National Education Policy you may ask, you didn't know there was one! Well, after reading the USDOE's A Blueprint for Reform--The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it struck me that this was the closest thing we will get to a national education policy. For those hell bent on seeing something like this in the arts realm (national cultural … [Read more...] about Arts Eduation and ESEA: Where do the Arts fit in National Education Policy?
dance
STEM To STEAM: Is it Just a Lot of Hot Air?
And I am not talking about how to get the old school radiators in my office to stop all that loud banging when they heat up. (That is technically known as Steam Hammer.)There's a funny look people get on their face when they use the line: let's turn STEM to STEAM! It's a cute little smile, like they just said something really clever. It's a fine line however, between clever and … [Read more...] about STEM To STEAM: Is it Just a Lot of Hot Air?
Proposal to Scorch the Earth in Toledo Public Schools
There are times when the little policy matters seems irrelevant. Who cares if a subject is declared "core" by your state department of education or USDOE?Take a good look at this story coming out of Toledo. It is a rather stunning example of how a school district is proposing the elimination of all certified arts and physical education teachers and justifying it by declaring … [Read more...] about Proposal to Scorch the Earth in Toledo Public Schools
The Outsourcing of Arts Education
A good many of you must have read the article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times that looked at a Burbank parochial school that had chosen to let go of licensed theater faculty in favor of bringing in actors to teach theater.Facing enrollment drop, Burbank Catholic school gets creative in staffing theater programBy outsourcing teaching positions to professional actors, Providence … [Read more...] about The Outsourcing of Arts Education
If There’s Only One Book to Read on K-12 Education, Read This One!
All the time, I run into people in the arts field who ask me to explain exactly what the hell is going on with K-12 education. Between vouchers, choice, turnaround, merit pay, alternative certification, race to the top, race to the bottom, AYP, value-added assessment, process-driven goals, backwards-mapped curriculum, and more, trying to get a handle on what all this means can … [Read more...] about If There’s Only One Book to Read on K-12 Education, Read This One!