10/08
"Gabriella Charter School says it might be the only dance-themed public elementary school in the nation. We don't know if that's true, but it sounds like fun. Students get one hour of dance instruction daily -- ballet, jazz, tap, creative movement and world dance … Twice a week, in "reading In motion" classes, kindergartners and first-graders twist their bodies into letters while singing corresponding sounds. In a school where most of the students are English learners, vocabulary is introduced regularly and systematically −− parts of the body, directions, places in the room. And students improve graphing skills by plotting points to choreograph a dance.”
Read more>>


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MUSEUM EDUCATION
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LESSONS AT THE MUSEUM
Sean Cavanagh, Education Week, 6/11/08
“Museums and cultural institutions like the aquarium have long provided a crucial resource for students and teachers in science classes. Many of those institutions, in fact, consider working with schools to be a core part of their missions … [S]tudents from Russell Sage Junior High School in Queens are taking part in one of the largest and most coordinated such programs in the country. Known as Urban Advantage, it goes further than most museum-to-school outreach efforts in connecting students’ trips to science centers directly to school curriculum—in this case, that of the New York City schools. The program also provides teachers with extensive, ongoing training in how to use those institutions’ resources wisely.”
Read more>>

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DIRECTING THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
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MASS. SEES ARTS AS VITAL TO ECONOMY:DIRECTOR HIRED TO AID CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Robert Gavin, Boston Globe, 6/3/08
“The Patrick administration today launches an initiative to expand so-called creative industries in the state, appointing a first-in-the-nation "creative economy" director to help expand a diverse sector that ranges from individual artists to cultural institutions to video game makers. The appointment of Jason S. Schupbach of Boston illustrates the growing role creative sectors play in economic policy as states compete for jobs, companies, and skilled workers. Beyond the direct employment provided by museums, art galleries, and design and other creative firms, the vitality of the local arts and cultural scene is increasingly viewed by development specialists as key to attracting knowledge workers expected to drive 21st century economies … Massachusetts is the first state to create such a post for creative industries, according to national economic development and arts groups.”
Read more>>


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ACTIVE LEARNING WITH SCIENCE
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LABS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL HELP BRING SCIENCE ALIVE
Sean Cavanagh, Education Week, 6/4/08
“State and district science standards typically call for students to take part in hands-on labs and experiments in the elementary grades. The 1996 National Science Education Standards, which were written by the National Research Council and serve as a reference for many states, emphasize similar activities. Yet the use of even simple labs and experiments in early grades varies widely, say many observers, largely because of the pressure to devote time to other subjects, but also because elementary teachers lack experience and confidence in setting up those lessons.”
Read more>>


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CELL PHONE ART
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ARTIST HEEDS CALL OF A NEW MEDIUM
Regina Hackett, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/28/08
"[Colleen] Chartier, 56, could be edging toward the forefront of cell phone art. A photo-text story she wrote for cell phones in the language of texters -- "Th tale of ltl br" (The Tale of Little Bear) -- is featured in a group exhibit at Western Bridge titled, "You Complete Me” . . . The first line of her story came to her late at night when she couldn't sleep. "Thus bgnz th tale of ltl br" (Thus begins the tale of Little Bear). Chartier has rules for the project, such as the text can't be any longer than a single line on a cell phone screen. Both image and text are condensed without being cramped. Against swirly blue origami paper she placed her bear and created image-text No. 2: "Lil br thnx of wntrs aproach" (Little Bear thinks of winter's approach) . . . Cell phone art is gaining ground. The Australian Network for Art and Technology has a good site: anat.org.au/portableworlds. There are festivals for cell photos, videos and even ring tones. In Japan, teenagers write novels on their way home from school. The field has yet to attract established major artists or produce one of its own, although Chartier is in the running. She makes worlds, not just special effects.”
Read more and see sample screenshots>>


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VALUE OF ARTS EDUCATION
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DON’T LET CURTAIN FALL ON ARTS EDUCATION:
CHALLENGE, INSPIRE AND CHANGE PEOPLE
Craig W. Johnson, editorial, Orlando Sentinel, 6/10/08
“With school budget cuts, we're seeing the disintegration of our arts-education programs. The effect of lost jobs is unfortunate; the long-term repercussion on our community is inexcusable. There's more to the arts than meets the eye. Yes, the performing and visual arts are supposed to be entertaining, but behind every creative discipline there is a more profound concept without which a community shrivels up and dies: The arts teach us how to innovate. As a foundation for practicing imagination, the arts are a critical ingredient to forward-thinking change. When widely applied, the inherent concepts taught by the arts lead to progress in every arena of life -- from advances in medical technology to transformative public policy. The arts are not superfluous to society; they are an underestimated force that is driving it forward.”
Read more>>

