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Introduction
Preface
The purpose of The Insider’s Guide to Arts Education Planning is to provide a hands-on, how-to planning process for schools, districts and counties. Field tested by experienced Arts Education Planning Coaches and Community Arts Teams, best practices, innovative ideas, templates and strategies are offered here as a guide to navigate the sometimes challenging terrain of arts education planning. CAAE is pleased to offer this guide as a tool and catalyst for strategic thinking and district wide planning throughout California.
The Guide grows out of the Community Arts Education Project (CAEP), a 2001 jointly sponsored initiative of the California Alliance for Arts Education (CAAE) and the California State PTA. The project is aptly named and intentionally inclusive in that it fully engages members from both the community and the district in building an arts education vision for all students.
The original project was conceived as both a guidebook and a hands-on technical assistance process that enables districts to assess current arts learning programs and funding allocations, identify gaps in delivery, and create strategic plans that will ensure equitable access for all students in each of the four arts disciplines.
CAAE has developed and refined the process through practice. Working in collaboration with Arts for All, a Los Angeles County strategic initiative to restore dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts in all districts throughout the county, CAAE has provided the Community Arts Education Project to 19 Arts for All districts. Over a 12-18 month period, district and community members in each district participated in a strategic planning process, culminating in the presentation – and adoption – of a district arts education policy and a long-range budgeted plan.
The purpose of system-wide planning in arts education is to:
- Improve access to arts education for all California students through engaging in a planning process that incorporates “buy-in” from district leadership, school board leadership, PTA leadership and community arts leadership.
- Assist parents in becoming advocates in their children’s schools for stronger arts education programs.
- Build partnerships and collaborations with community resources (people, facilities and funding available for arts education programs.)
Projected Outcomes:
- The policies, action plans and budget recommendations created from this process provide a long-range plan for implementation of a sequential, standards-based curriculum in the arts.
- The project raises community awareness and develops new relationships between the district and community members.
- The project and subsequent long-range plans provide models for other school districts, both locally and nationally.
Since 1978, there has been an erosion of arts instruction in the California public schools. Proposition 13, the landmark property-tax cap, resulted in school funding being shifted from local communities to the state. Districts were forced to cut staff and programs, hitting the arts hard. (For the full historical context of arts education in California click here. Link--http://www.artsed411.org/artsed/index.stm). Although there have been several bold district- and county-wide initiatives to counteract the erosion, the trend has not been reversed – until now…
The last several years have seen a growing resolve among educators and policymakers to assure the place of a solid arts education in the nation's schools. One objective of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is "to support systemic education reform by strengthening arts education as an integral part of the elementary school and secondary school curriculum."1 In addition, the legislation aims to "ensure that all students meet challenging content standards and challenging state student academic achievement standards in the arts."
The arts are critical to an educational policy that is devoted to the teaching of basic academic skills and life-long learning capacities with the goal of truly preparing all children for success after high school regardless of gender, age, economic status, physical ability or learning ability. A systematic, substantive and sequential visual and performing arts curriculum addresses and develops ways of thinking, questioning, expression and learning that complement learning in other core subjects – but which is unique in what it has to offer.2
Funding school arts programs and providing time in the school day for arts instruction are essential. The visual and performing arts provide avenues of expression and appreciation of our world culture that no other curricular areas do, and are a necessary part of any child's educational training and experience. In a state as diverse as California, the arts are a cornerstone to achieving cultural literacy, leading to shared understanding and tolerance of differences. They also develop skills and abilities that are crucial for students entering into many vocational areas after high school.
Existing State laws mandate arts education in California for pupils in grades 1 through 12. As stated in Section 51210 of the California Education Code, “the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6… shall include instruction … in visual and performing arts including dance, music, theatre and visual arts, aimed at the development of aesthetic appreciation and the skills of creative expression.” Section 51220 of the California Education Code identifies a similar course of study for grades 7 to 12.
Further, as mandated in Education Code Section 60605.1, the State Board of Education adopted voluntary content standards in dance, music, theatre and visual arts in 2001. The Code states that content standards are intended to provide a framework for programs that a school may offer. The arts content standards are divided into five strands, which include artistic perception; creative expression; historical and cultural context; aesthetic valuing; and connections, relationships and applications.
1. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Pub. L. No. 107-110 (H.R. 1).
