ERIC ED516747: The Art of Collaboration: Promising Practices for Integrating the Arts and School Reform. AEP Research and Policy Brief

2008·0.31 MB·English

by  ERIC

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AEP Research and Policy Brief
The Art of Collaboration:
Promising Practices for Integrating
Arts
the Arts and School Reform
Education
Partnership
By Andrew L. Nelson field. The purpose of this brief is to share these One Massachusetts
ideas with a broader audience of those engaged and Avenue, NW
This second publication in the Arts Education Part- interested in using community-based arts educa- Suite 700
nership’s Research and Policy Brief series focuses on tion collaboration as an agent for system change. Washington, DC 20001
the implementation and practice of eight demon- www.aep-arts.org
stration sites participating in The Ford Founda- The Ford Arts-Ed Initiative is a national, multi-year
tion’s Integrating the Arts and Education Reform effort launched in 2004 and guided by two overar-
Initiative. The brief describes a number of strategies ching goals: (1) to significantly improve the quality
identified by site directors at this early stage of the of students’ education by providing integrated arts
initiative as useful for building and managing a col- education opportunities across urban school sys-
laborative organization that works toward integrat- tems, and (2) to foster the widespread belief that
ing the arts into public education in an urban area. the arts are an essential part of a high-quality edu-
cation. The initiative supports the demonstration
Introduction sites in achieving these goals by assisting efforts
that build strong, sustained district commitments
to arts education and develop comprehensive
I
n June 2007, the Arts Education Partnership advocacy strategies.
(AEP) convened the directors of eight collabo-
rative entities to discuss promising practices for The Arts Education Partnership, a national coali-
integrating the arts into the lives and curricula of tion of education, arts, government, and philan-
urban public schools as a means of fostering sys- thropic organizations, receives support from The
tem-wide educational improvement. The seven Ford Foundation to convene and provide technical
school-community collaboratives and one higher assistance to the Arts-Ed demonstration sites. One
education collaborative represented at the one-day of AEP’s goals is to provide the site participants
seminar at Oklahoma City University were selected with opportunities, such as the seminar in Okla-
based on their participation in The Ford Founda- homa City, to learn from one another’s experiences
tion’s Integrating the Arts and Education Reform and exchange ideas and strategies. Also, Douglas
(Arts-Ed) Initiative. Each collaborative is partially Gould and Company and the OMG Center for Col-
supported, and in some cases was initiated, by laborative Learning participate in the initiative as The mission of the Arts
grants from The Ford Foundation. partner organizations that provide assistance to Education Partnership
and evaluation of the sites. is to demonstrate and
This research and policy brief describes some of promote the essential
the strategies discussed during the directors’ The seven school-community collaboratives par- role of the arts in
roundtable discussion. At the seminar, as the direc- ticipating in the initiative are: the Alliance for Arts enabling every student
tors talked candidly about challenges and opportu- Learning Leadership (Alameda County, CA); Ask to succeed in school,
nities they face in managing their organizations for More Arts (Jackson, MS); Baltimore Partners life and work in the
during this start-up phase of the initiative, a gener- for Enhanced Learning (Baltimore, MD); Dallas diverse and global
al consensus emerged about particular approaches Arts Learning Initiative (Dallas, TX); the Cleveland economies and societies
and practices that may be helpful to others in the Integrated Arts Collaborative (Cleveland, OH); the of the 21st century.
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DC Arts & Humanities Education Collaborative Promising Practices for
(Washington, DC); and Interchange (St. Louis,
MO). The eighth demonstration site, the Arts Edu- Integrating the Arts and
cation Initiative (AEI), is somewhat different than
the others. Hosted by the University of California School Reform
at Berkeley, AEI is a consortium of six California
institutions of higher education that infuse arts
T
education into their preservice curricula and inte- he promising practices are organized accord-
grate the arts into the professional development of ing to four capacity areas that guide the Arts-
new teachers and school leaders. For the purposes Ed Initiative: (A) Organizational Infrastructure
of this report, the eight sites that make up the Arts- and Planning; (B) Partnership Development; (C)
Ed Initiative are collectively referred to as collabo- High Quality Integrated Arts Education; and (D)
ratives.1A profile of each is found in the appendix. Communications and Advocacy.