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GRANTS AND AWARDS
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GRANTS FOR PROJECTS LED BY AND BENEFITING WOMEN AND GIRLS
Maximum Award: $2000
Deadline: 8/15/08
“Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls. Open Meadows Foundation funds projects that do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or ability. It offers grants up to $2000 to projects that are designed and implemented by women and girls; reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization; promote building community power; promote racial, social, economic and environmental justice; have limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding. Organizational budget should not exceed $150,000.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts' newsletter for Wednesday, June 11, 2008. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORT
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REPORT: EARLY KINDERGARTEN CUTOFF DATE BENEFITS CHILDREN
Tracy Garcia, Whittier Daily News, 6/8/08
“What is the best age for California children to enter kindergarten? That's the question that researchers Jill S. Cannon and Stephen Lipscomb at the Public Policy Institute of California explored in their recent report, "Changing the Kindergarten Cutoff Date: Effects on California Students and Schools." They analyzed 14 recent studies on the topic - and concluded that moving the cutoff date for 5-year-olds to begin kindergarten from the current Dec. 2 to Sept. 1 would likely have several benefits. The primary benefit is better elementary math and reading scores that persist as far as eighth grade, researchers said, because some students would be a year older when taking those tests. But it also may increase the so-called ‘achievement gap’ between poor students and their more affluent peers whose birthdays fall in this three-month gap, mostly because higher-income families would be able to afford a better preschool education than low-income families.
Read more of the article>>
Read the report>>


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CREATIVITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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EUROPE: REPORT ON CREATIVITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Eurogates, 6/8/08
“Contemporary society is characterised by rapid change in all spheres of life, and creativity has been identified as a key factor in tackling challenges caused by change as well as a driving force towards knowledge creation and socio-economic advances. Scholars have been studying change in recent years, yet little attention has been paid in Europe to how creativity and innovation can be enhanced within and by academe. A 2006-07 report from European University Association, Creativity in higher education, aims to contribute to the development of the European knowledge society by identifying good practices and providing universities and their major external stakeholders with recommendations on how to foster creativity. ‘Progress towards a knowledge-based society and economy will require that European universities, as centres of knowledge creation, and their partners in society and government give creativity their full attention,’ says the report, and it continues: ‘If Europe should not succeed in strengthening creativity in higher education, the very goal of a European knowledge society would be at stake.’”
Read more>>


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CIVICS VIA GAMING
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FORMER JUSTICE PROMOTES WEB-BASED CIVICS LESSONS
Seth Schiesel, New York Times, 6/9/08
“’If someone had told me when I retired from the Supreme Court about a couple of years ago that I would be speaking at a conference about digital games, I would have been very skeptical, maybe thinking you had one drink too many,’ [retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor] said to laughter Wednesday in an auditorium downtown at Parsons the New School for Design. Yet there she was, a notable figure in modern history, at once engaging and imposing as she explained why she had embraced the Internet and interactive digital media as an essential tool for preserving American democracy… Justice O’Connor is helping develop a Web site and interactive civics curriculum for seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students called Our Courts.The initial major elements of the site are scheduled to become available this fall. ‘We’ll have them arguing real issues, real legal issues, against the computer and against each other,’ she said. One of the first interactive exercises in the Our Courts program, she said, would take up First Amendment issues involving the ability of public schools to censor students’ speech, as in student newspapers or on T-shirts.”
Read more>>


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SCHOOL CLIMATE
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SCHOOL CLIMATE KEY TO CURBING VIOLENCE: U.S. REPORT
Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters, 6/5/08
“Schools can prevent shootings and other violent attacks by creating a climate in which students feel free to share information about potential threats, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. Previous studies have found that in 81 percent of violent school attacks, student bystanders knew about the attacks before they occurred. But many chose not to tell. A report issued by the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Education and Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital explores how schools can get students to come forward with information that could prevent such attacks.”
Read more>>


