President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Report

Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America's Future Through Creative Schools


Washington, DC, May 2011

Over the past eighteen months the PCAH has conducted an in-depth review of the current condition of arts education, surveying recent research about its documented benefits and identifying potential opportunities for advancing arts education.

"While we found a growing body of research to support positive educational outcomes associated with arts-rich schools, and many schools and programs engaged in such work, we also found enormous variety in the delivery of arts education, resulting in a complex patchwork with pockets of visionary activity flourishing in some locations and inequities in access to arts education increasing in others."

Read their report... 

The High Cost of Low Teacher Pay...

WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” 

This New York Times Op-Ed contributor piece is by Dave Eggers and Nínive Clements Calegari, founders of the 826 National tutoring centers and producers of the documentary “American Teacher.” Published: April 30, 2011  


Read more...

It Matters

This video was put together by students at Iowa City West HS in response to potential teacher layoffs/cuts for next school year.  At their April meeting, the school board decided to not make most secondary level teacher reductions by lowering their reserve unspent balance.  There were a couple hundred students, parents, and teachers in the audience with many who spoke against teacher cuts. 

Next the video will be sent to House Republicans and the Governor to get them to move off 0% allowable growth.

The students and staff at West High asked that this be shared.  They suggested that it would be a great organizing tool to get other schools to produce a short video about what 0% allowable growth would mean for their school programs.  If anyone has questions, you can contact Mitch Gross, West High teacher at gross.mitch@iccsd.k12.ia.us


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyU-OgMtnrM

Art Advocacy: A Video by HS Students

Art programs at Boyertown High School in Pennsylvania are in danger of being cut, so the students made a video to show the School Board Finance Committee how they feel about their art classes - they weren't allowed to show it. 


Now districts across the state are starting to use it to advocate for their own programs. It's a great video. 
See it on YouTube

Apply Now for New BASICS Program

The Iowa Alliance for Arts Education

invites Iowa Schools to apply for the

BASICS PROGRAM  
 to improve the quality of their

arts education programs.

We trained three school districts this year.  Through a second proposed grant to the Kennedy Center Arts Education Alliance Network, additional school/community teams would be trained by the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education in the Kennedy Center process:

1. auditing their arts education programs
2. creating a local arts education Strategic Plan including action steps
3. an expanded local Task Force and business partners
4. advocating for these arts education programs together while developing community bridges to sustain the quality of these programs. 

More Information...

Interested?

Please contact:

Diane Franken, Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, BASICS Program, 1610 Prospect Terrace, Davenport, Iowa 52803, artdiane0427@mchsi.com to request an application

Questions? 

Call Diane Franken at 563-324-9423

Creativity Works in Milwaukee

A 2008 survey in Milwaukee discovered that there were lots of creative things happening in the area, but the infrastructure was very fragile. Meetings of regional leaders resulted in the formation of a Creative Coalition and the designation of issue-driven task forces on education, workforce development, communications, efficiencies, planning, and other groups.  


Find out more about an outstanding example of that creativity coalition in Milwaukee: http://www.creativityworksmke.com/

New Iowa Education Blog from The Office of the Governor

Linda Fandel, the Governor's Special Assistant for Education, has invited Iowans to weigh in on how to give every Iowa student a world-class education. 

Go to the site http://iowaeducation.iowa.gov/ and respond to her posts in support of the arts in education in Iowa. Keep the IAAE point of view in mind when responding. 

The focus of a quality education for all Iowa students must include areas of rigorous study through which every student is actively engaged in an inclusive curriculum that will lead them toward becoming well rounded global citizens.  Toward that goal, a "curriculum based" arts education will be a crucial component. Through the arts, students learn to become active problem solvers, comprehensive and creative thinkers, who become enlightened participants in the workplace and society.