The strategies described below are based primarily
on the directors’ conversation in Oklahoma City, but
A.ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
they are also informed by the collaboratives’ written
AND PLANNING: BUILDING THE INTERNAL
materials, discussions with collaborative leaders,
CAPACITY TOGUIDE THE WORK
and observations by AEP, as one of the technical
assistance providers to the Arts-Ed Initiative.
The success of the Arts-Ed collaboratives is
1In the fall of 2007, The Ford Foundation added Arts for Academic Achievement
in Minneapolis, MN to the initiative, making it the ninth demonstration site. founded on well-defined goals, a plan for achiev-
ing these goals, and an organizational infrastruc-
ture that provides effective governance and man-
agement. Described below are four approaches
THE DC ARTS & HUMANITIES
the Arts-Ed collaboratives use to build organiza-
EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE
tional capacity.
An Inclusive Develop an organizational infrastructure and
refine it over time. A sound organizational infra-
Committee Structure structure is crucial to the success of each Arts-Ed
collaborative. Components of such an infrastruc-
ture include well-defined roles for the people who
The DC Arts & Humanities Education Collabora- make up the collaborative—staff, board of direc-
tive uses a committee structure that allows its tors, community partners, and others—and poli-
membership to work with staff and the board of cies and procedures that guide governance.
directors to guide the organization’s programming Although most of the collaboratives are commu-
and governance. An Operational Performance nity-based partnerships, each one has identified
Committee addresses organizational infrastructure or created a lead organization to provide staff
issues; a Financial Sustainability Committee pro- support and manage day-to-day operations. For
vides fiscal oversight; and a Communications example, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio
Committee leads marketing efforts. The collabora- serves as the managing partner and fiscal agent of
tive also created mission accomplishment commit- the Cleveland Integrated Arts Collaborative. The
tees dedicated to topics such as programming, pro- principal fiscal agent and managing partner for
fessional development, and teaching artists. These the Arts Education Initiative—the higher educa-
various committees help to develop the collabora- tion collaborative—is the University of California
tive’s programming and make recommendations to at Berkeley.
the board of directors. Staff members, board mem-
bers, and partners such as teachers, teaching The directors of all eight collaboratives noted that
artists, and school administrators sit on the various building an organizational infrastructure is an
committees, giving all collaborative partners a role ongoing process and stressed the importance of
in governing and managing the initiative. being willing to make modifications as lessons are
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learned and in response to changes in the local addressed. The final strategic plan is a document
educational or political climate. that guides a collaborative and describes its mis-
sion and goals to interested parties.
Form committees to manage different aspects of
the work. Almost all of the Arts-Ed collaboratives Leverage existing grants and community sup-
use committees as part of their organizational port when fundraising. An essential goal of the
infrastructures. These committees focus on specif- Arts-Ed collaboratives is to combine grants and
ic aspects of the work and are staffed by various donations with more long-term support—such as
stakeholders such as staff members, board mem- district or state funding—that will institutionalize
bers, arts providers, teachers, and school and dis- their work by making it part of the education sys-
trict administrators. Examples of the types of com- tem. As one director noted, “The bottom line is
mittees formed by the Arts-Ed collaboratives that you have to raise the money.” One strategy is to
include strategic planning, professional develop- use existing grants and support as leverage for
ment, communications, and finance. fundraising. For example, when approaching the
school district or potential funders, the collabora-
Committees offer partners a viable way to partici- tives point to their Ford Foundation grant as an
pate in collaborative governance and give special- indication of national support for their arts educa-
ized groups the opportunity to take part in pro- tion efforts. They also leverage support from com-
gram development. For example, a representative munity partners. Every year Big Thought, the man-
from a partnering arts organization may not sit on aging partner of the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative,
the board of directors if there is a possible or per- asks its partners to provide it with an estimate of
ceived conflict of interest, but may serve on a pro- the percentage of their budget dedicated to arts
fessional development committee and play a signif- education. By quantifying the contributions of
icant role in the design of training opportunities.
Similarly, a board member who is a marketing pro-
fessional may share his or her expertise by joining
THE ARTS EDUCATION INITIATIVE
the Communications Committee. In the end, the
specific design of a collaborative’s infrastructure
and the context in which it operates should guide The Strategic Planning Process
the organization of its committees.
