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  • The Nation’s Report Card for Reading and Math: Will Dismal Results Bring More of the Same (higher stakes testing)?

    The Nation’s Report Card for Reading and Math: Will Dismal Results Bring More of the Same (higher stakes testing)?

    As Igor Stravinsky once said, good composers borrow; great composers steal. So, instead of writing my own setting of the stage, let me steal from my fine colleague and friend at Common Core, Lynne Munson: I challenge anyone to think of a nation that works as hard as we do to find silver linings in…

  • Guest Blog, Bruce Taylor: What is the Future Role for Arts In Public Education?

    Guest Blog, Bruce Taylor: What is the Future Role for Arts In Public Education?

    What is the Future Role for the Arts In Public Education? by Bruce Taylor  The increasingly contentious debate about school reform juxtaposes two contrasting realities about the arts:  one, that their place in our schools has been steadily and seriously eroded; the other, that the skills inherent in artistic practice are rapidly becoming essential to…

  • Batuta — Columbia’s El Sistema. An Essay by Eric Booth and Tricia Tunstall

    As I write, I am staring out the window on the 7:00 Acela heading to DC from New York Penn Station. I have a board meeting of Common Core, for which I am board treasurer. What was a sunny day in New York, has turned into a deep fog. The train moves through the fog…

  • Steve Reich’s New CD Cover: Is It An Outrage or Not?

    Steve Reich’s New CD Cover: Is It An Outrage or Not?

    Last night a small thread emerged on Facebook about the cover for Steve Reich’s new CD on Nonesuch Records. The cover is a graphic photo of 9/11, due to the fact the recording features Reich’s work WTC 9/11. What do you think? An outrage of something else?? Quickly, the FB consensus is that it is…

  • Saluting Sarah Cunningham as She Departs the NEA

    Okay, I’ve been pretty quiet over the past few weeks. Many have interpreted this to reflect a winding down of Dewey21C as a result of my departure from The Center for Arts Education at the end of this month. Well, that’s not the case. There will be no winding down. I am going to continue…

  • Arts + Education = Butts in the Seats = ?!?

    Arts + Education = Butts in the Seats = ?!?

    Advocate: It is essential that students experience Shakespeare. School Leader: I never really liked Shakespeare. Anne Midgette is always a good read. First, she’s a cracker jack writer. Second, she isn’t shy about her opinions. Third, you should hear her talk about food!! When she was writing for The New York Times, she had more…

  • Is A Liberal Arts Education Dead Meat?

    There are a lot of folks who are taking aim at the liberal arts. Lately, there’s been quite a lot of attention paid to a recent speech by Bill Gates at the National Governors Association, where he questioned funding liberal arts programs because the area did not produce enough jobs. For me, this is just…

  • Two New Key Resources for Arts Education

    Two New Key Resources for Arts Education

    In the past month two new resources have been issued that are worth a good look: The National Guild for Community Arts Education has released a sorely needed guide for youth development programs: Engaging Adolescents: Building Youth Participation in the Arts. Engaging Adolescents: Building Youth Participation in the Arts, the result of the National Guild’s…

  • The Mannes College The New School for Music Appoints New Dean

    Today, The New School announced the appointment of three deans, including deans for The Mannes College The New School for Music and The New School for Drama. Click here to read the full release. NEW YORK (June 15, 2011)–The New School today announced the appointment of Stephanie Browner as dean of Eugene Lang College The New School…

  • Register for Grantmakers in Arts Webinar on The Common Core Standards

    Arts Education: Common Core What Are the Possibilities for the Arts? Tuesday, June 21, 2:00 EDT/ 11:00 PDT Julie Fry, Program Officer, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Richard Kessler, Executive Director, The Center for Arts Education More than two-thirds of the states have adopted the Common Core Standards in English language arts, and math,…