Learning in and through the arts develops the essential knowledge, skills, and creative capacities all students need to succeed in school, work, and life. As the top building-level leaders, school principals play a key role in ensuring every student receives a high-quality arts education as part of a complete education. In a time of shrinking budgets and shifting priorities, what can school principals do to make and keep the arts strong in their schools? This guide offers three concrete actions school principals can take to increase arts education in their schools: (A) establish a school-wide commitment to arts learning; (B) create an arts-rich learning environment; and (C) rethink the use of time and resources. Each action is supported with several low-cost or no-cost strategies that other school leaders have used and found to be effective--whether it's beginning an arts program where none exists, making an existing program stronger, or preserving an arts program against future cuts. School principals and other leaders interested in increasing arts education in America's schools can adopt any of these actions and strategies one at a time or implement several at once. When taken together as part of an overall approach, however, their effects are more likely to be cumulative, mutually reinforcing, and more sustainable over time. (Contains 1 footnote.).

This resource examines professional development approaches from across the United States to help schools and allied arts groups integrate the arts into an already crowded K–12 curriculum. The authors document the purposes and structures of a broad spectrum of current efforts and programs. Several of these programs have been in place for decades, thus demonstrating their sustainability and effectiveness. Emphasizing the value of collaboration among teachers, artists, educational leaders, and community partners, the book draws on the broad range of experiences of the authors, who came together as a working group of the Arts Education Partnership. Readers will find strong, empirically tested models of arts integration to inform curriculum development and teacher professional learning. Book Features: The first critical reflection on arts-integration training programs and projects from across the United States. Promising practices for pre- and inservice teacher professional development programs in arts integration. A summary list of recommendations for actions based on the authors’ collaborative experiences.

Initiatives to coordinate schools, cultural institutions, community-based organizations, foundations, and/or government agencies to promote access to arts education in and outside of schools have recently developed. This study looks at the collaboration efforts of six urban communities: how they started and evolved, the kinds of organizations involved, conditions that helped and that hindered coordination, and strategies used.

This resource examines professional development approaches from across the United States to help schools and allied arts groups integrate the arts into an already crowded K–12 curriculum. The authors document the purposes and structures of a broad spectrum of current efforts and programs. Several of these programs have been in place for decades, thus demonstrating their sustainability and effectiveness. Emphasizing the value of collaboration among teachers, artists, educational leaders, and community partners, the book draws on the broad range of experiences of the authors, who came together as a working group of the Arts Education Partnership. Readers will find strong, empirically tested models of arts integration to inform curriculum development and teacher professional learning. “This book affirms an ideal of helping more school children and communities realize the importance of arts integration and how it can make a difference in the classroom, improving the preparation of all for work and life.” —From the Foreword by Jane R. Best, director, Arts Education Partnership “We owe the authors a debt of gratitude for bringing varied perspectives together in this important book.” —Madeleine F. Holzer, former director of educational development, Lincoln Center Institute. Contributors: Sibyl Barnum, Elaine Bernstorf, Karen Bradley, Amy Charleroy, Colleen Hearn Dean, Lisa Donovan, Eric Engdahl, Don Glass, Elizabeth F. Hallmark, Jean Hendrickson, R. Scot Hockman, Joyce Huser, Julia Marshall, Una McAlinden, Susan McGreevy-Nichols, Mary Ann Mears, Kathy O’Dell, Pamela Paulson, Susan J. Rotkovitz, Lori Snyder, Terry Sweeting, and Peg Winkelman

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of school leaders and community partners with arts education in three K-12 urban public school districts in Northern New Jersey that have implemented and sustained arts education programs. This narrative study explored each participant's journey, how the arts first came into their lives, and what they have done in their careers to promote arts education in urban schools. Commonalities include advocacy, funding, exposure, learning equality, value, and emotion. The participants in this study shed light on their successes and challenges with advocacy. They also shared their leadership path and the value the arts have on student learning. Another common thread among the favorable 14 participants is the arts' connection to diversity and inclusion work. Resulting from data analysis are the following six main themes that speak to the research questions posed for this study: (a) Advocacy for Arts Education in Urban Schools, (b) The Pathways to Leadership, (c) Constraints and Obstacles, (d) Curriculum and Learning, (e) Value and Potential of Arts Education, and (f) Arts for Social Justice. The narrative design was utilized through the lived stories and experiences of the 14 participants who have been trailblazers and champions of arts education in their respective school communities. In addition to filling a gap in the research body, this study provides in-depth recommendations on how arts advocates can implement, sustain, and retain arts education programs in their schools and districts.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), districts and schools must demonstrate adequate yearly progress for all students. Because schools may spend more time improving students' academic skills to meet NCLBA's requirements, some are concerned that arts educ. (AE) might be cut back. This report asked: (1) has the amount of instruction time for AE changed and, if so, have certain groups been more affected than others; (2) to what extent have state education agencies' requirements and funding for AE changed since NCLBA; (3) what are school officials in selected districts doing to provide AE since NCLBA and what challenges do they face in doing so; and (4) what is known about the effect of AE in improving student outcomes? Ill.