Draft a strategic plan that includes long- and In the spring of 2006, the Arts Education Initiative
short-term goals and activities. One Arts-Ed direc- (AEI)—a consortium of higher education institu-
tor quipped that on her first day on the job she asked tions in northern California—formed a planning
two questions: “Where is my office and when does committee that was charged with developing a five-
strategic planning start?” In order to have a road map year strategic plan for the initiative. The committee
for direction and growth and a timeline for the contracted a local strategic planning consultant and
achievement of goals, many of the Arts-Ed collabora- worked with her to design two planning retreats.
tives took several months to develop a three- to five- The consultant facilitated the one-day retreats at
year strategic plan and, importantly, involved their which AEI partners identified their major desired
various stakeholders in the planning process. As one outcomes for the collaborative and strategies to
director stated, “The strategic planning process gave achieve them. Planning committee members then
us consensus on what we are about.” drafted and edited a strategic plan that was
approved at an initiative-wide meeting. The result
Although members of the collaborative should ulti- of this process is a 27-page “living, working docu-
mately write the strategic plan, it can be helpful to ment” that AEI will use to guide its work and assess
use an outside facilitator to lead planning meet- its efforts over the next five years. Additionally, the
ings, ask questions, and provide objective com- plan includes statements regarding AEI’s vision,
ments and feedback. At the beginning of the plan- mission, and guiding principles, indicating that the
ning process, it is important to consider the local involvement of initiative partners in the planning
context and use the plan to speak to existing state process helped them reach consensus on the collab-
and district education policies that need to be orative’s goals and activities.
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these partners, Big Thought is able to demonstrate Explore the community landscape to identify
to funders and the school district that many local potential partners. Many of the Arts-Ed collabo-
organizations are committed to arts education. ratives study their communities at length to learn
which local arts organizations, foundations, and
corporations support arts education and have pro-
grams that align with the collaborative’s goals. For
B. PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT:
example, Baltimore Partners for Enhanced Learn-
CREATING AND MAINTAINING
ing sent an electronic Call for Cultural Organiza-
A NETWORK OF SUPPORT
tion Partners to area arts organizations to gauge
interest in joining the collaborative and to find
Community partners are the driving force behind organizations that share arts education goals. Sim-
the Arts-Ed collaboratives. In addition to being ilarly, the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative began an
part of a collaborative’s organizational infrastruc- asset mapping initiative to locate potential partners
ture, they play significant roles in activities such as in Dallas communities. The strategy is to find both
professional development, teaching the arts in organizations and individuals that fit naturally with
schools, advocacy, and fundraising. The collabora- the collaborative’s mission. In the words of one
tives strive to partner with the appropriate individ- director, “We found some great teaching artists by
uals and organizations and to manage these rela- working with individual artists as well as large,
tionships in a manner that helps them achieve their well-established arts organizations.”
goals. In this early stage of the initiative, the collab-
oratives use the following partnership strategies to Define partnership levels and the benefits and
build “community capacity” for their work. responsibilities associated with each. After iden-
tifying partners, a collaborative faces the challenge
of structuring them in a manner that enables
organizations of different sizes and with different
ASK FOR MORE ARTS
individual missions to work together to guide the
initiative. To accomplish this task, many Arts-Ed
Increasing Community sites design a collaborative structure that includes
different partnership levels and responsibilities.
Capacity For example, the DC Arts & Humanities Education
Collaborative uses three membership categories—
organization, individual, and affiliate—and
After spending years building relationships with describes the benefits and responsibilities of each
teachers, school administrators, arts organizations, on its website and in membership recruitment
and community members, Ask for More Arts material. Some partners may play an external pro-
(AFMA) developed a strategy for further strength- grammatic role in a collaborative, some may serve
ening its existing partnerships and bringing new on committees, while others may sit on the board
organizations into the collaborative. As a first step, of directors or serve in another governance capac-
AFMA contracted with an experienced arts educa- ity. Regardless of their role, partners should under-
tion consultant to facilitate this process. AFMA stand what they are expected to contribute and
and the facilitator then held stakeholder meetings what the benefits of collaborative membership are.
with key constituents such as school administra-
tors and teachers, arts and culture organizations, Coordinate the work of partnering arts
businesses, teaching artists, and parents. AFMA’s providers. Each Arts-Ed collaborative strives to
primary goal was to listen to these constituent make in-school arts specialists a partner in their
groups. The meetings focused on issues such as the integrated arts programming. However, due to a
rationale for partnership; what the constituent variety of factors, many schools do not have arts
groups seek from collaboration; and how each specialists on staff or even in the school district.
group can contribute to the collaborative. The con- The collaboratives therefore partner with arts
sultant will summarize the results of these meet- providers—arts and culture institutions and teach-
ings in a final report that will be presented to the ing artists—that deliver arts instruction to students
potential collaborators. in the classroom.
