A few weeks ago I wrote about a new report from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) concerning the effects of NCLB on arts instruction (see narrowing of curriculum). Not a great deal of attention has been paid to this study, beyond a piece in the Dallas Morning News and two recent blogs: Eduwonk, and Education Week. Additionally, Michael Sikes of the Arts Education Partnership published an analysis of the report.I have intended to come back to the study, as all I really did in my blog was to announce it. The piece in the Dallas Morning News … [Read more...]

So, he's been dead for 35 years, but still, have you heard of him?I was watching a bit of President Obama's press conference last night and a question was asked concerning families who are living in tents. This was fairly common in New York City and other urban areas, I presume, in the rough and tumble late 70's through mid 80's, but I hadn't heard mention of it yet as a present day issue. Today, The New York Times ran a  front page story with lead photo about the tent cities emerging.  It made me think of The Great Depression, the … [Read more...]

Okay, we've been here before. Nevertheless, a new study has been published in the journal Psychology of Music: The Effect of Piano Study on the Vocabularly and Verbal Sequencing of Primary Grade Students by Joseph M. Piro and Camilo Ortiz. (You can only view the abstract without a subscription.)Using a quasi-experimental research model, the study chose two schools in the same geographic area, with similar demographics, and all the students were part of the same ELA program (Balanced Literacy).  Students in the treatment school studied piano … [Read more...]

In the special section on museums in today's New York Times, an article by Dorothy Spears titled When The Gallery is a Classroom, opened with the following : "For years, with school budgets declining in so many American cities, museums have provided a parallel universe for learning. Now, with the Obama administration poised to support arts education with increased financing, museums nationwide are eager to align themselves with those efforts." "Poised to support arts education with increased financing." Sounds great? Absolutely. Better than … [Read more...]

Fair enough, the State of California is in a financial meltdown that predates the national economic decline, and yup, it's nothing new.What's new is the extent of the troubled economy and the types of things that are on the chopping block. The state that made headlines for creating a $100 million plus categorical, per-capita fund for arts education; that's gone, basically, as the categorical restriction on the funding has been lifted allowing use for other purposes. Funding for arts organizations to work in schools through The Arts Community … [Read more...]

Okay, I have a goal of losing 20 pounds. Really. I've got about six pound to go. Having that target is extremely helpful. Ask my scale, it's gotten a workout.Along comes Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over Prescribing Goal Setting,  a new paper published in the the Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge  that has the chutzpah to question the primacy of goal setting. Besides having great taste in titles, the piece posits: "For decades, goal setting has been promoted as a halcyon pill for improving employee … [Read more...]

Eric Booth was kind enough to forward me this survey from the San Diego School District. It is both visionary and innovative (the edu-term of the moment) and at the same time a bit old school.Essentially the San Diego School Unified School District, as it contemplates cuts to the budget, has decided to survey parents and others in the community to understand better what cuts to implement. So, what does the survey tell us? First of all, it addresses what market researchers call the saliency issue. You have probably seen all sorts of polls, from … [Read more...]

My friend Schuyler Chapin died last Saturday. Perhaps you didn't know him. Perhaps you didn't know much beyond his tenure as New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs or saw him interviewed in a documentary about Leonard Bernstein. Maybe you read one of the obituaries.All the aphorisms about Schuyler are true: the end of an era; he broke the mold; a true gentleman; lived a charmed life; and yes, I could go on.The career Schuyler had, well, I just don't think it could be possible today. In an era when people did not reinvent themselves and … [Read more...]

I was at a conference once, where Michelle Cahill, Vice President and Program Director of The Carnegie Corporation, and former Deputy Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools cautioned the arts education audience that their work must answer the question of how it is increasing graduation rates. It was a blunt hortatory and an interesting moment. A good question for all the participants, and indeed the field to consider.Today, at the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President Obama outlined his vision for education, and it's in the … [Read more...]