Laura Perille

Connecting Creative Youth Development and In-School Arts Education

Posted by Laura Perille, Sep 18, 2014 0 comments


Laura Perille

Laura Perille Laura Perille

 

Is it possible to rapidly increase the level of arts education offered in an urban district? Based on the example of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Arts Expansion Initiative launched in 2009 by EdVestors, the BPS Superintendent, and local foundations, the resounding answer to that question is yes. This effort was rooted in the belief that arts opportunities play a powerful role in the life and learning of students in urban schools, and that a fundamental part of creating these opportunities was increasing access to quality arts education in order to create equity for all students. One of the main challenges initially faced by BPS Arts Expansion was increasing the amount of in-school arts education offered in Boston Public Schools.

In 2009:

Perille School on the move, 2006 Perille School on the move, 2006

 

  • 67% of students in grades PreK-8 received weekly, year-long arts education
  • 26% of high school students received any arts education.

Today:

  • 87% of students in grades PreK-8 receive weekly, year-long arts education or its equivalent
  • 57% of high school students receive any art education

How did this change happen? In addition to advocating for increased public investment in arts education and working with the district to increase the number of arts teachers, BPS Arts Expansion used an innovative private funding approach as leverage to help tackle this issue, funding and facilitating partnerships between creative youth development organizations that primarily ran out of school programs to work in Boston Public Schools during the school day. Boston is a city rich with arts and cultural organizations, including those focused on creative youth development. However, one of the challenges had been engaging schools and youth development organizations focused on out-of-school time in sustainable, productive partnerships to provide in-school instruction for growing numbers of students across the city. To facilitate these relationships, BPS Arts Expansion:

  • Funded programs in schools across the district that bring youth development organizations  and individual teaching artists into schools, during school hours, to provide arts learning opportunities
  • Created the position of Arts Partnership Manager, a full-time position within the BPS Visual and Performing Arts Department whose main focus is on facilitating collaborative and healthy partnerships between arts partners and schools
  • Developed an Arts Partnership Database, where organizations and teaching artists can upload their information so that school leaders, teachers, and parents can search for the most compatible arts programming for their schools. This database includes information about field trips and special performances, in-school assemblies and workshops, teaching artist residencies, teacher professional development opportunities, and beyond.
  • Designed tools and resources for teaching artists and partner organizations to learn more about building successful arts partnerships in Boston Public Schools, such as the Guide to Effective Partnerships for Schools and Arts Organizations.

By both funding these partnerships, and establishing a framework to help schools and partner organizations navigate these new relationships, we were able to increase the number of organizations working in Boston Public Schools, and help to vastly increase the in-school arts offerings on a city-wide level. This increase is both a testament to increased public funds supporting the arts, increased capacity of the central BPS Arts Department and the work of partners in schools. By engaging with outside arts partners and bringing the work and expertise of creative youth development organizations into school hours, we were able to take advantage of the rich culture in Boston and leverage that to increase quality arts education for our students. In turn, these organizations have recruited new participants to their OST programs that have been introduced to their work through an in-school experience and deepened ties with local schools to the benefit of the whole community.

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