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THEATRICAL ARCHIVE ONLINE
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CANADIANS TO HAVE ACCESS TO VISIT RARE AND PRICELESS NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE POSTER AND COSTUME COLLECTIONS ONLINE
Ottawastart.com, 6/8/08
“Canadians have access to hundreds of rarely-seen and priceless posters and costumes thanks to two new and exciting collections on ArtsAlive.ca, the National Arts Centre's (NAC) award-winning performing arts educational website. Persuading Presence: A Performign Arts Poster Archive and The Secret Live of Costumes offer teachers and students – as well as all theatre, dance and music lovers – a rare look into the NAC's perfoming arts archives and its rich, 39-year history. Until now, the poster and costume collections lived only in the dark recesses of the NAC archive. But from now on, Canadians will be able to access these archives from their home and classrooms through ArtsAlive.ca. Visitors will be able to learn about the history of the collections, peruse detailed archival records and take a behind-the-scenes look at special curatorial features on poster and costume design.”
Read more>>
Visit the Web site>>



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GRANTS AND AWARDS
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CVS CAREMARK CHARITABLE TRUST
Deadline: 6/15/08 **coming soon**
"The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust focuses primarily on supporting charitable organizations that are making a difference in the lives of children with disabilities. Resources are also allocated to help support organizations focused on providing healthcare to the uninsured. We believe these two areas represent opportunities for the Trust to create positive outcomes for diverse populations of people in communities across the country.”
Learn more>>

C-SPAN ARCHIVES GRANTS FOR TEACHERS
Deadline: Rolling; allow 30 days for processing
Maximum Award: Videotape(s)
“K-12 or College/University educators who want a videotape (or tapes) of C-SPAN programming can apply for a C-SPAN Archives Grant …Simply write up a one page summary of how you intend to use videotape(s) from the C-SPAN Archives in your classroom. Include your resume or cv, the tape(s) you want including ID# and price from the C-SPAN Archives web site — you may also call the C-SPAN Archives for help in identifying tapes.”
Learn more>>

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IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts' newsletter for Wednesday, June 4, 2008. The newsletter is published each Wednesday to the IEA listserv and archived here on the IEA blog.

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WHAT SHOULD SCHOOLS TEACH?
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MORAL DIMENSIONS OF EDUCATIONAL DECISIONS:THE ESSENTIAL PLACE OF VALUES-RICH CURRICULA IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Amitai Etzioni, School Administrator, May 2008
“There is a widely held notion that public schools … should not teach values. In effect, schools do. Moreover, there are next to no significant decisions a school administrator or classroom teacher can make that do not have a normative dimension … Schools are under considerable pressure from the community to focus on academics, which in effect means serving the utilitarian, economic futures of pupils. Parents, school boards and news media that push for higher academic achievements are not seeking to turn the students into scholars but to equip them to compete in the marketplace … In contrast, schools are, and ought to be, concerned with human and social development, ensuring graduates are able to work out differences with others verbally and nonabusively; to walk in the other person’s shoes; to resist temptations to act in unethical ways; and to care about higher purposes than self. Many curriculum decisions reflect the balance those who run schools and education systems strike between these two competing set of values, the academic and the social.”
Read more>>


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DEVELOPING VOCABULARY
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SMALL KIDS, BIG WORDS:RESEARCH-BASED STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING VOCABULARY FROM PREK TO GRADE 3
Laura Pappano, Harvard Education Letter, May/June 2008
Pappano summarizes research projects demonstrating young students’ capacity to take on vocabulary that is beyond the basics. “At Lee Academy, where 67.1 percent of the students are categorized as low income by the state Department of Education, teachers focus on words related to specific content and use a four-step process for teaching them. Using the OWL curriculum, says reading support teacher Heather Nord, preschool teachers choose a theme such as ‘wind and water.’ Using six books related to the theme, they target 60 key words during a four-week unit. Teachers read each book four times, using a different approach each time. The first time … teachers verbally highlight targeted vocabulary words and post them on cards. The second time, they reconstruct the story, with children helping to retell. The third time, the teacher leaves out words, which children fill in orally. The fourth time, children act out the story. The aim? Experience the words, the concepts, the story itself.”
Read more>>


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BEING HUMAN
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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?
Brandon Keim, Wired.com, 6/1/08
“What does it mean to be human? And can science illuminate the answers? A star-studded panel of scientists gathered to discuss those heady themes [May 31] at the World Science Festival in New York City.” Read a summary of their perspectives, including this summation of the perspective of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: “The critical unique factor is language. Creativity. The religious and scientific impulse. And our social organization, which has developed to a prodigious degree. We have a record of history, moral behavior, economics, political and social institutions. We're probably unique in our ability to investigate the future, imagine outcomes, and display images in our minds.”
Read other perspectives>>


