Among advocates and wannabe advocates, I have lately been hearing that arts education must align with school reform. I heard this the other day at a splendid presentation by Narric Rome of Americans for the Arts and Najean Lee of the League of American Orchestras, at the NYC Arts Education Roundtable's annual meeting. I have also come across this recently through discussions of … [Read more...] about Arts Education Should Align with School Reform. Really?
Education
NAEP Arts 2008, Part Three: The Chrome Standard?
NAEP is universally considered to be the "gold standard" for K-12 educational assessment. My good friend and colleague Lynne Munson, Executive Director of Common Core, has posted a an entry on her blog that compares the NAEP Arts Assessment 2008 with the NAEP math and reading tests. Lynne, a former deputy director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and author of … [Read more...] about NAEP Arts 2008, Part Three: The Chrome Standard?
Can the Arts be a Central Part of Urban School Improvement?
Well, of course. Unfortunately, that answer is not widely known or embraced among the policy elites. That's part of our job as advocates.Middle School 223, once shuttered as one of the most violent middle schools in New York City, was reopened in 2003 as M.S. 223/The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology. Today, Principal Ramon Gonzalez says attendance is about 4 percent … [Read more...] about Can the Arts be a Central Part of Urban School Improvement?
Education Secretary Lands Near Knockout Blow in First Round
Okay, maybe it's really the second round, as the first could be viewed as the education portion of the stimulus package.I've read a lot about Arne Duncan being a basketball player, but hadn't heard much about him liking to mix it up.Yesterday Duncan spoke at a press conference in Maryland where he outlined what will be required of states in order to receive the second round of … [Read more...] about Education Secretary Lands Near Knockout Blow in First Round
Crisis in Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School
I was once asked by a charter school operator to assist them in finding some arts teachers. They showed me their instructional schedule for their all-day kindergarten and first grade classes, and I was floored, absolutely floored by the amount of time spent on drilling and test prep for reading and math.I mean, this is kindergarten. A five year old being drilled for hours on … [Read more...] about Crisis in Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School