[Members] Arts Education Newsletter

[Rick Dapprich]

Issue No. 5	A publication of the Michigan Youth Arts Leadership  
Roundtable	November 2009
In this issue
Injecting STEAM into STEM
A paradigm for talking about the necessity of arts education

MCACA's List
A list of arts nonprofits that enrich learning

MDE's Infusion of Innovation
In search of an arts-infused education
ArtServe
A revised advocacy toolkit tailored to the economic and budgetary  
crisis is forthcoming; Kennedy Awards deadline

National News
On Location arts media project deadline; NEA gets funding boost

 From STEM to STEAM
In these times of economic struggle, there has been heightened  
discussion about educational standards and the need for innovation.   
At last week's President's Council of Advisors on Science and  
Technology (PCAST) meeting, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and others  
talked about the critical need for improving STEM education - Science,  
Technology, Engineering and Math - as a path to fostering the  
innovation and leadership required to refashion our struggling  
industries and position our country as a leader in developing new  
technologies and new ways of thinking.

There's something to add to that conversation.

John Maeda, President of the Rhode Island School of Design, in a  
recent article in the Huffington Post, writes, "Right now, our nation  
sees left-brain thinking, focused on logic and reasoning, as critical  
to future economic development...What's missing from STEM is right  
brain thinking - embodied by what I call the key "IDEA" (Intuition,  
Design, Emotion, Art). We need both both halves of the brain to work  
together and channel that brilliance through our hands and propagate  
ideas throughout our world."

Maeda advocates injecting the STEM conversation with STEAM.  That A is  
for the Arts, and it's crucial to any discussion of innovation.  Arts  
education, with its emphasis on creative and critical thinking and  
making is the soul of invention.  There is no new technology without  
creativity, without the experimentation, the risk-taking, the self- 
criticism and the discipline that are fundamental to the study and  
making of art.

To develop anything new, one has to start with an IDEA.

So, consider this paradigm in your conversations with policy-makers  
about arts education.  Science and math are vital to a complete  
education, and rigorous training from qualified teachers in the  
sciences is essential to developing intellectual rigor, and analytic  
and critical thinking.  Arts education is likewise essential, and  
rigorous training from qualified arts instructors develops independent  
thinking, creativity, discipline, and critical making.


That's a recipe for innovation.

Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
List of area arts nonprofits

As school districts reel from the State of Michigan's ongoing budget  
crisis, they increasingly sacrifice art classes and teachers as a cost- 
cutting measure. However, most nonprofit arts organizations see it as  
part of their mission to provide various arts experiences to local  
schools. This is one way a community can make up for what's lost and/ 
or enhance remaining school art programs. These music, theater, dance  
and art organizations and museums can provide school children the  
opportunity to experience real artworks and artifacts, see live  
performances, meet professional artists and realize that the arts are  
a part of a rich and meaningful life. Unfortunately, the loss of state  
funding from MCACA has significantly impacted ability of non profit  
arts and cultural organizations to provide educational programs. When  
a nonprofit loses funding, the first programs to go are usually the  
non-revenue generating programs such as lectures, group tours,  
workshops, free performances and classes. As a result, a very real  
possibility emerges that a generation of Michigan's children will grow  
up not significantly experiencing the arts. To see what's available  
for students in your area, a list of MCACA's past awardees and links  
to their websites are available online. MCACA staff is also available  
to help connect schools with area art organizations.
Arts Infused Education and Innovation...What's Behind the New Title
Observant readers have noticed a new title behind my signature - Arts  
Infused Education and Innovation Consultant. Some have wondered if  
there is more behind the new long title than its catchy sound.

As noted in earlier editions of this newsletter, some changes at the  
Michigan Department of Education (MDE) reflect declining state funding  
to support the work of MDE. Federal funds now comprise a larger share  
of support for the work of MDE.  With these funds comes greater  
accountability to those federal fund sources which include: Title 1,  
Title II, and School Improvement. The overall goal of MDE is now  
focused on promoting instructional excellence to increase district,  
school, and student achievement of Michigan's K-12 curriculum.

To accomplish this goal, the position of Arts Education Consultant has  
been revised to:
Provide leadership in curriculum, instruction and assessment to  
support the goal of increasing student achievement for all students.