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After recruiting arts providers as programmatic process and deepening their knowledge of a partic-
partners, a collaborative must coordinate their con- ular art form. The quality of an integrated arts pro-
tributions to the initiative. Some collaboratives use gram is tied not only to a passion for the work, but
committees to design an arts education program also to a collaborative’s plan for delivering the arts
and assign arts providers to work with classroom to the classroom. The following four practices are
teachers to deliver the program to the classroom. In among those that the Arts-Ed collaboratives use to
other collaboratives, arts providers lead profession- design high-quality integrated arts programs.
al development workshops. For example, teachers
participating in the Cleveland Integrated Arts Col- Develop a theory of arts integration and a plan
laborative attend Young Audiences of Northeast for delivering it to the classroom. As an early
Ohio’s professional development workshops and its step, many Arts-Ed collaboratives design or adopt
Summer Institute. The goal is to make the most of a theory or definition of arts integration that serves
the assets of each arts provider while also equally as the foundation of their integrated arts program.
distributing the influence of each. For example, the DC Arts & Humanities Education
Collaborative defines arts integration as “Artists,
Work to make the school district an active part- arts educators, or classroom teachers present les-
ner. Since one purpose of the Arts-Ed collabora-
tives is to influence education policy and foster sys-
temic change through the arts, gaining the
CLEVELAND INTEGRATED ARTS
support—both financially and programmatically—
COLLABORATIVE
of the local school district is critical. As one direc-
tor noted, “You have to link what you are doing
with the school district’s educational priorities.” Navigating a Time
The strategy is to find the avenue that works best
for a collaborative’s unique context. For example, of Transition
Ask for More Arts in Jackson, Mississippi formed a
strong relationship with teachers that eventually
led to a relationship with district administrators The Cleveland Integrated Arts Collaborative’s
and regular meetings with the superintendent. (CIAC) willingness to delay programming and
instead focus efforts on building trusting relation-
Since staff turnover is especially prevalent in urban ships with new officials allowed it to quickly adapt
school districts (the average tenure of an urban to an administrative transition and regain neces-
superintendent is two to three years), garnering sary district support. In the summer of 2006, the
district support can take time. The directors find Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD)
that, during a period of district transition, it may be hired a new CEO, cut numerous administrative
best to focus on other areas of the work—such as positions, and made several changes to the elemen-
professional development or community engage- tary school curriculum. As a result, CIAC found
ment—while the new administration gets settled. itself—weeks before its integrated arts program
When the time is right, reengage the district and was to be piloted—with neither the third-grade
focus again on building that relationship. English Language Arts curriculum its program was
designed for nor many of its supporters in the dis-
trict office. The organization chose to delay its pilot
program for a semester to focus on building rela-
C. DESIGNING AND DELIVERING HIGH
tionships with new district administrators. CIAC
QUALITY INTEGRATED ARTS EDUCATION
partners met with these officials and demonstrated
the educational intent of the integrated arts pro-
In order to address standards-based testing and gramming, as well as its connection to state stan-
accountability requirements under NCLB, many dards. Meanwhile, CIAC’s Curriculum Committee
urban school districts focus heavily on increasing adapted its old program to fit the new English Lan-
student proficiency in math and reading. High- guage Arts curriculum. As a result, the CIAC pro-
quality arts integration can support this effort gram was implemented in 14 Cleveland schools in
while also engaging students in the learning the spring semester of 2007.
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sons with dual objectives—in both an art form and addresses this issue by offering advanced profes-
in another content area—to enhance students’ sional development opportunities for a select num-
learning in both areas.” The collaboratives then ber of schools that have been participating in its
construct a long-term strategy to bring integrated programming for some time and are thus likely to
arts opportunities to schools. have more experience than newer schools.