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STUDENT ART SHOWCASES
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TALENTED YOUTH SHOWCASE THE ARTS
Christine Dolen, Miami Herald, 5/31/08
“More than 400 arts-loving kids will get the opportunity to perform on a high-profile stage when Growing Up With the Arts, a free program presented by The Children's Trust, takes over the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts … Children and teens will sing, dance, act, play musical instruments and display their artwork in the venue's lobby … The purpose of Growing Up With the Arts, says Trust President and CEO Modesto E. Abety, is both to showcase young talent and make a statement. ''We have in this community some wonderful, positive, creative young people. We need to engage that, celebrate it and continue it, …I question what happens when children have limited exposure to the arts. [The arts] are necessary for children to become well-rounded citizens … Increasingly, the school system is pressed. . . . The focus has been on the basics, on testing. . . . The arts are not considered part of the basic core curriculum. We're proud that we've been able to step up.'' Michael Spring, director of Miami-Dade County's Department of Cultural Affairs, estimates that the Trust money his department administers provides arts experiences for more than 200,000 children each year. The showcase, he says, tells the community that ``the arts are important. They help make kids mentally, physically and spiritually healthy. They help kids think beyond their current circumstances. The Trust has been visionary in its full-spectrum look at what it takes to make a healthy kid's life.''
Read more>>

STUDENT ART EXHIBIT
Seema Mehta, The Homeroom Blog, Los Angeles Times, 5/30/08
“The news about Latino and black student relations in Los Angeles schools is often troubling, such as the melee earlier this year involving 600 students at Locke High School that was quelled by police clad in riot gear and wielding billy clubs. But today, about 100 students from 10 Los Angeles schools are coming together for the second annual ‘Colors for Unity’ art exhibition … "Our goal is to use art as a tool that will allow students a form of expression to help break the race barrier," said Mike Piscal, founder and CEO of Inner City Education Foundations Public Schools, in a press release. "Our hope is that this experience will provide students with a better understanding of each other's cultures and will bring unity by focusing on their common strengths."
Read more>>


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ARTS EDUCATION IN POLITICS
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MARKELL PROPOSES DELAWARE ARTS TRUST:CREATION OF ARTS DISTRICTS PART OF PLAN
Christopher Yasiejko, The News Journal (Delaware), 5/30/08
“If elected Delaware's next governor, Jack Markell said Thursday, he would establish an endowment to support programming at arts institutions, offer incentives for local governments to apply for designation as arts and entertainment districts and strengthen arts education programs for at-risk youth. Markell, the state treasurer and a Democratic candidate for governor, … acknowledged the financial squeeze that has threatened arts institutions, and he proposed the formation of the Delaware Arts Trust, an endowment that would comprise government agencies, the business community, philanthropists and foundations. Throughout his 20-minute address, Markell sprinkled citations of studies attesting to the economic benefits of the arts -- they generate an 8-to-1 return on investment and employ 3,685 full-time workers, for example -- with links to ‘protecting Delaware's cultural legacy.’ He vowed to ensure that all students receive a "quality arts education," including the replacement of the Delaware Student Testing Program with an adaptive testing method that would allow more classroom time for the arts.
Read more>>


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GRANTS AND AWARDS
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GRANTS FOR THE WELFARE OF AMERICAN CHILDREN
Maximum Award: $70,000
Deadline: 7/1/08
American Legion Child Welfare Foundation Grants to Help Children fund proposals that “contribute to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual welfare of children through the dissemination of knowledge about new and innovative organizations and/or their programs designed to benefit youth; and contribute to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual welfare of children through the dissemination of knowledge already possessed by well-established organizations, to the end that such information can be more adequately used by society.”
Learn more>>

RICHARD RILEY AWARD:
HONORING EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOLS AS CENTERS OF COMMUNITY
Maximum Award: $10,000
Deadline: 7/25/08
“Sometimes referred to as ‘community learning centers’, schools that serve as centers of community provide a rich array of social, civic, recreational and artistic opportunities to the broader community, often clustering educational and municipal buildings together. These additional services and opportunities often improve student achievement and help maximize local tax dollars. With school enrollment in the United States forecasted to increase at record levels, and spending on school construction and renovation to total nearly $30 billion annually, it makes sense that this major investment should benefit both students and the local community. The American Architectural Foundation, in partnership with KnowledgeWorks Foundation, invites you to enter a submission for the Richard Riley Award. If your school is a center of community that demonstrates innovative design ideas and helps promote student achievement, your school could win a $10,000 prize.”
Learn more>>

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