As Igor Stravinsky once said, good composers borrow; great composers steal. So, instead of writing my own setting of the stage, let me steal from my fine colleague and friend at Common Core, Lynne Munson: I challenge anyone to think of a nation that works as hard as we do to find silver linings in its educational failures. On Tuesday morning NAEP reported that, in the course … [Read more...] about The Nation’s Report Card for Reading and Math: Will Dismal Results Bring More of the Same (higher stakes testing)?
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Guest Blog, Bruce Taylor: What is the Future Role for Arts In Public Education?
What is the Future Role for the Arts In Public Education? by Bruce Taylor The increasingly contentious debate about school reform juxtaposes two contrasting realities about the arts: one, that their place in our schools has been steadily and seriously eroded; the other, that the skills inherent in artistic practice are rapidly becoming essential to a healthy 21st century … [Read more...] about Guest Blog, Bruce Taylor: What is the Future Role for Arts In Public Education?
Batuta — Columbia’s El Sistema. An Essay by Eric Booth and Tricia Tunstall
As I write, I am staring out the window on the 7:00 Acela heading to DC from New York Penn Station. I have a board meeting of Common Core, for which I am board treasurer. What was a sunny day in New York, has turned into a deep fog. The train moves through the fog like a bullet through space. Oh, and let me make a plug for the upcoming report by Common Core on the narrowing … [Read more...] about Batuta — Columbia’s El Sistema. An Essay by Eric Booth and Tricia Tunstall
Steve Reich’s New CD Cover: Is It An Outrage or Not?
Last night a small thread emerged on Facebook about the cover for Steve Reich's new CD on Nonesuch Records. The cover is a graphic photo of 9/11, due to the fact the recording features Reich's work WTC 9/11. What do you think? An outrage of something else?? Quickly, the FB consensus is that it is "repulsive." Me, I am not so sure about that. I felt very strongly that … [Read more...] about Steve Reich’s New CD Cover: Is It An Outrage or Not?
Saluting Sarah Cunningham as She Departs the NEA
Okay, I've been pretty quiet over the past few weeks. Many have interpreted this to reflect a winding down of Dewey21C as a result of my departure from The Center for Arts Education at the end of this month. Well, that's not the case. There will be no winding down. I am going to continue Dewey21C and expand its focus to life-long learning, including of course, K-12 and … [Read more...] about Saluting Sarah Cunningham as She Departs the NEA