Most collaboratives begin by working in a manage- Align arts education programming with state or
able number of pilot schools and incrementally add district standards. According to the Arts Educa-
more schools over time. The directors emphasized tion Partnership’s 2007-08 State Policy Survey,
the idea that engaging the schools’ principals and nearly every state has adopted statewide content or
garnering their support is a significant step when performance standards in one or more art disci-
working in pilot schools. Also, a plan for improving plines. Additionally, many districts have developed
the quality of programming in existing pilot their own local standards that exceed the state
schools while continuing to add new schools is a standards, as well as curriculum frameworks and
key component of this work. Ask for More Arts lesson plans for teaching and assessing arts learn-
ing. To ensure consistency and quality, the collabo-
rative directors recommend that arts integration
programming be aligned with state or district stan-
BALTIMORE PARTNERS
dards in both the arts and in other associated con-
FOR ENHANCED LEARNING
tent areas.
Forming Effective As an example, during its summer Teaching Artist
Institute, the Alameda County Office of Educa-
Teaching Relationships tion’s Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership leads a
session that familiarizes teaching artists with the
California State Visual and Performing Arts Stan-
Baltimore Partners for Enhanced Learning’s inau- dards. This session helps teaching artists develop
gural professional development workshop was a integrated arts lessons that meet state arts stan-
one-day event dedicated to building working rela- dards. Similarly, the St. Louis collaborative Inter-
tionships between classroom teachers and teach- change links its arts education programming to the
ing artists from the city’s arts and culture organi- state of Missouri’s Grade Level Expectations. Since
zations. At the workshop—which was designed districts occasionally make changes in the curricu-
and facilitated by an arts education consultant and lum, tying integrated arts work to standards allows
the organization’s executive director—teachers the collaboratives to adapt to a new curriculum
and artists created a shared foundational state- without a complete overhaul of their programs.
ment about the role of arts integration in the class-
room; discussed the goals of a unit of study; and Use professional development to build strong
learned different strategies for teaching in pairs. relationships among classroom teachers, arts
The facilitators then put the teachers and artists in specialists, and teaching artists. The Arts-Ed col-
pairs according to their interests and levels of laboratives emphasize the development of relation-
experience. The teachers and artists spent the sec- ships among non-arts classroom teachers and arts
ond half of the workshop working in pairs and dis- specialists and teaching artists. Since they often
cussing their experiences and perspectives on work together to teach integrated arts units, it is
teaching as well as challenges they face such as important that the parties understand one anoth-
planning time and scheduling. After the work- er’s experiences and strategies. Several collabora-
shop, each teaching pair designed and co-taught a tives partner with arts education consultants to
10-day integrated arts lesson that was tied to Bal- design and lead professional development work-
timore’s middle school curriculum. Later in the shops for teachers, teaching artists, and arts spe-
year, the teachers and artists attended two addi- cialists. Such workshops help participants gain an
tional professional development events that understanding of how each operates in the class-
addressed assessment and documentation and room and provide the opportunity to design inte-
evaluation and reflection. grated arts units they can teach as a team.
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ALAMEDA COUNTY ALLIANCE FOR ARTS
Collect data to measure progress and then docu-
ment the work. Most of the Arts-Ed collaboratives LEARNING LEADERSHIP
are developing a means to collect formative data to
assess their process for delivering arts education to Exploring Documentation
the classroom, and summative data to measure the
effectiveness of their integrated arts program. If Methodologies
possible, the directors suggest partnering with a
professional evaluator or a local university to collect
information and evaluate the program. For exam- Teachers and teaching artists participating in the
ple, the Cleveland Integrated Arts Collaborative Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership (Alliance for
partnered with Cleveland State University, which ALL) document the process and results of their inte-
developed benchmarks and indicators to measure grated arts units and display them in a variety of for-
the effect of CIAC’s integrated arts program on stu- mats. For example, a teacher may use a wall in a school
dent learning in English Language Arts and Visual hallway to display student artwork or a description of
Arts. Some collaboratives also gather useful infor- the student’s process in making the work, how the
mation quickly by developing and distributing sur- project links to state standards, and a statement from
veys that are completed by students, classroom the student describing how she feels about her art.
teachers, arts providers, and school administrators. This type of documentation moves beyond “art on the
walls” by also including the goals of a unit and the
In addition, teachers and artists in the collaboratives process for meeting them. The Alliance for ALL is cur-
document integrated arts lessons and units to share rently redeveloping its website to make such docu-
processes and results with other teachers and the pub- mentation the basis of an online professional commu-
lic. Such documentation can act as an advocacy tool. nity. Teachers and artists will be able to use video and
After completing an integrated arts unit, many teach- other media to document their work and use it to
ers in the school display examples of student work, begin a conversation in which they share strategies
student writing about the work and the process, and a and approaches to teaching and learning.
teacher’s description of the value of the unit.
