Dewey21C

Tag: music

  • Reflections on the Possible Closing of My High School: Beach Channel High School

    It makes for a really great chest-beating sound-bite: “we just closed another low performing school!” It’s all the rage in New York City, at the USDOE, and at many other urban school districts: School Turnaround. And, although the term denotes a number of possible strategies, it almost always connotes the closing of a school. And,…

  • The Integration of the Arts: Composer/Performers Reach Back to the Silent Film Era

    There are a few composer performers who are have associated themselves with silent film greats and other great iconic comedians. The first grouping I want to point out is Bill Frisell and Buster Keaton. Then there’s Don Byron and Ernie Kovacs. And, there’s Dave Douglas and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. There are others, most notably composers…

  • David Byrne Throws a Curveball for Arts Education

    Happy New Year! I hope that everyone who visits Dewey21C had a lovely holiday. Me? I went off the work grid for a good ten days. It was a nice rendering of a professional “flat line.” So, now, it’s back to work in 2010! David Byrne, musician, composer, band leader, music label entrepreneur, etc., posted…

  • The Counter-Intuition of Advocacy

    Consider these three points: 1. The school district leader says that the overall school budget is increasing each year, and not to worry. And yes, it’s true: more money was allocated to education in the city budget. 2. The existence of generally supportive school district officials and government leads to increased arts budgets and administrative…

  • The Third Annual NYCDOE Arts in the Schools Report: Cognitive Dissonance

    This week the NYCDOE released its third Annual Arts in the School Report. Along with about thirty colleagues primarily from the arts field, I attended the report presentation at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The document itself must be applauded for all the work that went into it. In this difficult economy,…

  • US Secretary of Education Is Convinced that Arts Education Raises HS Graduation Rates

    ”I’m convinced when students are engaged in the arts, graduation rates go up, dropout rates go down,” Duncan said. One thing we do know about graduation rates and arts education in New York City public schools, is that the schools that offer more arts have higher rates of graduation. It’s in this report. And, according…

  • Did You Miss David Brooks on Arts Education???

    I’m not claiming my second education has been exemplary or advanced. I’m describing it because I have only become aware of it retrospectively, and society pays too much attention to the first education and not enough to the second. I like David Brooks. Okay, I have to admit it, I like him even more since…

  • A Successful DC Arts-Centered Middle School to Get “Reformed”

    The precise term is “turned,” a diminutive of “turnaround,” I presume. Turnaround being the latest and greatest craze in school reform. I believe the term is used in the espionage business as well. As in she “turned rogue.” So, in short order: A middle school in the well-to-do Georgetown section of DC fails to attract…

  • Ted Wiprud, NY Philharmonic Arts Education Advanceman Blog #6: Abu Dhabi and Reflections from Home

    To read the previous installments of Ted’s arts education travelogue click here for the first entry; here for the second; here for the third; here for the fourth; and here for the fifth. I want to thank my friend Ted for these thoughtful, rich, and fascinating posts. I am grateful that he chose Dewey21C as…

  • On the Death of Ted Sizer

    At Dewey21C, It would be impossible ignore the passing of Ted Sizer, one giant of an educator. You see, Sizer was considered by many to be the heir to John Dewey. There will be obituaries everywhere, as well as tributes. He footprint was all that. I never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Sizer, but…