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Arts
Education Network News
Summer 2009 |
In this Issue:
What Do You
Do with Research?
We hear a lot about educational research, but what does it do for us? Does it
actually affect our practice or the milieu we operate in? Is it making our lives
easier or harder, or is it having any effect at all?
Certainly, we have access to more
of the research that's being done.
Gail Burnaford's literature review, Arts
Integration: Frameworks, Research,
and Practice, was published in
2007. In 2008 and into the present,
a dozen-odd research projects have
explored the role of teaching artists
in a variety of settings, with the
most comprehensive, “Teaching
Artist Research Project,” still
being conducted by Nick Rabkin of the
National Opinion Research Center (NORC).
I recently interviewed Sandra Ruppert,
the new Director of the Arts Education
Partnership (you'll be able to read
the entire interview in the Fall issue
of Teaching
Artist Journal). As the former
Senior Associate for Research and Policy
of an organization that has brought
arts education into the serious world
of education policy, she has a history
and a stake in arts ed research as
a useful tool. Here are a few of her
pertinent comments:
"I believe research done by AEP and anyone else must be rigorous and understandable.
This means that practitioners such as teaching artists must be able to do something
with it to carry their own work forward. Translating research into practical
language is essential. . . Critical Links is an example. This
was an excellent body of peer-reviewed information about arts education in
general. . . that gave people the tools to make the case about how arts are
beneficial.
"There are also parts of the
field where we really need applied
research - teachers and artists trying
out new ideas. This is where it gets
exciting. . . . The next step will
be closing the loop that begins with
research findings, then distills policy
implications, and then makes those
policies understandable and available
to policy makers and practitioners
alike."
Have you got any stories about how
you've used research in your work?
What research has actually been relevant
to helping you reach a goal? Keep
me posted.

Laura Reeder, Executive
Director
Technical
Assistance
Last
Call for 2008-09 TAP Grants
Thinking of attending an arts-based
education conference? Planning a partnership,
but want some expert advice? Maybe
your existing partnership is looking
to improve its assessment, or develop
new curriculum.
The deadline is July 1 for
your last opportunity to apply for
a TAP
grant for this funding year. Teachers,
teaching artists, schools, or cultural
organizations can apply for grants
for Partnership Planning and
Collaboration, Arts-Integrated
Curriculum Design, Program Evaluation
and Student Assessment, and Professional
Development and Capacity Building.
You can see a listing of recipients
of TAP funding on our website.
Resources
Featured Website
IssueLab aggregates and disseminates nonprofit research
on social issues. Its new collection of research on arts
education culls work from nonprofits
nationwide who are addressing related
topics. It includes 60+ case studies
and evaluations that reveal many lessons,
benefits, and pitfalls of existing
and past projects, providing vital
information for program staff at organizations. http://artsed.issuelab.org/research.
You can also sign up as a LabRat, which
allows you to keep your own personal
library of research that interests
you, or subscribing to their RSS feed
on Arts & Culture or Education.
Media
Buzz
Harvard University's Jerome Kagan spoke about
the importance of arts education in elementary schools during the Learning,
Arts, and the Brain Conference at Baltimore’s American Visionary
Art Museum in Baltimore on May 6, 2009. Read his prepared remarks at http://education.jhu.edu/nei/ .
The conference was sponsored by the
Johns
Hopkins
University
School
of
Education’s Neuro-Education
Initiative, which fosters dialog among educators and brain science researchers
to develop joint research projects and magnifies the potential for current
findings to enrich educational practice.
The National Assessment Governing Board
released the 2008 NAEP Arts,
which presents the educational progress
of eighth-grade students nationally
in visual arts and music. http://nationsreportcard.gov/arts_2008/ .
You can also read a press release from
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
commenting on the report at
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/06/06152009.html.
Finance, Technology and Dance – an unusual combination
gets results in a Bronx middle school by integrating dance studies into the
curriculum. Says the principal, “Before,
we saw [arts and academics] as mutually
exclusive, and now we see things differently.” http://www.dance-teacher.com/sections/teaching/405
Opportunities
New Orleans MusicianCorps Fellowship
Click
here for application - due June 26, 2009
Contact: Sonya Robinson by email
More information: www.musicnationalservice.org
In the fall of 2009,
MNS will pilot MusicianCorps, “musical
Peace Corps” that recruits, trains and places musicians in disadvantaged
public schools, therapeutic settings
and low-income neighborhoods nationwide.
In exchange for 1-2 years of service,
MusicianCorps Fellows will receive
a stipend, health care, training and
the opportunity to impact their communities
through music for positive social change.
Start Date: August
2, 2009 (Additional
school-based training may be required
in July 2009)
QUALIFICATIONS:
· Excellent music performance skills as well as theory & ear
training proficiency
· Experience in and passion for music, youth and service
· Strong entrepreneurial, community outreach and project management
skills
· Ability to innovate within existing music programs as well
as develop new ones
· Ability to improvise curricula within schools and communities
· Must be at least twenty-one years old; college degree preferred
· All music disciplines welcome
Living
Sculpture Conference
Cayuga Nature Center, Ithaca
Wednesday, July 22
$80
Registration Deadline: July 10
Click
Here for General Information Click
Here for Brochure
Contact: Max Welcome: (607) 255-5439 or email
What
do
sod
furniture,
topiary, willow domes,
large scale earth art,
and table top vegetable
art have in common? They're fun and also a great
way to meaningfully engage in the outdoors. Learn
how to do a project that takes an hour,
or an afternoon at this conference
on the Cornell campus and at the nearby
Cayuga Nature Center.
Call for Proposals
Essays on
the future of the arts and arts education
Chapter Proposals Due: August
31, 2009
Selected Chapters Due: January
15, 2010
20UNDER40 is in search of essays demonstrating the most innovative
and unique perspectives on the future of the arts and arts education from artists,
teaching artists, researchers, administrators, and cultural activists under
the age of forty.
In light of the impending generational
shift in leadership the field of the
arts and arts education is about to
experience, there has been much talk
about the future: who will be our new
leading arts thinkers, administrators,
policymakers, and practitioners—and
in what social, cultural, and political
landscapes will these individuals operate?
While there is great concern surrounding
this matter, little is being done to
provide a platform for tomorrow’s
leaders to share their ideas with the
larger field.
This anthology will provide a unique
arena for new ideas by formally gathering
the thoughts of young artists, teaching
artists, administrators, researchers,
and other arts and arts education professionals—legitimizing
the talent of young leaders by bringing
their ideas out of the margins and
into the forefront of our dialogue.
Editor/Project Director: Edward P.
Clapp, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Project Advisor: Eric Booth, The Juilliard
School/Independent Arts Consultant
_____________________________________
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