2. Quality, Equity, and Access: A Status Report on Arts Education in California Public Schools Grades Pre-K through 12: California Alliance for Arts Education, 2005. http://www.artsed411.org/involved/QEAbriefingpaper.stm
Current ClimateOn September 30, 2006 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the single largest investment in music and arts education programs in the history of our country. A block grant of $105 million will be distributed to school districts, charter schools and county offices of education to support standards aligned instruction in kindergarten through grade twelve inclusive. The funds will be available for hiring additional staff, professional development, purchasing supplies (including books) and equipment. The funding will be allocated at an equal amount per pupil, with a minimum of $2500 for school sites with twenty or fewer students and a minimum of $4000 per site with more than twenty students.
In addition, $500 million will be distributed on a one-time basis for the purchase of arts, music and/or physical education professional development, supplies and equipment. With these resources, schools will be able to provide professional development for teachers, as well as make investments in items including musical instruments, kilns, photographic equipment and other equipment that supports standards-based instruction. Grants will be allocated to school districts, charter schools and county offices of education on an equal amount per pupil, based on the number of pupils in kindergarten and grades one through twelve, with a minimum funding level of $2500 for small schools.
As members of a wide coalition of teachers, parents, students, administrators, professional arts organizations, arts advocates, business and community leaders whose combined efforts helped secure this funding, this is a moment to celebrate together. And now, as they say, our real work begins…
This funding is the beginning, not the end, of what we hope will give every child the opportunity for a quality education.
Our challenge is ensure that this money implements a comprehensive vision for arts education at the local level, to ensure that every student in California benefits from this investment.
Planning for arts education is more art than science. There are certainly many proven methods to fulfill the basic requirements of a strategic plan – collect current data, ascertain need, decide on priorities and develop a viable plan. Strategic plans that are built by consensus from key stakeholders will have more chance of ultimate success – and the delivery of a comprehensive education in the arts for all students.
Achieving that consensus and getting buy-in from the community, teachers and administrative and school board leaders is a hallmark of The Insider’s Guide to Arts Education Planning. While there is no “right” way to plan, we believe there are strategic approaches that can maximize the success and eventual implementation of those plans. Click here (PDF:57K) for a graphic representation of the planning process.
And those approaches take time; they take patience and lots of talking and listening and the desire to create a something new that is both practical and sustainable.
The process described in The Insider’s Guide is just one way to achieve the end goal of a thoughtful district wide plan. The guide is filled with tips, techniques, exercises, lessons learned and examples culled from our work in the field.
While there is a somewhat linear process indicated, you should feel free to use sections of the Guide that best suit your circumstances. Every district has a distinct culture and customary approach to planning.
We welcome your input and look forward to shaping this Guide to best need your needs. Please feel free to send comments, suggestions and insights to caae@artsed411.org
The original publication, Community Arts Education Project, developed jointly by California State PTA and California Alliance for Arts Education (CAAE) in 2001, forms the conceptual basis for The Insider’s Guide to Arts Education Planning.CAAE gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and agencies whose support, insights and many contributions have informed the development of the planning process model.
Authors:
Margaret “Peggy” Burt
Elizabeth Lindsley, Ed.D.
Contributors and Advisors:
Sarah Anderberg, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association
Nancy Carr, California Department of Education
Ayanna Higgins, Los Angeles County Arts Commission
Leslie Johnson, Chair, Board of Directors, California Alliance for Arts Education
Carol Kocivar, California State PTA
Marilyn Oyler, Institute of Cultural Affairs
Jane Stallman, The Center for Strategic Facilitation
Executive Committee of Arts for All: Los Angeles County Blueprint for Arts Education
Members of the Arts for All Pooled Fund
Arts Education Planning Coaches 2003 – 2006
Kristine Alexander, The California Arts ProjectCommunity Arts Teams 2003 - 2006 from the following school districts: ABC, Alhambra, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Castaic, Compton, Culver City, Hacienda La Puente, LA County Office of Education, Little Lake, Norwalk La Mirada, Palos Verdes, Pasadena, Rosemead, Santa Monica Malibu
Margaret “Peggy” Burt,
Susan Cambigue-Tracey, Music Center of Los Angeles County
Armalyn DeLaO, The California Arts Project
Denise Grande, Music Center of Los Angeles County
Helena Hanna, The California Arts Project
Susan McGreevy Nichols, consultant
Celena Turney, Los Angeles Unified School District
Layout and Design
Nicole C. Russell, California Alliance for Arts Education
Ann Zumwinkle, zumwinkle.com
Editor
Laurie T. Schell, Executive Director, California Alliance for Arts Education
The Insider’s Guide to Arts Education Planning is funded in part by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Additional funding is provided by The James Irvine Foundation and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The California Alliance for Arts Education is a member of the Kennedy Center for Arts Education Network, and is funded in part by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the California Arts Council.