The position initiates, leads, develops, provides, distributes, and  
supports programs, products, and tools that promote instructional  
excellence in the arts (dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and new  
media), arts infused education, and innovation.

The position provides professional and technical assistance to local  
and intermediate schools districts and high priority schools;  
coordinates activities with other MDE and state government offices and  
special projects designed to increase instructional excellence in high  
priority schools; serves as a liaison with state and national  
organizations; assists in the implementation and monitoring of state,  
regional, and federal programs, as well as State Board of Education  
policies; assists with research and development in arts, arts infused  
education, and innovation in high priority schools.

The responsibility is broad in scope requiring new and unprecedented  
approaches to arts, arts infused instructional excellence, and  
innovation in schools that reflect emerging and best practices.

Arts infusion was selected for this position title in keeping with the  
Consortium of National Arts Education Associations publication,  
Authentic Connections, which describes arts infusion as "...the most  
rare and sophisticated of the three" approaches to interdisciplinary  
instruction.
"In this model, the depth of a teacher's knowledge and the well- 
rounded background of the students become critical.  Students'  
learning and outcomes in infused approaches are focused on strong  
relationships between complementary subjects. One project or activity  
may show students' learning in both areas since the relationship is so  
integral to both. Students accustomed to a classroom without  
artificial partitions of time and division of subject matter into  
"packages" may regularly and consistently apply and transfer knowledge  
from one discipline to other disciplines. In addition, students may  
develop robust habits of mind to seek, establish and test connections."

The latter part of the title refers to the fact that an arts infused  
education fosters innovation. This line of thinking is in keeping with  
the work of Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, Ken Robinson, Daniel  
Pink, and Scott Noppe-Brandon whose research points to the  
relationship between arts infused education, imaginative thinking, and  
innovation.

So, there is a whole lot more to this new title than its snappy ring.  
Stay tuned to how this new work unfolds.

Ana Luisa Cardona
cardonaa at michigan.gov
Arts Infused Education and Innovation Consultant
Michigan Department of Education
Curriculum and Instruction Unit
Office of Education Improvement & Innovation
ArtServe Revises Grant to Produce Action Toolkit to Address Immediate  
Funding Crisis
In September, ArtServe announced that it received a grant from the  
Kennedy Center National Partnerships to develop a new Arts Education  
Advocacy Toolkit in 2010. However, given the current crisis in per  
pupil and 20J funding cuts, we have decided to address the immediate  
crisis by producing an Arts Education Action Toolkit. While we will  
continue to produce a complete Arts Education Advocacy Toolkit  
available for distribution in 2010, we feel that addressing the  
current crisis is more than prudent. The kit will include tools that  
will aid in your efforts to preempt funding cuts to arts education as  
well as provide reactionary assistance when cuts are being considered.

We are working to complete this toolkit before the end of the week and  
will distribute it through our public policy e-alerts as well as our  
website. If you are not already receiving ArtServe's Public Policy E- 
Alerts please click the link below to register.
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/mi/mlm/signup/


Arts Education Award Applications due Friday
ArtServe Michigan will continue to accept applications for the Kennedy  
Center Alliance for Arts Education and National School Boards  
Association Award and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing  
Arts Schools of Distinction in Arts Education Award (State Level),  
until Friday, November 6 at 5pm.  Schools may nominate themselves and  
it's a great opportunity to showcase the excellence in arts education  
in Michigan schools at the state and national levels. For more  
information on the awards programs and nomination procedures, follow  
this link.

  National News

On Location brings the power of digital storytelling to the classroom.
Applications for this Kennedy Center program are being accepted until  
November 13.  Ten middle schools will be selected for a visit by a  
specially equipped bus and its team of media-teaching professionals,  
which will work with students in 3-week sessions to create  
documentaries about the arts in their communities.  The films will be  
posted on the national website.  To learn more and apply, visit www.onlocationproject.org 
.

NEA gets funding boost
Last week, Congress passed a $12.5 million funding increase as part of  
the FY 2010 Interior Appropriations bill for both the National  
Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the  
Humanities (NEH).  The nation's two federal grantmaking cultural  
agencies will now each have budgets of $167.5 million, their highest  
funding levels in 16 years.  You can send a message to your  
congressperson about their part in this process (expressing  
encouragement or disappointment) by following this link.





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