INTERCHANGE
D.COMMUNICATIONS AND ADVOCACY ISSUES
Communication with
In addition to increasing the role of arts education a Specific Audience
in schools, building public support for arts educa-
tion is a major goal of the Arts-Ed Initiative.
Indeed, an arts education collaborative’s success The St. Louis collaborative Interchange identified
and longevity depends on the buy-in and continu- teachers as one of its primary audiences and struc-
ing support of the various constituent groups in a tured communications accordingly. When the col-
community. A thoughtful advocacy strategy and laborative developed a catalogue of close to 50 arts
communications plan are essential. At the Okla- education organizations that teachers could partner
homa City seminar, the directors focused more on with in the classroom, it did so in hard copy form
the objectives of their communications plan rather instead of an online database, knowing that many
than on the processes. The following practices teachers in its pilot schools rarely use email or the
reveal the directors’ emphasis on understanding Internet. After mailing the catalogues, the Inter-
and reaching a variety of audiences. change director personally met with each teacher to
help select the appropriate arts education experience
Design evidence-based communications and for his or her class. Interchange’s website includes a
advocacy strategies. In order to increase public page designed specifically for teachers that describes
support for arts education, the collaboratives work how its program is tied to state standards and also
to tie their communication efforts to data that provides bios of teaching artists. These practices
demonstrate the benefits of the arts in schools. demonstrate the collaborative’s commitment to
Data regarding the effect of the arts on student understanding one of its key audiences.
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engagement, student achievement, the school envi- whole child,” while members of the business commu-
ronment, and other outcomes bolster communica- nity may be more attracted to the arts’ ability to pre-
tions by providing the audience with evidence of pare students for work in the “creative economy.”
the arts’ effect in schools.
Although tailoring communications to the concerns
It is common for arts education collaboratives to of a specific audience is important, a collaborative
use student exhibits or performances to promote should stay consistent with its overall message. To
their integrated arts programs. When doing so, the most effectively reach different constituency groups,
directors emphasize the importance of “connecting the directors recommend the use of outside commu-
the dots” between a student’s artwork and what he nications experts who can take complex information
or she learned while producing it. For example, at and make it understandable to a variety of audiences.
student exhibits or performances, the Alliance for
Arts Learning Leadership posts artist statements in Engage community members and understand
which students describe their artistic process and their values. The collaborative directors find that
what they discovered while creating the work of art. active listening leads to a deeper understanding of an
audience's values and to the development of strong
Identify target audiences and communicate on relationships with community members. As one
their terms. Collaborative directors agree that it is director noted, “When engaging the community, we
important to design a communications plan aimed at start every conversation with the question, ‘What do
various audiences, including teachers, administra- you value?’” This approach informs collaboratives
tors, parents, community members, and potential about the role art plays in the community and the
funders. A collaborative’s communication with a spe- language that community members use to talk about
cific audience should speak to that audience’s partic- it. For instance, one director interviewed community
ular concerns. For example, parents may be interest- members who said that “the arts” are not a significant
ed in arts education as a means of “educating the component of their daily lives, however, later in the
conversation, people mentioned that they play the
piano at church. Therefore, art may be an important
part of people’s lives while the term “art” may not.
DALLAS ARTS LEARNING INITIATIVE
Listening can help a collaborative and community
members build a common language for talking about
Working In and the arts, which increases the collaborative’s ability to
garner public support for its work.
