Welcome to the bi-weekly EdTA Advocacy Update,
February 5, 2014 edition
The Advocacy Update is
where you can find state and national news about theatre and other arts
education
EdTA
NEWS
EdTA
Community Launches: The Educational Theatre
Association has launched Community, a new network for theatre education. In a
welcome post, EdTA Julie Woffington called Community “a new online resource that
allows you to network with others passionate about theatre and education; share
best practices and individual challenges; and access and contribute to a
variety of shared resource libraries.” Among the first communities is Advocacy.
New drafts of the
2014 Core Arts Standards: The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards
has posted new, downloadable drafts of all disciplines’ standards, including
theatre, in preparation of a final public review beginning February
14 and ending on February 28.
An open dialogue around the draft theatre standards has begun on the EdTA
Advocacy Community Page.
The Democracyworks student
essay competition
deadline is February 15: The competition
is accepting entries from students who are members of EdTA’s International
Thespian Society. The winning essayist and a chaperone earn a trip the Arts
Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. March 23-25. This year’s
prompt is “What advocacy have you done or do you plan to do on behalf of
arts education in your school, district, or state and how did it or will it
make a difference?
NATIONAL NEWS
Arts Advocacy Day 2014:
Registration is open. AAD annually convenes advocates from throughout the
country for training and lobbying for strong public polices and funding for the
arts and arts education.
National
Endowment and Arts Education funding restored to 2012 level: Congress has approved spending bill that includes $146 million
in support for the NEA and $25 million to fund national models that improve
arts learning in schools.
2014
National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards: The President’s
Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment
for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of
Museum and Library Services, is accepting applications for the 2014 National
Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards until February 10.
National Endowment for the Arts Awards $25.8 Million
in Grants: National
Endowment for the Arts' Senior Deputy Chairman Joan Shigekawa has announced
that 1,083 grants totaling $25.8 million will be awarded to organizations and
individuals across the country in the categories of Art Works, Challenge
America, and Creative Writing Fellowships.
STATE NEWS
Alabama:
Program brings arts,
education to prison (The University of Alabama Crimson White)
California: Fate
of LA Unified arts programs remain in limbo (LA School Report)
Illinois:
Chicago Public Schools hires 84
arts teachers (Chicago Tribune)
New
York: New Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina visits arts-based MS 223 in the Bronx (New York Daily)
Massachussetts: 4 Takeaways on Arts Funding In Boston Public Schools (WBUR)
Missouri/Illinois: Arts
and Education Council Announce $30,000 in awards (Broadway World)
New
Jersey: Arts become a focus of state school performance report
cards
(Press of Atlantic City)
Oklahoma:
Art funding cuts proposed (Oklahoma Gazette)
Rhode
Island: RI gov urges more funds for schools, arts, bridges (Washington Times)
WORTH READING
U.S. Department of Education Resource on K-12 Reform
References Arts Education (USDOE): The USDOE “Bookshelf” provides resources to
the public on a variety of education topics, including arts education. For
example:
-
Students who had arts-rich
experiences in high school showed higher overall GPAs than students who lacked
these experiences.
-
Arts-engaged high school students
enrolled in competitive colleges—and in four-year colleges in general—at higher
rates than students with low arts engagement.
- Low-income
students with arts-rich experiences in high school were more than three
times as likely to earn a bachelor’s degree as low-income students without
arts-rich experiences in school.
The Art of thinking like a scientist (ASCD Express): Lisa Yokana writes about
how learning in the arts helps students develop skills and competencies to be
better scientists. She says, "Through the arts students learn to observe,
visualize, manipulate materials, and develop the creative confidence to imagine
new possibilities. These skills and competencies are also essential to
scientific thinking and provide a strong argument for transforming STEM
education by integrating the arts."
The
Case for Arts Education (blog) Douglas Landwehr, a Wisconsin educator writes in his
blog, “What kind of education are we giving to a generation by eliminating
early and consistent exposure to the fine arts? The lessons lost at that age
create deficits in creativity, in discipline, concentration, and
self-confidence. The loss is not just in those classrooms, but in all of us.”
Probing Question: Is a liberal arts education relevant in
today's society? (Penn State News): In the 2012 movie Liberal Arts, one character asks another "So, what was your
major?" The other replies, "I was English, with a minor in history,
just to make sure I was fully unemployable." While the joke gets a laugh,
it also points to a serious societal debate: Is a liberal arts education still
relevant in today's economy? Absolutely yes, says Steven Sherrill, associate
professor of English and integrative arts at Penn State Altoona.