Blog Posts for Salon Sept 10

Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


Tim Mikulski

New School Year, New Blog Salon

Posted by Tim Mikulski, Sep 13, 2010 1 comment


Tim Mikulski

Tim Mikulski

The teachers and kids are back in school. Starbucks is selling Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The air in D.C. has cooled off for the first time since March.

Of course it’s time for another Arts Education Blog Salon.
Now in its third round, Americans for the Arts is proud to host yet another week of blogs dedicated to the topic of arts education.

This time, we have a wide range of participants – from newbies who haven’t blogged before to veterans who have been with us since the first one. Altogether, we have 17 brilliant minds ready to share information and spark debate.

Our Scheduled Blog Roster:

John Abodeely, National  Partnerships Program Manager, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Allen Bell, Arts Education Research & Information Program Director, South Arts
Donna Collins, Executive Director, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Sarah Collins, Master’s Degree Candidate, University of Oregon
Kim Dabbs, Executive Director, Michigan Youth Arts
Rachel Evans, Assistant Professor, Kean University
Mimi Flaherty Willis, Senior Director of Education, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Zack Hayhurst, Master’s Degree Candidate, American University
Tim Mikulski, Arts Education Program Manager, Americans for the Arts
Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy, League of American Orchestras
Jim Palmarini, Director of Educational Policy, Educational Theatre Association
Laura Reeder, Arts Education Instructor/Graduate Assistant, Syracuse University
Victoria Saunders, Arts Education Consultant, Victoria J. Saunders Consulting
Barry Shauck, President, National Art Education Association
Mark Slavkin, Vice President for Education, Music Center (Los Angeles County)
Lynn Tuttle, Director of Arts Education & Comprehensive Curriculum, Arizona Dept. of Education
Joan Weber, Educator/Arts Education Consultant, Creativity & Associates

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Laura Reeder

Once More, From the Top

Posted by Laura Reeder, Sep 16, 2010 1 comment


Laura Reeder

Laura Reeder

I have been reading and re-reading So Much Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools by Chicago-based education reformer Charles Payne. In this book, he describes with kindness and clarity the cycle of good intentions that come into schools through professional development, curriculum design, and school improvement measures. Arts education advocates cannot possibly read this book without seeing our own efforts as part of what he describes as the “predictable failures of implementation” (p.153).

The heartfelt desire that we all have to improve education through the arts may shift when we pay closer attention to the struggles of literacy education, science education, technology education, etc. These topic groups have also formed advocacy and grassroots measures and campaigns to change the way we do school. Perhaps we should remember the words of Maxine Greene (2001) who said, “We are interested in education here, not in schooling.”

Are we advocating for school reform with our arts education campaigns or for education change?

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John Abodeely

Where do you fall in the education debate?

Posted by John Abodeely, Sep 14, 2010 1 comment


John Abodeely

John Abodeely

For arts education programs and advocates to be successful, we must design our strategy and programs to fit within the larger context of public education. If our provision tactics—such as teaching artist residencies—do not fit within the limiting elements of our schools—such as budgets and schedules—then our work must change. If student requirements levied by the federal, state, or local policy narrow the curriculum too harshly to allow our kids to learn in and through the arts, then our work must change.

For example, arts integration has been used as more than as an instructional strategy. It has been an advocacy strategy. Providers have used arts integration to fit within scheduling limitations of schools. This is a response to the existing context of education.

Other programs now work with decision-makers that have more influence over the policy and funding conditions that may narrow the curriculum. Outreach to decision-making adults such as school boards and legislators seems to have become a part of many local programs, though years ago only national and state-level organizations did it. This is an effort to change the context of education.

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Sarah Collins

Not Your Average Lit Review, Part 1

Posted by Sarah Collins, Sep 15, 2010 4 comments


Sarah Collins

Sarah Collins

When I was first asked to participate in the Arts Education Blog Salon, I did what any good graduate student would do. I did a little background research. From the cinderblock depths of my basement office at the University of Oregon, I poured over posts from previous salons to get a better idea of what I was getting myself into. I was humbled before the collection of knowledge and experience shared here by some of the leading voices in the field of arts education. I was left wondering what I - knee deep in lit reviews and composition notebooks - could possibly contribute to the conversation.

Yet flipping through my comp books, I find reactions to journal articles, notes from conference sessions, URLs, call numbers, quotes, big ideas, and bigger questions. So that is where I begin, with an earnest curiosity, a student of arts and education policy. Reflecting on the dog-eared pages of the past year, recalling what has had the greatest impact on my understanding of this field, I present my essential arts education reading list for 2010: Part 1.

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Zack Hayhurst

Choral Arts Society of Washington – A Commitment to Arts Education

Posted by Zack Hayhurst, Sep 14, 2010 1 comment


Zack Hayhurst

Zack Hayhurst

To commemorate the inaugural National Arts in Education week, I am dedicating this first post to Norman Scribner and Choral Arts Society of Washington. My experience interning with his organization exhibits why institutional and community support of arts education is so vital, no matter where one is in their academic journey.

I was saddened to learn the other day that Norman Scribner will be stepping down in 2012 as Artistic Director of Choral Arts Society. After founding the organization 45 years ago, Norman has led it through many a financial crisis and cultural change, present circumstances included. After sitting at the helm for so long, he has no doubt affected countless individuals in a positive way. I am thankful to be one of those lucky people.

After beginning my Master's degree in Arts Management at American University this past fall, Choral Arts Society was my first internship where I worked as a development apprentice. As far as I'm concerned, it was not only my first internship in D.C., but also my introduction to arts management.

Both Norman and Executive Director Debra Kraft realize the importance of arts education, both professionally and elementally. Supporting arts education in words is one thing, putting money behind it is another.  

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R. Barry Shauck

Assessing a Teacher's Value?

Posted by R. Barry Shauck, Sep 15, 2010 1 comment


R. Barry Shauck

Barry Shauck

On September 6, 2010, The New York Times published an article by the same name as this posting.  It discussed the ‘value-added’ approach to assessing teacher performance that is gaining a foothold in American education. This approach is based upon what students have learned in a certain period measured by what they were expected to learn in light of the speed of their past progress. Teacher evaluation at its best does more than ascribe to following a plan whether that plan is yearly, unit, or lesson. Teacher evaluation at its best recognizes and rewards surprises, deviations from plans in teaching and learning; rather than regarding surprise as a performance advantage. Such measurement and regard reduces students to commodities calculated in economic metrics on a quarterly basis.

Quality in education depends on what teachers can personalize - not on standardized performance. Leadership itself depends upon establishing fundamental relationships so that the best that teachers have to teach can be handed along to their students. If connoisseurship is used to draw a larger picture of a teacher’s qualities, the stories that a teacher has to tell to students, and the value that is added to the experience students take away from learning can be described in an artful and lasting way. There are no metrics or modular responses that are appropriate when connoisseurship is used to appraise teacher quality. Descriptive substitutes, plug-ins, or narratives describing the particular qualities of teaching cannot be interchanged from one modular phrase to another. The narrative of connoisseurship depends upon one’s abilities to discern particulars to school environments, situations, students, and teachers.

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