With the Community
Enlist supporters as messengers. Since under-
standing community values and tailoring messages
A crucial component to the work of the Dallas Arts to specific audiences are useful practices, the Arts-
Learning Initiative is its efforts to coordinate arts Ed collaboratives find that enlisting audience mem-
programs in the city’s communities. The Initiative bers—school administrators, principals, teachers,
forges partnerships among community service artists, business leaders, government officials, par-
providers. It listens closely to community members ents, and others—as messengers can be an effective
and identifies existing programming. Then it con- communications strategy. In the words of one
nects schools, libraries and neighborhood arts and director, “The messenger matters as much as the
service agencies to fill the gaps with programming message.” Several collaboratives train advocates to
that meets the needs and aligns with the interests of be consistent in their messaging and communicate
the people who live there. In one neighborhood in the initiative’s overall goals while speaking to an
the summer of 2007, the Dallas Arts Learning Initia- audience of their peers. For example, the Alliance
tive integrated hands-on arts experiences into a for Arts Learning Leadership convened a Belief
well-attended annual health fair. In another neigh- Statement Workshop for parents in the county who
borhood, the collaborative brought together individ- support arts education. At the workshop, parents
ual artists and organizations to create an arts camp wrote a joint statement of support for arts educa-
on the campus of an elementary school whose prin- tion and received materials to help them discuss the
cipal was interested in holding a summer program. significance of arts education with other parents.
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Conclusion Acknowledgments
The experiences of the collaboratives participating The author thanks The Ford Foundation for its
in The Ford Foundation’s Integrating the Arts and generous support of this publication and the Inte-
Education Reform Initiative demonstrate that a grating the Arts and Education Reform Initiative. In
systems approach to arts education is a complex particular, Cyrus E. Driver — Deputy Director of
endeavor that requires persistence, collaboration, Education, Sexuality, and Religion at The Ford
and flexibility. This research and policy brief Foundation — and Margaret B. Wilkerson — for-
describes some practices used by the collaboratives mer Director of Media, Arts, and Culture — were
that show promise in using the arts as a tool for instrumental in developing the Arts-Ed Initiative
bringing about educational systems change and and bringing together the Arts Education Partner-
improving student achievement and success. In ship, Douglas Gould and Company, and the OMG
addition, the collaboratives represent solid educa- Center for Collaborative Learning to manage, sup-
tion-community partnerships that strengthen the port, and evaluate this unique initiative.
cultural health and vitality of the community, and
foster stronger relationships among students, par- This publication was also made possible by the
ents, schools, and community organizations. inspiring work and words of the following directors
of the Arts-Ed demonstration sites who attended
the June 2007 seminar: Paul Ammon, Gigi Antoni,
Marsha Dobrzynski, Varissa L. McMickens, Louise
Music, Trudy Palmer, Joan Weber, and Susan
Womack. Special thanks to Sandra S. Ruppert of
the Arts Education Partnership for her consistent
support, feedback, and mentorship. Thanks also to
Richard J. Deasy of the Arts Education Partnership
for his leadership and guidance.
ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP/MARCH 2008 9 THE ART OF COLLABORATION: PROMISING PRACTICES FOR INTEGRATING THE ARTS AND SCHOOL REFORM
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Promising Practices for Integrating
the Arts and Education Reform
The directors of the demonstration sites participating in the Integrating the Arts and Education Reform
Initiative identified the following 16 strategies as useful for collaboratively integrating the arts into public
schools and building community support for arts education.
ORGANIZATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNING AND DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY
AND PLANNING: BUILDING THE INTERNAL INTEGRATED ARTS EDUCATION
CAPACITY TOGUIDE THE WORK
• Develop a theory of arts integration and a plan for
• Develop an organizational infrastructure and refine it over delivering it to the classroom
time
• Align arts education programming with state or district
• Form committees to manage different aspects of thework standards
• Draft a strategic plan that includes long- and short-term • Use professional development to build strong relationships
goals and activities among classroom teachers, arts specialists, and teaching
artists
• Leverage existing grants and community support when
fundraising • Collect data to measure progress and then document the
work
PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: CREATING
AND MAINTAINING A NETWORK OF SUPPORT COMMUNICATIONS AND ADVOCACY ISSUES
• Explore the community landscape to identify potential • Design evidence-based communications and advocacy
partners strategies
• Define partnership levels and the benefits and • Identify target audiences and communicate on their terms
responsibilities associated with each
• Engage community members and understand their values
• Coordinate the work of partnering arts providers
• Enlist supporters as messengers
• Work to make the school district an active partner
THE ART OF COLLABORATION: PROMISING PRACTICES FOR INTEGRATING THE ARTS AND SCHOOL REFORM 10 ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP/MARCH 2008